Our second time with Lakeside was great again! We called to reserve a boat outside of peak dates…read moreand we're lucky to get a big pontoon for a group of 8 folks. Plenty of room to fish, and listen to music. The carpet was super wet, not sure how that happened but everything did get soaked on the floor. But, we couldn't complain to much. Even with cloudy weather we had a great time and kept the boat all day. Drop off and pick up were easy peezy. We'll definitely continue to use LFR for our summer and fall trips up north.

I am so, so disappointed. Renters beware! I am sad to leave my first-ever negative review, but your…read morelife and health might depend on this one. After renting the "top of the line" 2007 tritoon from Lakeside Fun Rentals August 2024, along with a tube/rope for a day of family fun on the lake, we were horrified by the lack of cleanliness and upkeep on the boat, the musty/moldy (and not close to sufficient for the listed passenger count) life jackets, and the lack of a safety flag-- which the company said was unnecessary because it was "not legally required in the state of South Dakota". These red flags should have been enough to warn us away, but with no way to get our money back for the full day's rental at that point, we decided to make the best of it, get our own life jackets, and make a day of it. My husband is someone whose professions leads him to see the outcomes of emergencies regularly and is one of the most overly cautious folks you will ever meet with our children's health and safety because he's witnessed time again what careless or reckless behavior can lead to. In spite of all safety measures imaginable in place, after a few short hours on this boat, our 17-year-old son was nearly taken out by the metal piece of the boat which holds the rope to the boat careening back at him, nearly missing his head. This mechanical disaster obviously cut our day at the lake short. Even the gentleman who came to pickup the boat remarked that the mechanical error was truly alarming and that we were lucky no one had been injured. To be clear-- our family has been regularly boating for decades-- mainly on our family's Malibu in Idaho-- but also in many rentals at many lakes over the years. We know our way around boats and what how they should work and be treated. This experience stands apart as beyond alarming and truly dangerous from beginning to end. After leaving a FB comment (after having nearly two dozen calls ignored over two weeks and having a promise from the employee who dropped off and picked up the boat to have the manager reach out to us right away also fail), we spoke to the owner, Scott, this afternoon- 19 days after the incident. Scott insisted that the mechanical error was due to "gross negligence" and "dangerous behavior" on our part likely caused by "flooring the boat" (frankly impossible due to the very low horsepower in the boat... but we digress.) Scott stated that in addition to not refunding us for the portion of the full day rental we paid for but were unable to enjoy due to the gross mechanical error, he also fully intends to keep our $500 deposit. Actually. Scott was disrespectful, dismissive and unfortunately exactly what you would expect from the owner of the company whose boat nearly did a great deal of harm, or worse, to someone we love. PLEASE beware and spread the word when considering supporting this business. We love supporting small local businesses and realize how important doing so is to our local economy-- but we warn against supporting companies like this whose products are dangerously out of repair, moldy, and without proper safety equipment, and whose ownership do not take ownership when things go wrong. We are earnestly hoping that this review will help others avoid a similar or much worse outcome and also that it might encourage the company ownership to do better for their customers and community going forward.