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    Best Western Crystal River Resort

    2.9 (48 reviews)
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    Coffee prices during throughout the morning.

    Best Western Crystal River Resort is now the PaddleTail Waterfront Lodge. Don't be fooled by the new name, it has a lot of the old problems and they do their best to deceive you. I am currently laying in my room here at the PaddleTail, this is night three of five, and after two days in building one they were gracious enough to move us to building number two. The best part of this place is the location, it is right on the bay and is an easy paddle to go see the manatees. The place looks good from the road until you realize your stay will be in horribly dated buildings. One saving grace is they have gotten rid of the carpet and put in easily cleaned vinyl-plank flooring. They are in the process of putting up a new building, but as they do everyone will have to deal with construction noise, mess and congestion. Our first room was in building one, their "Standard Room" with very meager accommodations (two double beds, a small mini-fridge, a small flat screen TV and a wood rack for your clothes). Our room had a perfect view of the construction dumpster and was adjacent to the resort's laundry room. At least I know the sheets get washed, we heard the washers everyday starting at 6:30 and running all day. The first day there was no cable or internet access. They did get the cable fixed the next day but after asking about internet access twice, they finally offered to move our room. Even in the new room, the internet is sketchy at best, better than only working minutes out of a couple days. We are now in a "Deluxe Room", it has furniture and a normal size TV and a view of the parking lot (not just the dumpster, about as good as they get). They offer free coffee most of the time except for when their coffee bar is open, then they take away the free coffee and expect you to pay for "premium coffee". Do not believe the free breakfast, instead of providing breakfast they provide you with a paper lunch bag containing a small bottle of water, a granola bar, a piece of fruit and a mini muffin (I don't know of anyone who would consider this a proper breakfast). I wish I had known this had been the Best Western Crystal River Resort before I booked, the name change has covered up a lot of bad reviews.

    Boat trailer parking
    Jessica R.

    It's a great waterfront location that's close to everything. You can rent boats or kayaks or bring your own. They have a VERY NARROW boat ramp and 16-18 boat slips. I think staying at this location is more about enjoying your surroundings and not so much about the hotel. The crowd on our weekend was rougher so much for the kids. The majority of the staff was nice. Room wasn't attended to over the weekend.. and was pretty dated.. breakfast was... lackluster (minus the biscuits). The grills were a nice bonus as was the boat trailer parking and the water hose. They offered a military discount for the launch and trailer parking fee!

    Our sheets the second night when the sheets were changed. Some sorta ink
    Victoria S.

    Run dont walk from thus place! We checked in and our room was close to the water next door to the restaurant. First thing I see is an ashtray full of ashes and the room reeked of cigarettes. Wasnt warned that a band played right next door every night. Was excited there was a hot tub but of course we were told the heater is broken. Would have been nice to know. Next morning coffee machine doesnt work and told front desk. Next day after going out return to the room and the new sheets on the bed have ink and stains. At breakfast now and toaster is broken. This place is the worst!

    Dirt or mold in the corners of the bathroom.

    Carpet is filthy. Looks to be black mold in the corners of the bathroom. Older refrigerator that made a loud noise had to be unplugged in order to sleep. Towels were dingy and worn. The noise from the road made it impossible to sleep.

    Carl F.

    Okay, so it's not the Ritz... .No, really though, I mean it. It's actually a Best Western (and I'd defo file it under "Motel" and not a "Hotel"), but it's was a pretty nice set up. Our room was on the 2nd floor, it was clean, it didn't smell, our internet came in just fine, there are vanity mirrors and sinks outside of the bathroom so the whole fam could get a good rotation going on the shower vs. getting ready thing, and it's maybe 45 feet from the dive shop and river where you're gonna want to swim with manatees. The "Lobby" is a separate building but nice enough. It has lots of manatee newspaper clippings and photos along with a really great gift shop. It was just what I needed to scratch the vacation itch of wanting to buy souvenirs. I got so much stuff here, and it wasn't even crap- it was legit cool stuff... at least for someone whose fave animals are manatees, like me. I got manatee pajama pants, manatee earrings, a manatee necklace, a manatee travel brush, a manatee belt, a manatee springy thing that will live in my car, and a few other things that unless you're a manatee lover like me, you just wouldn't understand. The gift shop also has free, fresh coffee and tea with all the fixins- it was a pretty good deal. When we come back to Crystal River to do some more manatee swimming, we'll most def be coming back to the BW over the more expensive place we had previously stayed up the road.

    Saw a manatee this morning at the hotel dock.
    Sarah P.

    We had a pet friendly efficiency which was the perfect place for us to relax while visiting family and looking at the area as a potential place to relocate. Bathroom is a little on the small side but the rest of the room makes up for it and the toilet ran off and on our entire stay. Had to be sure to keep the door closed to keep the noise down. The kitchenette had all we needed for our meals. Complementary breakfast is okay but we chose to make or own most mornings. We were really bummed that the hot top/ pool wasn't available past 9:30. As we were here visiting family it would have been nice to relax in the hot tub until at least 11:00. Wasn't sure why it was an issue (actually got told we couldn't use it) since it was no lifeguard on duty - on you own anyway. Wifi was responsive - as I work remotely, needed to be able to connect worry free and was able to do so. We also were pretty heavy on the technology with smartphones, laptops, iPads but it didn't blip once. Tv is new and able to connect HDMI for gaming. Wouldn't hesitate to stay again or recommend.

    Toilet bowl

    Stayed in a one bedroom suite. Absolutely repulsive! Soap scum in shower, disgusting toilet bowl, shower curtain stained and smelled of mildew, floors absolutely filthy, sugar ants on kitchenette counter. Here are pictures. Couldn't wait to leave!

    Observing the magnificent manatees

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Best Western Crystal River Resort

    Review Highlights - Best Western Crystal River Resort

    You are located right along the River water and beside the King Bay's walkway.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Retreat at Crystal Manatee - Front entryway.

    Retreat at Crystal Manatee

    (33 reviews)

    Charming little motel. Clean, friendly staff, great location! Very quiet. They delivered fresh…read morebaked croissants shortly after we checked in. Restaurant on site.

    We stayed one night in a deluxe king room Valentines Day weekend because we were traveling from…read moreTampa to Ocala. The online reservation process was seamless and easy to navigate. We received another confirmation email prior to our arrival that made it clear early check-in before 3 could not be accommodated so we were careful to arrive between the check-in hours of 3-9 PM. Check-in was easy and the room was very well appointed with everything we needed. We've stayed in everything from 5-star hotels in Europe and Indonesia to very cheap motels in small towns. This hotel competes with some of the better places we have stayed. The hotel is has been renovated by the owners and matches the cute quaint vibe of the city itself, Crystal River. It is also within walking distance of shops, restaurants, and the water / boat ramps which we loved. The room came with a bottle of wine and some sweet treats which we really appreciated. Especially once we learned that getting a spot for dinner on Valentines Day in the small town was pretty much impossible. Because of this we opted to get carry out, open our wine, and enjoy the dessert left in the room. As others mentioned the room was spotless, we found the decor to be current and fresh, the bathroom was stunning, and the AC and refrigerator were perfect. We will return at the next possible time and highly, highly recommend.

    Kings Bay Lodge

    Kings Bay Lodge

    (16 reviews)

    $$

    Pros: great location. Walking distance to town, multiple bars & restaurants and Hunter Springs…read more Plenty of boat docks. Rooms are large and clean. Pool is really nice for what it is. Spring fed and cold! Cons: no hot water. Luke warm at best. AC is decent but could be better. No ice. Ice maker was not working on this trip in this room. Fridge did not get very cold. Freeze did not freeze. We enjoyed grilling out and having our dinners at the tables facing the sunset. Really nice. Overall it was a good stay with access to the water and close proximity to downtown. Old Florida !

    A beautiful old fashioned motel located on the Kings Bay waterway in Crystal River. This place is…read morenostalgic because Dave stayed here with his family over 60 years ago. There are 18 units that are efficiencies. They are kept very well and have a kitchen and lovely bathroom. Everything is provided for you. There is a spring fed pool that you can swim in. The property is adjacent to the water, so you can fish or sit outside and enjoy the view. The motel is located just a few blocks from downtown and there are restaurants, gift and coffee shops. There are trails and water near by and Dave took his electric bike all over today. What a great place to visit and relax for a few days! They even let us park Pandy right across from our room! They provide grills and briquettes for their quests and there is a covered area with picnic tables where you can eat. Thank you Kings Bay for an enjoyable stay! We love supporting our local community businesses wherever we are!

    Angler's Resort

    Angler's Resort

    (15 reviews)

    $$

    I would give zero if possible…read more We rented a boat for the 1/2 day afternoon on Feb 20. They advertise the boat would be a Bennington boat. They gave us an old boat, radio didn't work, and top was extremely hard to retract which we had to do before going thru an underpass upriver. The boat acted weird but 1 hour down the river the boat completely quit! Called and they sent Todd an hour upstream (nice guy) to us. He couldn't get the boat started, so had to pull us back to their dock. So 3 hours spent on the water with only one hour of our 4 hour rental enjoyable. Todd assured us over and over they would make this right, we would not be charged, not our fault, etc. Todd did offer us another boat, but it was 3:30 and I'm sure they would not have waited for us to get our other 3 hours, I would not want to be on the river after dark! It's now March 11, we have returned to TN the end of Feb and still no credit for our broken down boat. After countless phone calls, the owner Stan finally agreed on March 6 to refund half our 300$ spent. It's now March 11 and no money has been refunded. Be careful renting from this company, and don't let them give you the old brown pontoon. If Todd had told us the policy was "no refund" we would have got another boat before we left the end of February!

    Safe, clean, affordable. Had a four night stay with my daughter to visit rainbow Springs and the…read moresurrounding area. I am somewhat of a bougie hotel person, but not against the economic stays. I would definitely recommend here, if you are extremely particular about your sheets and pillows bring your own. Would definitely stay again.

    Best Western Crystal River Resort - hotels - Updated July 2026

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