The lake itself is beautiful, and my 2-year-old had a great time swimming and playing on the beach…read more Unfortunately, the resort and restaurant experience left a lot to be desired.
To be fair, this was one of the busiest weekends I've ever seen there. As a business owner myself, I understand that on extremely busy days things don't always go as planned, and because of that I was willing to overlook quite a bit.
We stayed in Chipmunk Condo Cabin #3. The cabin had a musty smell and a very small bathroom. The beach area was great for families, and my daughter absolutely loved it.
The biggest issue was the food and customer service. Around 2 PM on our first day, we stopped to get pizza for lunch while waiting for our cabin and found out they were already sold out. Since there aren't many nearby dining options, I stopped by the lodge around 6:45 PM to specifically ask when they stopped seating guests. The two younger employees seemed annoyed and unsure but eventually told me the last seating would be at 7:45 PM.
I explained that I was traveling with my wife, a 2-year-old, and a 3-month-old, and that driving an hour to Ashland or Klamath Falls for dinner wasn't ideal. We hurried back to the cabin, got ready, and returned around 7:35 PM, only to be immediately told they couldn't seat us because they were too busy and had a large party.
My question was simple: Why wasn't I told that when I specifically came in earlier to ask? Had they explained the situation, I would have gladly come sooner.
After asking to speak with a manager, who never actually came out, we were suddenly able to be seated. Once inside, there were several empty tables available, which made the whole situation even more confusing.
Our server seemed annoyed from the moment we sat down. We decided to order our food to go instead of dining in, and even that seemed to bother him. When I politely provided feedback about the miscommunication, his response was essentially, "Well, we got you seated, didn't we?" That completely missed the point. The issue wasn't whether we eventually got a table. The issue was being given incorrect information and then nearly being turned away despite arriving before the stated seating cutoff.
The next morning, we discovered mice had chewed through snacks we had left on the kitchen counter overnight. There are no cabinets available to store food. When I reported it, the manager apologized and explained that even the cabin she lives in on-site has mice because they're in the forest. While that explanation makes sense, it didn't make my wife feel any better with a 3-month-old baby sleeping in the cabin.
The second day, pizza was available for lunch and was actually very good. The older gentleman working there was friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, when we returned around 6 PM for dinner, pizza was sold out again.
My wife then tried ordering dinner to go from the lodge and was given a completely different takeout menu that excluded many of the better dinner options, including items we had ordered to go the night before. When she asked if she could order from the regular dinner menu, she was told absolutely not. The inconsistency made no sense.
At that point, we'd had enough. Between the restaurant issues, the mice, and the overall lack of customer service, we decided to cut our trip short and leave a day early.
The lake and beach are beautiful and have the potential to make this a great family destination. Unfortunately, poor communication, inconsistent service, restaurant issues, and mice in the cabins overshadowed what could have been a wonderful stay. Mice may be part of being in the woods, but regular preventative pest control inside the cabins would go a long way toward making guests feel more comfortable.
