Circle S Guest Ranch & Country Inn

I recently attended an office day-​retreat at Circle S, and was beyond impressed. My colleagues and I had a full day of business to take care of and this setting made it so much less stressful. The staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating. When we arrived around 9:00am, freshly cut fruit and freshly brewed coffee awaited us; ten minutes later, a huge coffee cake, straight from the oven, was presented to us.
I was most impressed with our lunch. I was the only vegan amongst our group (which is not an uncommon circumstance in group dining situations) and was wondering what I would be able to pick from during the lunch that the Circle S chefs served to us. I was shocked that they made me two completely separate, amazing vegan dishes! The first was a large bowl of lentil-​bean mildly spicy chili, and the second was a plate of fresh vegetables and probably the best hummus I have eaten recently. They also served a large, fresh romaine salad to everybody. My colleagues were impressed with their dishes as well; I believe they had a spicy tortilla soup dish, as well as a generous portion of vegetarian lasagna (I assume this is what they were eating, because, honestly, I didn’t care what they were eating when I was shoveling amazing food into my face in a seriously undignified manner).
The Inn itself is relaxing and we toured around the bedrooms available to stay in; all were nicely decorated and spacious. The grounds of Circle S are in the rolling hills of Eastern Kansas and scenic. They also have several bison on the property!
I cannot say enough nice things about Circle S, and I plan on going back in the near future for a relaxing weekend. Having a work retreat here made seven hours of work fly by.

My husband and I came here for a winter weekend getaway for our anniversary. This is exactly what we needed and had such an awesome time at Circle S. We had a great room with a nice view of the ranch, lots of space, and an awesome fireplace. The staff was wonderful and so friendly and willing to be as involved or not as we wanted. We took a long walk around the ranch and explored all the land and their buildings which was fun to see everything and not have anything that was off limits. We loved the hot tub in the silo — a fun way to spend a winter evening. We will definitely be back and look forward to our next visit!

My husband and I had our wedding at the Circle S in June 2013 and we could not have been happier for making this choice! We live in Brazil but I am from Lawrence and my husband is from Boston. We had friends and family coming from all over the world and we really wanted to show them how beautiful Kansas is and not just the inside of another hotel ballroom. To say the least they were all very impressed with the Ranch! Our wedding weekend exceeded all expectations and this was due both to the beauty of the property as well as the quality and friendliness of the management and staff.
Our wedding party stayed out at the Inn (they have 12 really nice lodge-​like suites) and had so much fun all being together. One of the best parts about having our wedding at the ranch was that you rent the facility for the weekend, so no one is telling you the party must end at 11pm. We went as late as people wanted to and even had an after party at the Inn when the reception ended with music, snacks and a fire pit. This flexibility really helped add to the intimacy of the weekend– we didn’t feel like we were renting the place for an event – it was OUR wedding weekend.
The food was wonderful. Jason (the chef) came up with a special Brazilian menu for our rehearsal dinner that was marvelous. We were having trouble decided on the menu so he suggested why not tie in that part of our lives with the meal. It was perfect and again made it feel like it was our unique wedding, we could tailor everything to fit us. Saturday we had a smoked BBQ sit down reception dinner that was fantastic too. Many compliments were given throughout the weekend on all the food!
Overall, we simply cannot recommend this place enough. If you like the idea of a ranch wedding it is hard for me to imagine a better venue. As for the management and staff I don’t believe it can get better – weddings are stressful but they really helped take a lot of the worries away. Once the weekend arrived we never had to think twice and it was the greatest weekend of our lives.
Many thanks to Mary, Jason and everyone at the Ranch!
Colby & Hayden Jaques

I’ve been to over a dozen destination wedding venues and this is one of the best! This place is the perfect getaway for events: the pastoral location is beautiful, the rooms are country cute, the staff are down-​to-​earth and neighborly, and the food is Kansas-​style fantastic!
With rolling hills, views of bison, and the passing of long-​horned steer, what’s not to love?!
Admittedly, the first night our room was a bit chilly; however, I knew the temps were going to be in the 30sF and packed PJs, so was prepared. But that’s the only «complaint» (in quotes because that’s too strong a word!) that I can muster.
I can only hope to find myself at another event at the Circle S Ranch because it was perfect!

My husband and I were given a gift certificate for Christmas to stay at this ranch. We had scheduled to use it this past Friday, 7÷21÷13. I no longer have the gift certificate, but it was somewhere in the range of $ 270.00.
We checked into the ranch around 5pm or so and was taken up to our room. We had chosen the Celestial room because we were told that was the only room available when I made the reservations. Seeing as how much the room cost a night, we were excited to stay and expected great things. However, when we arrived, we were highly disappointed. The overall atmosphere of the place seemed ok, but the room was awful. The first thing we noticed was the room was hotter than hates. It had a tiny window AC unit to try and power a big room, on the 3^rd floor in the dead of summer. The carpets had stains all over it, the bedding appeared as if it was from the 80’s and dingy looking, the baseboards in the room looked dusty and dirty, which to me indicates that it doesn’t get thoroughly cleaned and I know this should not be that important, but no TV. I could have lived with no TV if everything else would have been up to par. We did not feel comfortable walking around there barefoot, let alone anything else bare. So, we left. We immediately went down to the receptionist girl and turned our key in.
I would think for a room that costs almost $ 300 a night, it would have been a lot nicer of a place to stay. I am sure at one point in the ranch’s history, it was a nice place to stay and worth $ 300 a night. However, it appears as if no upkeep or maintenance has taken place in years.

The setting is wonderful, but that was almost all that was positive about our two-​night stay in April 2013.
No one on the office staff was able to greet us, so the cook showed us to our room. The room was roomy, but had nothing covering the cement floor and the door had a full inch gap at the bottom, ensuring that every noise traveled freely between our room and others nearby. So much for a private, romantic getaway!
Worse, it was a chilly night, the room had no form of temperature control and we bundled under the covers in our street clothes as the inside temperature fell into the 50s. With no staff on the premises after 7 p.m., nothing could be done to provide any warmth.
With standard rates starting at $ 299/​night, one would expect outstanding hospitality and high quality linens and toiletries. That is not what we found at all. On the plus side, the meals were very well prepared (even if no choice was offered).
The bar was closed on the first night we were there and a search of all three floor revealed nothing to drink but water.
From reading reviews on other sites, it’s obvious that our experience was more the exception than the rule at Circle S, so we wish you much better luck! Oh, and good luck checking out minutes before the checkout deadline when the only people in the office area are two preschoolers.

Located among rolling hills. We stayed on the third floor in a massive room with a great bed a huge tub and a fireplace. The hot tub at the bottom of a wooden silo was novel. The natural setting is a good place to walk, sleep, and do yoga. I can also recommend the annual hatch green chile roasting festival in September. An old tyme band, good food, and 2 $ locally brewed beer.