Sunset Hill Stable Horse Hotel and Retirement Care

"This facility is nice, quiet, easily accessible and seemingly safe but they don't seem to care for last-minute reservations or late night arrivals and they didn't check health or coggins. After a stressful day of work emergencies we ended up leaving later than we had intended. A little over half way into our trip (4-5 hours before our scheduled arrival) we text Olivia to advise that we were running behind schedule. We arrived at Sunset Hill Stables around 12:30pm (2.5hours after our original scheduled time) and were immediately met with irritation that it was so late. As we put horses away and got them water and food we received a lecture about leaving earlier to make it on-time when hauling horses and how this was her 5-9 after her 9-5- same girl, same! I didn't appreciate the condescension but left feeling like it was my fault for not pre-paying which forced her to show up to check us in. On the way home we needed a place to layover so I booked four stalls for the next evening (when I was sure that was the day we'd be leaving). After making our runs at our event and packing everything up, we'd estimated that we were scheduled into St Joseph at 7pm but I booked the 9-10pm slot as a precaution so we wouldn't be late. I even prepaid so that she wouldn't feel obligated to come watch us unload. Olivia text and said if we didn't arrive by 9pm they couldn't accommodate us and we'd have to go elsewhere if we couldn't make it by then. Still thinking we'd be there by 7pm we hustled out of the event to make it happen, but 4 hours into our trip, we overheated our transmission and had to let it cool before going on. Two hours later we had to let it cool again. Unfortunately this meant we were in the middle of Missouri at 7pm with 3 hours to go and thus nowhere to stay for the night. When we text to let her know we couldn't make it, we were met with a snide remark about booking last-minute. She refunded my money, which I appreciate but being 12 hours from home at night with 4 horses and nowhere to go was a horrible feeling. Further, I didn't appreciate her notion that her hotel where we were laying over was the destination and it was my job to show up promptly in her timing when I was just looking for a place to rest along the way to get us all there safely. This is all to say, if you're traveling for leisure and able to accommodate making firm appointments by dinner time this is a nice place to stay. If you're at the mercy of an event that dictates what time you perform on a loose schedule, have a job that might hold you up, are a hauler that might be picking up several along the way or have any potential truck/trailer issues, I'd recommend finding a facility with a 24-hour check in process."

"Very happy with our stay here! Chad and Olivia are wonderful. My horse was so happy with her stall and paddock setup-- grass was a huge bonus :). This was a perfect stopover for her to stretch her legs and get some rest after a long trailer haul. Easy check-in and check-out. Super simple to pull our trailer in and out too. Will definitely stay here again!! Thank you for hosting us!"

"Friendly, safe and secure loading and unloading. Easy access with our LQ Trailer, very clean and well equipped barn and a gracious welcome by Olivia! Thank you so much for your hospitality! We hope to have the opportunity to stay again!"

"Sunset Hill Stable was everything we could've asked for after a stressful day of traveling! Olivia was amazingly accommodating and very understanding as our ETA kept getting pushed later and later (10:30 pm...then 11:30 pm...then midnight...) due to the unfortunate experiences that seem to pop up with hauling horses, especially over the long distance of south Texas to the Midwest. When we arrived she was around if we needed something/had questions, but wasn't glued to us or anything like that. She was very friendly and expressed sympathy for our hectic day of travel (and had sent us updates re: construction on the route to the barn, etc. that were very helpful!), and her dogs were also a perfect welcoming committee! The stables were meticulously clean, the stalls were spacious and had fresh bedding, and the paddock runs were in excellent condition (grass not dry lot, fences in great condition ,etc.) It was also a nice touch that bucket hanging straps were provided in case someone might be traveling without hang straps (and buckets were also offered, but we opted to use our own due to my own anxieties over shared buckets -- but the buckets offered were clean and in excellent condition!). The outdoor runs had their own large buckets for water as well. I also thought it was so nice that Olivia had read through my reservation comments, and offered to let the horses be together (as I'd requested) or showed me that if they were in separate stall+paddocks setups that they'd be in adjoining paddocks, and let me have my choice. (I went with her suggestion of the separate stall+paddocks so they'd each have a stall to get out of the elements if it started raining -- it never did though!) I felt very safe and comfortable leaving my horses here overnight, which I know is the primary concern for all horse owners looking at layover accommodations. If you're traveling through this area and need a layover, I HIGHLY recommend Sunset Hill Stable! I loved our experience here, and I'd absolutely use this facility again if I needed a layover (and in fact, I loved the place so much that I'm going to keep it in mind as a retirement option for my older horse, even with it being 4 hours away from me--it's just that good!)."

"This was the perfect solution for our overnight needs while hauling 3 horses to NC from NE. The stalls were perfect, and we appreciate greatly your hospitality. Without living quarters it was exceptionally helpful to have hotels close by. Thank you for being there!"