Just like Cedar Point down the road, I believe that the amount of enjoyment you will get out of Kalahari is based a lot of the time of year you go. If you are going over a holiday weekend, or during the peak summer months, you can expect the place to be packed, the lines to be long, and the staff to be stretched to their "customer service" limits. But, if you plan to go during an off time of year, then you will get the most value and fun out of your stay. Our family has found that the few weekends before Christmas break starts and before Thanksgiving are usually great times to go. The only downside to going during an off season time is that the water park hours are usually shorter, and there are less "special activities", but that is a minor trade off for short lines for the slides and water activities. Eating at the resort can get very expensive very quickly, but we found a few local restaurants that will deliver to the resort, or you can get in your car and find pretty decent restaurant choices about 5 minutes up Route 250. read more

We just left from our weekend get away with our 2 children and I have to say that I am beyond pleased with the whole resort and water park! The service was awesome, everyone was so pleasant and friendly. The water park was amazing for our 5 and 7 year old boys! We also enjoyed the arcade and the extra little crafts. We didn't want to leave after being there two days, it was very relaxing and well worth every penny we spent! We are already planning another trip in a couple months. I'd recommend this to anyone! read more

Kalahari - Best drinks around! - Resorts Near Me - Sandusky, Ohio

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A Small Fortune - but there are ways to save! The place is amazing. But very very expensive. Our kids ranged from age 10 to 15. All had fun. They will definitely want to go back next year. All the rooms are pricey. Your best bet is to book a room as far in advance as possible. And try to go during the week. The rates change at a moment's notice for any room type. (And I swear increased online 30 seconds after I would call to inquire or look online about a specific date. And I'm not the paranoid type.) We had two moms and four kids. We found a room called the Hospitality Suite that would sleep six - two Murphy beds and pullout couch. It's all one big room - but when the beds were put away, the room was very spacious. The large corner wet bar area with four stools was a big hit with the kids and the fact that we packed food. The balcony, bathroom and fridge were all a great size also. The kids were loving the room. Two TVs also. Later in the evening, the kids took over the larger TV near the "living area" while the moms hung at the bar with our laptops and smaller tv. All was good. Oh and a great secret hint for those moms that can let their bigger kids go off without supervision: There is another outside pool away from the mayhem. It was a heavenly break for us two moms!!! And no one cared about it. But we did. And the birds were chirping in our peaceful heaven for an adult timeout. read more

Kalahari - The pool away from the mayhem that was NOT popular. Except for us moms. Ahhhhh! - Resorts Near Me - Sandusky, Ohio

Don't get the spa pedicure! It is overpriced for the quality in fact it was one of the worst I ever had. The person that performed it did not make me feel welcome and when I emailed regarding my experience the email I received didn't contain an apology. The water park area was okay. Customer Service is the pits. Even the 10 year old boys with us had complaints about the arcade area. When one asked for a different color ball the attendant just kind of threw it at him and walked away. These are very well behaved kids. I have no desire to visit any of the Kalahari resorts. read more

The water park itself is wonderful, and that's the only reason it gets 2 stars. Otherwise, I would give zero if possible. The rooms are overpriced and DISGUSTING. My boyfriend and I booked "the hut" room for one night, and we were greeted by swarms (yes, swarms) of ants on the floor, walls, and in the beds. A few of them somehow got on my body, and they were crawling all over. Filthy. Save your money, and stay at one of the hotels nearby where the rooms are sure to be cleaner. 340 bucks for ants and rude front desk employees is a ripoff and totally unacceptable. First time at Kalahari, and most likely the last. Very disappointed. For as much as rooms and park admissions are, you'd think things would be a bit more cleanly and the employees would be more accommodating. Instead of employees rudely saying "well the housekeepers miss some spots, they can't catch everything", maybe try having them apologize first and foremost... Especially when a large group of ants should NEVER be missed when cleaning. read more

Thank you guys so much for letting colossalcon be at your resort. I wish we werent kicked out on sunday since thats against the policy but hopefully it doesnt happen next year. I hope that the other stuck up old people complaining about cosplay do not ruin your reputation. I think we all know most to all are lying and making up scenarios so that they can permit patty everyone. So excited to be back for colossal con and the next time i visit six flags. Wonderful rooms. wonderful venues. read more

Love this place. As a guy in his twenties, I love coming here. I came here 3 times when I was a kid and each time was funner and funner. The hotels are so clean. I've been to the restaurant and it was nice. A little expensive though. I know families love coming here. I hope I come here again! read more

My husband has a terminally ill co-worker. We purchased a night at Kalahari for this woman and her family. Explained we are not the ones coming for the night. We were told not a problem, they charged my husband's credit card over a month ago. The coworker is too ill to go but her husband and young kids tried to check in today. Nope. NOW they need my husband's license and credit card even though they already charged him in full a month ago.!!! He signed a form provided by Kalahari for using this charge as a gift. All seemed to be in order.The person answering the phone was very unkind and unhelpful and all she kept saying is "this is our policy." No compassion, no customer service. These 2 young kids and this husband are going through the worst time of their life and this gift was supposed to be a stress reliever and a reprieve for this family!! I would never recommend spending money at a company without a heart, who uses your money for a month then hassles the person who received your gift. Ridiculous, uncalled for and just plain rotten. No stars from us and never again would we try to buy a gift for someone to use at Kalahari! read more

Truly I cannot day enough good things about our visit! We stayed from Sunday to Tuesday for my daughters 2nd birthday and enjoyed every single minute! My teenager and my toddler had fun, as did me and my husband. Our room was incredibly clean and comfortable! The hotel was great, the lobby was great, literally everything. The waterpark was absolutely perfect for the entire family. I'm so pleased that we decided to spend our time here over anywhere else. read more

My family rented a cabana and spent the night. While we were at the park we opened a tab to order food/drinks. To do that our attendant said we needed to give him a credit card. I thought this was odd since we were able to bill items to our room and all of our pay info was on file with the resort. I reluctantly game him my debit card and we received it back that evening when we signed for the charges. The next morning, on our way home my wife discovered that someone had used my card to make over $2,100 in online purchases. A felony amount. I notified Kalahari the day we discovered the charges, about 11:30am. I didn't hear back until the next day. When I did finally hear back there was no sense of urgency and upon learning that the items were shipped to Chicago, my card was probably stolen before I arrived at Kalahari. I was told by the staff member that Chicago is a bad area and they can't even send gift cards there. I don't know how this has any bearing on someone stealing my information in Sandusky, Ohio. It's their view that the theft of my information, less than 24 hours after they were in sole possession of my card, was simply a coincidence. To my knowledge no investigation was performed (I spoke to someone in Finance). I will be filing a police report. I was robbed as a guest at their resort and they claim no responsibility. If you do ever go to Kalahari do not give anyone your physical credit card. read more

It's so-so. I am not a huge water park or even pool person, there's always too much going on at these places -that's a given- and I never feel it's truly clean... so I'm really just giving my opinion as a parent who came here for my children. They did have fun but for always hearing about Kalahari as the biggest water park in our area, I wasn't that impressed. I don't know what I was expecting and it wasn't a terrible experience, as I am giving 3 stars, but it just seems overrated. We were able to get a room across from our friends with no issues so that was nice. The room was cleaner/nicer than we anticipated after reading reviews but nothing truly special. I mean for how much they charge they should have decent rooms anyway! The indoor park smells terrible and the water just *felt* dirty. The lazy river was a mess, employees standing everywhere telling people to get off the edge of the floats (not sure why that's a rule) but there were tons of empty floats clogging the lazy river and none of said employees thought to clear those out of the way, even after we said something. On our second day there I even started to notice a weird smell by the outdoor pools as well. Then my 7 year old was being turned away from slides in the kid section that she was able to go down the day before with no problem. Reading the sign with the rules on it, it made no sense why they were turning her away but we were getting ready to leave anyway so I didn't dig deeper into that. We ate at the buffet for dinner and that was very underwhelming. Golden Corral has way more options than this place. I was expecting more for $20 a pop at a big resort like this. I do like that they had Starbucks in the lobby. Most stuff is overpriced, but that's kind of expected, just wish there were more "perks" with our stay. All in all, it was fine to experience one time but not somewhere I'd want to go back to. read more

This place was the bees knees. The drinks were good and the deal on beer is the best way to go. None of the lifeguards actually made me feel safe but that's part of the thrill. The thrill level is medium saucy so take your grandma because she can probably handle most of it. The pizza is sub par after about 5 drinks. Don't eat the left overs. Good vacay. Knope out. read more

On January 2nd at 4:00pm a maintenance man walking into my room while me and my partner were naked. I did not recieve a phone call or requested permission to enter my room after check in. Secondly, the staff allowed me and my partner to walk into a pool that was deficated in. Then proceeded to leave us in the pool while it was closed off as they waited for cleaning staff. No one informed us. These two events happened within an hour of each other and cause large confrontation within my family unit. These issues eventually lead to problems between myself and my partner. These events destroyed my vacation. Kalahari broke the law and disregarded my rights. Everyone needs to be aware of these practices. I am being denied a refund and proper service. The building is not staffed with proper management to deal with these types of situations. I was removed by security the night of january 2nd because they would not assist or help with the situations I had faced. I will never return to this establishment. read more

Despite all the negative reviews I read before taking a weekend trip to Kalahari. When we arrived everything was awesome check in was easy. Our room was ready. Customer service was great, even when we had got the vip check in and the extra things we were supposed to get weren't in our room. All I had to do was call and they were delivered very quickly. Everything was clean. All together it was a great trip me and my boyfriend will be returning for another weekend get away. read more

This was our first time here... the indoor and outdoor water park were a good time; however, I would recommend being cautious when staying here. First, I am covered in bites that resemble bed bug bites. Second, we stayed on the 6th floor and during the storm there was a loud thrashing/banging noise coming from what sounded like the roof. This loud noise happened every other minute (not exaggerating) for a few hours - from 12am to 3am approximately. When we called the front desk they were no help whatsoever... and unfortunately none of us were able to sleep until the wind settled. There is definitely something loose to be making a noise that loud. We're pretty understanding people and understand things cannot be fixed right away in the middle of a storm, but it would have been nice if staff would have attempted to accommodate us (move rooms, or a discounted rate, or anything for that matter), For the amount of money it costs to stay here I was expecting a lot more... overall, we're very disappointed and not sure we will be back (especially will not be back to stay). read more

Very upset because the hotels bed had fucking bed bugs ,my whole family got bitten all over the body, we spoke to the manager and they didn't do anything about it but denied it was bed bugs but I seen the bed bugs will never stay there EVER AGAIN!! Also the arcade area they had poop all over the floor and nobody cleaned it I am very disappointed people need to be careful and see where they sleep in. read more

Such a fun time. I was here for a work convention. The resort is huge! There are 10 restaurants, an indoor and outdoor waterpark, arcade, spa, bowling, laser tag, mini golf and so much more. The park is clean and the staff is friendly. A great place for families. The only suggestion I would make is to not get a massage. My massage therapist seemed very inexperienced especially for the cost of the massage. Overall the resort was awesome and definately a must go if you are staying in Sandusky! read more

This place is amazing and one of my favorite resorts to stay at. The rooms are always nice and clean and there's plenty to do so you don't even need to leave the resort. The staff are always nice and helpful. The restaurants and ice cream shop inside are great and serve delicious food. The waterpark is also amazing and fun for everyone. read more

Really surprised by some of the recent negative comments for this resort. Went here just to visit the water park for the day on our honeymoon and we received the best customer service so we decided to stay one night which lead in to two nights because everything was an absolute pleasure! Prices for food and drinks were well with in reason. Our first encounter with Kayla at the front desk was a delight. Laura and Michelle at the water park were so helpful and friendly! Chris was a server at our cabana and he was not to overbearing but completely on top of phenomenal service. Jamie at one of the restaurants b lux was extremely friendly and offered a nice paced dinner for us. Room was extremely clean and throughout our stay and the entire establishment looked cleanly as well. We enjoyed the arcade games, 7D theater is a must!, couples massage was so relaxing, and of course all the in door water attractions. Amazing place, we have already told all our friends and family who are now dying to come visit. We will absolutely be back for another stay! Thank you to the entire staff for making our honeymoon relaxing and memorable!!! read more

From the awful rude staff, to the syrup bottle dried onto the table so bad my husband couldn't get it off, none of this compares to the piece of furniture with a TV on top falling on top of my child. Thankfully the bed broke the fall and took the majority of the weight. The tv fell off the bed when it feel and cracked. Kalahari's response to this is to charge their guest $400!! Let's not talk about their complete negligence on having the dresser or TV secured! Let's not talk about the fact that my child could have been seriously hurt or heavens much worse! What happens when it happens again, but there isn't a bed theRe to catch the weight? What happens when it is a much younger child that is trapped under that weight!? This is resort that caters to children and families and their response is to blame the guest because a CHILD was reaching for something and didn't use a dresser "for its intended purposes" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! My child Could have Been KILLED! This could have been easily prevented with a strap securing their furniture to the wall, but hey, let's blame the guest. Go sOmewhere else! read more

We had a great time on the all the slides. Prices are appropriate for the service you receive. The parking lot says it all, always busy.

I am very disappointed with the way the staff and management handled our complaints of severe smell of marijuana coming from our neighbors rooms. Our first nigh, the smell was slight. We informed the front desk of our complaint and they sent security to "investigate" the situation. Security then "briefed" us following their investigation informing us that they were not able to find anything, but they sprayed the hallway to make it smell better. We then had to request that they spray our room as well because that is wear we were most concerned about. On our second night, we received new neighbors that were on both sides of us from the same party. Through the conjoining room doors, we could smell the severe stench of marijuana coming through the doors. We called the front desk once again and complained that we were able to identify which rooms it was coming out of and that we needed something done about it for health concerns of someone in our room. No one ever came to speak with us or even addressed the situation. We then found a maintenance man in the hallway and informed him that we needed him to spray our room or do something to resolve the smell. He agreed and stated someone would be at our room soon, but no one ever came. Before checkout this morning I went to speak to the manager about my experience and her response consisted of saying there is nothing she can do about it, they didn't have any other rooms to give me, marijuana will be legal soon anyways, the marijuana is not what caused my friends asthma to act up- it was cleaners, and she will talk to her employees about not responding to our call. I feel like my stay was absolutely not worth almost $700 for the weekend for all the trouble we encountered. I understand that there may be limitations for what security can do to identify who is smoking, but customer service did absolutely nothing to encouragement me to want to come back or compensate for the trouble we experienced. At this point I will not be encouraging any friends or family to come back especially with chicldren if this is what they may experience! read more

The water park was fun our first night and then Friday came and it turned into a college party campus! There are no enforced quiet hours!!! The people next to us were so loud playing drinking games and swearing it sounded like they were in our room! Not muffled at all! The language of people using the hotel was horrific! Saturday night one entire hallway smelled like marijuana! We were not the only ones who noticed! The elevator smelled like cigarette smoke more than once and alcohol on another occasion! We were not charged the amount I booked at (this was fixed after two trips to the front desk). Our keys stopped working every day during our stay! Very annoying to find out when we made it to the 4th floor with five kids! We attended a convention that was amazing but if it's at Kalahari next year we won't be attending! We did need to meet with the EMT for an accident once and they were great! Most staff we came into contact with were very pleasant, but the people staying there are rude and disrespectful and nothing is done about it! read more

Used the build your own package and upgraded to the lodge suite. Wow what a nice room for a free upgrade! It had a Full kitchen so we were able to cook all our own meals and save a ton of money. Room was very clean and we had absolutely no complaints. It was actually more than what we expected out of a place like this. We also stayed mid week (tues-weds) and highly recommend that. There were no lines for rides so the kids were having a blast. Hotel staff is extremely friendly and helpful. Downfalls would be... alcoholic drinks are ridiculously expensive. We brought our own! And also there is a lot of walking to get from your room to the waterpark or other activities. Overall I was pretty impressed. Definitely will be going back again soon! read more

Not sure where to start but here is my honest review. I am on my 3rd visit to Kalahari and now that the hype of the place for me is over here is what I have to say. The water park is great. Although every time I've been here there has been one or more things out of order. The problem is with the hotel. The beds are very uncomfortable, they are as hard as a rock. When I asked them about this, the gentleman at the counter was very understanding but said that there was nothing that they could do except give me an extra blanket to sleep on. According to another guest I was talking to some of the rooms have different mattresses so I guess it is the luck of the draw. Which makes sense because I don't remember the beds being so awful on previous trips, but they could have been. I personally could not sleep during our stay which completely put a damper on my stay. Also, with my lack of sleep I also was more alert to the other annoyances of the place such as to fill my 53 cent coffee cup I was rudely pointed to the end of a 30 minute line of people ordering sandwiches and waiting for them to be cooked before the cashier would fill my cup. Even though she sat there doing nothing why the other girl made the people's order. Then apparently the cashiers friend walked in and was able to cut in front of everyone, myself included to get her coffee and be done in a few seconds, which should be the way it goes since the others were not ready to check out. I was overcharged by $20 by the salon where I got a massage to try and work out the pain I was in after sleeping in the rocklike bed. When I mentioned my being overcharged I was told that they should have rang things up differently for the special price (the advertised price) and she had no clue on how she'd be able to return my money. Now with all this said most employees were nice and tried to be helpful. I just think that the price we paid over $700 for two nights we should have had a nicer bed and a better time. I am very disappointed. read more

Stayed here as park of a soccer tournament. Brought the wife and had three kids. The discounted rate was nothing to write home about and it only provided 4 Waterpark passes so I still need to buy another. When we arrived the was a guy outside hassling people to unload and the move, I was barely out of our minivan and he was already next to me telling me I needed to hurry. We arrived at 4:30, my wife had to wait in line to check in and she waited in line for 45mins. When she got finally got to check in she was told our room wasn't ready. This is nearly two hours after check in! We got our room about 10 mins later. And it was in the "Sands" so we had to wheel everything about a quarter mile (not joking) from the main lobby to our room. We arrived to find a standard room with two double beds that smelt like a deepfryer was used buy the previous occupants. Also while we said we had 5 people, we only could only physically sleep 4. There was no coach or other way for someone to sleep in the room. When my wife called the front desk she has to rent a rollaway for $12/night. We went to the Waterpark after meeting up with the rest of the team and found that everyone was scattered throughout the Sands, which we found odd because we blocked off rooms like 3 months ago. We quickly found that several of the attractions in the Waterpark were closed; some of the water slides, one of the surfing attractions (they have two), one of the kiddy pools and another pool next to the wave pool. So this crowded and made the lines longer in the remaining areas. My wife went to order a drink at the cabana in the center of the waterpark and while they had two guys working one was talking to some lady about his side hustle and completely ignored my wife while he carried on the conversation. The other guy ended up helping my wife even though she was next to the lady the other bartender was talking too. One thing we enjoyed was the arcade. It was large with a lot of modern games and a lot of rigged claw machines. All in all, fairly disappointing experience. I don't think they had enough staff and the experience was underwhelming for all the nickel and diming they do. It's doubtful we will be back. read more

This past weekend I unfortunately stayed at the Kalahari resort in room 4204. I say unfortunately, because myself and other guest had MULTIPLE bed bug bites. At first when we reported it, the resort said that they had the house keeping look into it and that there were no bed bugs. It took one guest going to URGENT CARE to confirm that it was bed bugs. From reading other reviews, this is not the first time this has happened and obviously the resort has not fixed the issue. I WILL NEVER RETURN TO THE KALAHARI RESORTS AND I SUGGEST THAT YOU DON'T EITHER! read more

The entire experience was awful, we stayed from Saturday to Monday. As soon as we checked into our room it smelled awful and had bugs flying around, the room was not clean with unknown substances on the walls and tv, mold in several areas, and the toilet shifted when you sat on it, the safe was not operational. We called the front desk where we were told they were booked so switching rooms was not an option, but they would send maintenance and housekeeping. I asked to be informed if anything changed because we would be here for two nights with our young children. If anyone came they did not fix any of the issues, but left a dirty wet wash cloth on the bathroom floor. We thought we could endure the night and opened the window only to find we were located next to the buildings dumpster outside of our window, the smell was rancid. We purchased a ultimate package which included towels and some passes for the arcade, which has few games and some other items. At this time we realized some of the items were missing, they had not given us the $100 arcade pass, which downstairs says $100 buys 500 points, when we did get it we only had 400 points. Do not buy the ultimate package it is a rip off, there are no real savings! On Saturday the park was overcrowded and not a safe place for young children, the wave pool was closed and there was not much our children could do. Still no word from the hotel, no one attempted to make anything right, no discount, nothing. The next night the room smelled worse, no one slept comfortably, the smell from the dumpster was now coming through the air-conditioning unit in addition to the mold smell, and now at 3 am our toilet does not flush. I called they said they would send someone to fix it. I was told if I wanted to speak to someone about the room and I would need to talk to a manage who would be available the at 9 am the next morning. Now down at the desk at 9 am, they attempted to give us a credit for another stay. No THANK YOU. We were able to get a few charges removed but that was all. Spent over $1500 at this place for room and perks, and had the most terrible expereince all around. We will NEVER stay here again! read more

For a resort that prides themselves in being family friendly and a wonderful vacation spot, I would have expected to at least enjoy our vacation there. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. This was our first time at Wisconsin Dells so my wife and I didn't want to spare any expenses. We did our research and found that Kalahari had a lot of everything to offer for the whole family along with being fairly close to other attractions around the area. We booked the King kitchen and living room suite for extra room and comfort during our extended stay expecting things to be a little nicer than a standard suite but this wasn't the case at all. Everything went downhill from the start. I spent 1 hour at the desk just simply checking in. This isn't counting waiting in line either. They couldn't find our reservation, even with the confirmation email and number being given to them. I showed them the credit card purchase for their resort and the room only to still be questioned about our stay. After finally getting checked in, we arrive at the room and unpack. The suite was pretty spacious and clean except for the balcony. They obviously don't clean this area at all seeing how there were ashes and cigarette butts laying around. Having to sweep and clean that area just so we could sit out there and eat a snack without feeling gross wasn't enjoyable especially after the check-in ordeal. We went to the water park and our son had to get a bracelet stating his height. He was just barely over 42" which is the minimum for most of their larger slides there. Almost every slide we were stopped and told he couldn't go down because he was too short. Even though he had the wristband on which was given to us by the water park front desk employee before entering. He was measured up front, then given the appropriate bracelet but was given grief at the slides and measured. They would say, "their hands shouldn't be able to touch the measure pole and the child's head at the same time but we'll let it slide this time." So even though a previous employee made sure he was the appropriate height. It was still a big issue which killed all the fun for us there. The issues just kept rolling in after that. We got back to the room, went to shower and we didn't have any hot water. It was warm, but nothing you'd want to jump into for a shower. We called maintenance and explained we have warmer water but not hot water. They said they'd reset the boiler and about 10 min later, we had a guy at the door and he wanted to come in and check the water temp. He turned it on and held his hand there for a bit, only to look at me and tell me to feel the water and say, "it's not cold." I explained that I knew it wasn't cold, and that the issue I had was that it is not hot. And asked if they could turn the temp up a little so we could enjoy a nice shower. He replied with, "but it's not cold and said it's fine." Then proceeded to walk out the door. We made sure we got a room with a whirlpool tub that way a hot jetted bath would be another relaxing accommodation. Scratch that off the list as another thing we couldn't enjoy. The following day, we decided to go to the water park later at night to avoid longer lines and had that be the finishing touch to the day. We called the desk to ask when they closed and we were told 10:30pm. So we eat dinner, relax a bit and make it to the pool at 9:00pm. Immediately after walking into the pool area, we are told they are closing and we can't go swimming. I explain that we just spoke to someone at the front desk and they said the park is open until 10:30pm on the weekends. His response was something along the lines of, "It's Sunday and we close at 9:00pm on Sundays." At this point we were just done with the whole trip. Now we have to tell our child that we can't go swimming. (if you have kids, you know how this turns out after getting ready and racing to the pool area) All around a horrible experience filled with nothing but stress and disgust for the resort. I wouldn't recommend spending your money or time here. read more

My husband, our two adult children, and I had a terrific 4 night vacation here. The Kalahari was perfect for us. My husband and daughter are the more adventurous types and took full advantage of the outside adventure park, climbing the rock wall, zip lining and doing the ropes course. The water park rides, both indoor and outdoor, were enough adventure for me. Our son was thrilled to spend most of his time in the arcade. The room was clean, and staff was friendly. A lifeguard named Carl did a fantastic job encouraging and instructing those riding the wave runner. We hope to be able to go back for another family vacation. Some reviewers complained about the pricing. All I can say about that is this, it's a well maintained water park resort, with and outside adventure park and the staff to make sure everyone has an enjoyable and safe stay. read more

Great experience, had 3 connected rooms with kitchen. Great staff, we were made very welcome. Staff made sure we had everything needed fir great time. read more

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I'll start by saying that my family and I have visited this resort yearly for nearly 15 years for various occasions . There are a lot of things we have overlooked such as major renovations needed because we simply love coming here. This review is solely related to my recent stay this weekend for my daughters second birthday . First I called to make reservations for a combination suite but would only need accommodations for a portion of the trip as we had a large party 15 in total,some would be checking out sooner than others. I was instructed to make two separate reservations one for a lodge suit and one for a hut room. I did so and the representative was very helpful and put in a special note for my daughter birthday and for us to have a specific room at the resort. We arrived around 645p Thursday evening only to be told that the rooms would be in different buildings. Confused I asked was there a special note regarding the accommodations, he stated yes but the hut room was no longer available. He went to speak with a manager after I expressed how disappointing this was as we planned to cook dinner for all of the guest and be close to one another .After 40 long minutes of waiting I finally agreed and was given rooms on the same floor as that was the only thing available. We gathered our belongs and headed for the room . Upon entering the lodge suite it was noticeably dirty . There were used rubber bands, hair pins , old cookie wrappers and potatoe chips on the floor . We removed half of the mess so that the smaller children wouldn't see the items . I then began to look for a cooking pot so that I could begin dinner around 8p, I opened the dishwasher to find it filled with dirty dishes and food. I attempted to wash the dishes myself in the dishwasher to realize that it was broken. I called to the front desk to express my concerns and how the first two hours thus far had been terrible. I was connected to the manager on the phone and I let him know all of my concerns.He immediately became defensive stating verbatim "well ma'am what did you expect me to do about it " . I hung up the phone and immediately went to the front desk to speak with him at 8:36pm . My family and I waited seven minutes for him to appear from the back . I stood there behind the counter when an arrogant ,eye and neck rolling man named Connor came and stood in front of me to stare me down without saying a word. I verbally stated "so what are we going to do about this". He looked at me again rolled his eyes and stated "what is the issue" I again reiterated everything I had on the phone. He threw his hands up in disgust ,smirked his face and offered four meal passes for the trouble as if I was bothering him. So upset I told him it was nine o'clock and I had almost seven other children with me who hadn't eaten or had a chance to enjoy the water park. I decided not to argue anymore and told him he could deliver the voucher to the room .Upon returning to the suite the maintenance and housekeeping supervisor were already there . I wish I knew their names as they were pleasant and validated my concerns. We went down to the BLUX restaurant , the waiter Robin was the best and very attentive as the kids were very sleepy and hungry .We returned to the room around 11:30 (there was a little wait for the food)to finally settle down after a long drive and day .All in all the hectic first day affected the trip as the children got a late start the next morning but we made the best of it . Connor can you do us all a favor and get out of the hospitality/customer service business .I felt belittled and insulted that I stood up for my family and friends after I compromised multiple times.I advocated for what we deserved and paid for and no customer should ever feel that way. read more

This is the restaurant we decided on during our stay at Kalahari. We found it to be the right choice. We entered into the lobby of which is located off of the main lobby of the resort. We were immediately greeted and seated without hesitation. The decor is fun in that they maintain the Kalahari theme of African paintings, statues and the like. I like the theme myself. We were greeted by our waitress who was very attentive and good with our kids. The menu was divers in that you could order soups, salads, steak, pastas, ribs, chicken, fish, etc. I decided on the Classic Pomodoro. This was Angel hair pasta tossed with extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic, Italian tomatoes, chardonnay, tomato classico, fresh basil, and sweet butter. Topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. It was delicious and it came with three wedges of grilled spearhead bread of which I used to sop up the remaining sauce. The wife had an excellent looking Caesar salad topped with chicken which she said was very good and filling. The kids all had the chicken fingers and mac-and-cheese which they all ate without complaint. While dining, they had a DJ playing music that was pleasant and not overbearing. He held a coloring contest for all kids present in the place. Once all turned in, he told them all that they all won and each got to pick out a piece of candy on stage with him. My kids loved it as did the other kids there. Overall, a great choice for dining on our little get-a-way. I'm sure that when we return we will give a different place a shot as to experience them all read more

Kalahari (Ohio) Review Start off with our do's and don'ts: 1) DO use the "Choose your own Adventure" Package. It's a good value when you consider what you will spend at the resort. We chose the room upgrade, arcade tokens, and pizza. 2) DO get the pizza in the waterpark. It's the most food for the price, the kids can eat and go, and it is DELICIOUS! Very impressed with the food from the Zulu Grille, considering. We like the idea of staying to play, not leaving and changing to go to dinner. 3) DO take your own towels. The waterpark towels are great for saving tables and chairs...that's about it. 4) DO upgrade to the Lodge Suite. The ability to take snacks and breakfast to make was a time and money saver, more than covering the upgrade price. The room was fantastic. Adults drinking some great wine in one of the rooms, kids across the hall snacking and watching a movie. (We went to the park with another couple. 4 adults and 6 kids total - 5th-9th grade) 5) DO be friendly when you check in - everyone is frustrated from their drive, but being kind can get you a long way. 6) DO expect to spend more than you wanted. It happens. It sucks. This place is very expensive. 7) DON'T go for the giant drink specials in the waterpark. They look great, and the first couple sips are good. But after 20 minutes you haven't made a dent in it, and now you have melting ice, cheap liquor, and syrupy goo that just tastes like sugar. They have Great Lakes beer on draft, (which is great), and other liquors for having vodka/cran, rum/coke, etc. Much better and cheaper option. **The spicy Bloody Mary was actually pretty good, with major spice. Not a bad way to go. 8) DON'T expect to have a room close to the waterpark. Some rooms are kid of far, some rooms might as well be on lake Erie. Be prepared to walk a good bit. 9) DON'T expect a hassle free drop-off/pick-up. It will be crowded, it will be annoying, and it will take a long time. The staff does a nice job of trying to expedite things, but there is only so much they can do. Be prepared to wait, and don't take it out on the staff. Finally, 10) DO have fun. Kalahari is beautifully decorated, very clean, and has a ton to do. The staff are very friendly when you have a smile on your face. Remember that this is a kids destination, and while the adults have to deal with crowds, $$, frustrations, etc.- the kids are just jazzed to be there. Ahh, to be a kid again. read more

Still having the worst visit ever. I'm stuck in this place feeling miserable. We've spent over $1000 on our very first visit to kalahari OH and no one can figure out what customer service means. After watching dozens and dozens of other families get their room loooong after we checked in I finally asked the desk. Because it was after 4 they finally switched out rooms so we could unpack and get changed. We arrived at noon because it says you can use the facility. We didn't realize we would need to spend an additional $25 to buy a locker so we can change. In the morning we slept in and took all the kids to the water park. When We came back around 3 our room still hasn't been touched by housekeeping. We called the desk and they promptly sent someone down. Sadly she only half cleaned the room and we had to ask her to make the beds. She left without wiping anything down, refilling coffee supplies, or vacuuming. We have 3 adjoining rooms and she spent 15 minutes cleaning all three. I really needed to do a load of laundry so I called the desk to find out where the laundry room is. She said on every floor by the elevators. (There are 3 set of elevators and they are 1/4 mile apart. After searching my entire floor I went to the desk. Someone found a map showing laundry in only 2 locations. I got some quarters and headed back to the 5th floor laundry. (We are on the 6th floor) The soap machine ate $1 and didn't spit out my soap. I called the desk and was told that I have to come all the way back down for my dollar. I figured it wasn't worth the 1/2 mile walk so I put another $1 in another machine and lost that too. Without any other options, I went to the desk. At this point I'm in tears because I've already had bad service and I shouldn't have to walk 2 miles to wash laundry. The manager had me fill out a slip for my $2 and told me she would have housekeeping meet me in the room to make sure I get the soap. She offered no apology or consolation. I went back to the 5th floor and found housekeeping (because no one was waiting for me). I told her the machine wasn't working and she suggested I go back to the 2nd floor (near the front desk) and try that machine. I just started crying. She took my money and left to buy the soap. 20 minutes later she came down the hallway chatting with another lady. My laundry is in. If I didn't think the kids would be extremely disappointed I would pack up and leave today. There are so many ways the manager could have handled this. Simple offering to have my clothes laundered would have sufficed. Now we will likely never return and everyone we know will hear about the terrible service. Thanks for making me realize I deserve better. read more

By far the best indoor water park and resort out of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. That is a fact. So much to do here to keep you busy and you don't have to leave the resort for anything, if you don't want to. I personally don't have any children, but I tend to bring others children here from time to time. This is the one place I don't mind going to because of all the activities that are great for children and adults. I have also come here to celebrate a romantic birthday years ago (I have been here maybe 5 times total) twice without any kids. We came in the summer, which is my favorite time to come. Sometimes all the kids (if you didn't bring any) can be a bit much in the winter, especially in the indoor water park and arcade. In the summer, there really aren't that many kids in the outdoor section of the water park. It tends to be more peaceful and relaxing if you are outside by the jacuzzi, bar and cabana's. An easy way to turn this into a romantic evening is to upgrade to the jacuzzi suite. Things I love here, the homemade candy store, the spa, the arcade and all the bars throughout the resort. The candy store is pricey, but is exceptionally good. I don't even get into sweets at all, but every time I come I make sure to drop a hot $20 here. The spa is nice, standard, pricier than non-resort spa's, but still worth the money if you got it. I even splurged for a nice robe from their spa (years ago) and still have it, was well made and something I could recommend to others. The arcade is lots of fun, yet it does tend to get a bit expensive. For some more dough you can play putt-putt, do crafts and my favorite is the bowling. The bar selection is great, they have bud light lime and coconut ciroq (add pineapple for the best drink ever). Plus, they have a bunch of bars so no matter where you are in the resort, there is always a bar close by. Just be advised that their specialty frozen drinks are like $30 each and they are impossible to finish. Plus they fill you up too much. Your bartender won't advise you of this upon ordering either (fail!). Things that could use some work, the food options and customer service. If not for these issues, I would have no question dubbed this resort as five stars. I will say this, the pizza place in the basement by the arcade has stepped up their game. They expanded and are now offering wings, sandwiches and salads too. Only thing that I don't like is, all their sandwiches were made to sit. Yeah, it's quick, but not as fresh as I would like. The pizza is decent, convenient and pricey. The restaurant upstairs by the front desk is overpriced as well, for what you get. Food is fine, but nothing to write home about. The have a coffee house and a food spot in the indoor water park where you can order pizza and burgers too. The room service offers pizza only. The customer service was shockingly upsetting on my last visit. It started with valet, will spare you the deets, but I was really frustrated and the one guy I was dealing with was a complete idiot. Then, I heard a bartender tell a lady when she said 'really' because she thought the bartender skipped her, 'they were here the whole time, so you can wait your turn.' I wish somebody would talk to me like that! People are spending close to or more than $1000 to come here for the weekend and this is how your employees talk to them? Kalahari would seriously benefit from the show 'Undercover Boss.' If you are looking for a fun weekend with the kids, have never been, or are just looking to check out the best indoor water park resort, I would definitely recommend the place. In comparison to others like it, this has been by far the most enjoyable for me. Just be prepared to spend, expect the place to have some waiting and a bunch of kids running rampant and you will enjoy it too. read more

Each summer I lay out a map in front of my son and give him the option of selecting where he wants to travel. For some reason he always selects cities that are close to home. Last year it was Chicago. This year Ohio. So off to Kalahari we went. Mannnnnn, did we have a great time. Just he and I. I decided to get there on Friday around noon in an attempt to avoid lines and boyyyyy was that I great idea. There was barely anyone in the park. My son was able to get on every ride that was suited for his height. By 5pm he was exhausted which was perfect timing - DINNER! I was pleasantly surprised that the food and snacks were not expensive. We had snacks and pizza at the water park and I spent about $20/per meal. After dinner we went to back to our room to get changed and take advantage of the arcade. The ticket gods must have been on our side because we won 10k tickets playing one game; which yielded some pretty nice prizes (by a kids standard) from the ticket redemption counter. Our room was pretty cool. Updated bathroom, balcony and fireplace with two beds. Even though only one bed was utilized. My son preferred sleeping with me. I don't mind because I'm sure he'll grow out of this phase, soon! Moving on . . . The price of the room was $179/night which I thought was worth it. We both received an arm band that granted us admission into the park both days we were there. Being on-site is an advantage when you have a small child. It makes the overall experience that much better. I definitely recommend visiting any time of year. Seeing the smile on my son's face and hearing him talk about his experience would have been worth any price. It's memories like these that you cherish forever. read more

Not that impressed. This "resort" feels like a cruise ship, except the employs are probably the cruise ship rejects. Worst service I've had in a while...at the restaurant. The game room is a hot spot and of course, the water activities. The ice cream parlor was nice but for as much as this place costs to stay, no thanks. read more

Kalahari is nice whether you're there with family or friends. There is something for everyone, which makes this place so much fun. I encountered one rude bartender, but we all have our off days. read more

We have been to a few indoor water park, Kalahari is by far the best we have been to. Things to do for all ages!! It can even be a nice getaway for a couple. We have a 15, 11 and 3 yr old. They had a blast! Our room was amazing as well! We look forward to going back. read more