We wanted a mini getaway that wasn't too far from Vegas and when we came across Holmstead Ranch, it was just so charming and too hard to say no to. First off, I'm not as one with nature as I would like to be, but allergies and bugs just really don't make outdoor life all that crave worthy for me for long periods of time. So the idea of "glamping" and not getting eaten alive at night definitely was a selling point.
There are multiple types of different bungalows available throughout the property. They have the bottom of the line covered wagons which are literally just that. Then there are wood side and lakeside cottages of various sizes. They also just have campsite spaces but like I mentioned before, that was not going to motivate me to go. It was a toss up between the woodside and lakeside; the lakeside was surrounding this mini-lake with a sand area, kayaks, and paddle boards and a mini dock, while the woodside was more on the outer edge but was more of a quiet wilderness vibe. We opted for Woodside Cottage 8 for my husband, myself, and our 8 year old son.
We left Vegas on June 7 around noon and headed towards Harmon's Grocery in Santa Clara (basically St. George) to stock up on food and such. The only next closest place to the ranch is Veyo and they basically have gas, a pizza place, and a pie place (which we sadly didn't make it to due to limited store hours). We took a detoured route (no thanks to Apple Maps) but finally pulled into the ranch around 4:45 (check in is at 4pm). We got our key and headed to our home for the next few days.
There was space to park alongside a charcoal BBQ grill and a picnic table and benches. On the porch were two chairs and a table, which was very delightful for passing the time. Inside there was a Roku TV, futon foldout sofa, a mini dining table, 2 chairs, a stocked kitchen with a decent sized fridge/freezer, microwave, stove/oven, and all the pots, pans, cookware, and utensils you may need. The bathroom had a sink, toilet, and shower/bath. Then in the back "room" or part of the cottage was a section with a queen sized bed, tv hooked to satellite, closet, and ceiling fan. It reminded me of that HGTV show of Tiny Spaces because they packed quite a bit into a small space.
Our plan was to stay until June 10 (checkout is 11 am) but we ended up cutting it short and leaving the night of June 9. While we enjoyed hiking around the property, visiting the animals, playing/kayaking/paddleboarding in the lake, playing basketball and cornhole, renting a golf cart for a day ($65/24 hours or $40 for 4 hours), it was the lack of comfortable bedding and furniture that kept us from staying the final night. Oh yes, might I add that there is a wonderfully powerful AC however it is so loud and startling, it makes you hesitant to run it at night. The bed wasn't super comfy (especially for my husband who is 6'5" and it had head and foot rails, nor was the futon sofa which wasn't extremely comfortable to sit on to watch TV nor sleep on (we had a tent for our son and he slept on top of it).
Overall though, I highly recommend this ranch. Aside from food and renting the golf cart, everything was included: access to the lake, life jackets, kayaks, paddleboats...and to be in the wilderness of Utah and have a running toilet, great shower pressure and warm water as well as AC...and TV and wifi...(bring your Netflix sign ins)...can you really complain? read more