Very well maintained Resort (private) with several amenities not found at campgrounds, generally.

My parents were executive owners here. We were there when the dome of the pool was ripped off by a tornado and when the entire lodge burnt down because a teenager working there threw ice into the fryer. We were there when the new pools were put in and were supposed to be heated. We had rented many condos for events and birthday parties. Here are the facts several of the locations need updated especially the condos which I hear now are all under construction. We tolerated the bad because it was private and the fireworks display every year was awesome! Then my parents died.... That is where the nightmare began. My brother and I were listed to inherit the deed upon their death the primary amount for the ownership had been paid off for many years. There were just outrageous fees they wanted to charge my brother and I to take over what was already deeded to us in the paper work. The amount they wanted was almost the same cost of a membership. We fought and was able to just cancel the contract without paying for anything but all the money my parents paid into this scam was lost. I have also read a bunch of the responses from the business manager and most of them are snide sarcastic remarks tenement to used car sales. Most saying we cannot please everyone and discounting most of the reviews on here. So again read what the BBB has to say and head the warning. The below is what the Better Business Bureau States about LVL Lost Valley Lake Resort This business is NOT BBB Accredited. Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Resort. Current Alerts For This Business Pattern of Complaint: Better Business Bureau is advising consumers to use caution when considering doing business with Lost Valley Lake Resort. BBB has received a pattern of consumer complaints alleging changes to contracts without owner approval, increases in maintenance fees, promise made for improvements of the facility are not honored, failure to issue refunds, consumers/owners are unable to cancel their ownership and overall poor customer service. The company responded stating, "We do believe there is a misconception that Lost Valley Lake is similar to a timeshare. Lost Valley Lake is not a timeshare, but an Undivided Interest (UDI) deed. Annual membership dues were increased for maintenance reasons for the property. We are attentive to the needs of the elderly who own at Lost Valley Lake and grant exceptions for extreme hardships. An owner's death is not the same process as a timeshare, there are estate matters which must be attended to by the Executor and or children. All owners have access to the property 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. There is a cost to transfer a deed which has increased to $1500. The transfer process is similar to a closing on a home. The Board of Directors provides oversight of operations at Lost Valley Lake." read more

Horrible from the start! Trouble at check in, unable to accommodate the reservation made 5 months in advance Ladies at the front desk unable to agree upon ANYTHING! "additional fee" for this and that, but why, we couldn't tell you. Was asked to "move" 2 days into our 5 day stay and we couldn't take anymore We checked out early, staff "unable to offer a refund" but apologized for our inconvenience Had to challenge the charge with the CC company (successfully) It would appear that AMEX has a crapy record with this place, guess I should have reviewed more of the reviews beforehand, and I never would have booked Hope that your stay and experience is better than mine! I will not be returning!! EVER!! read more

Every time I post a review it's deleted! Well here goes again I have been an executive owner since 2006. I have seen this resort go from a family friendly kept up place that I was a proud owner of... to a run down, rule authoritarian over priced motel 8! The condos are either under construction or so run down they aren't safe. The insurance $$ they received can cover the multiple "fires" and should be able to cover the costs of the mediocre improvements they say they are always making.. instead of raising the dues every year. Don't try and sell the place because you can't give it away .. check FB marketplace. They make it impossible to sell or transfer without spending thousands in transfer deed fees. The staffing there is SO unprofessional, Shannon (reservations) lies and changes the rules with every visit. They raised the associate fee card (one year) from $150 to $250.. that's disgusting on top of the $1,700 yearly fee, and condo fee raised to 50-75/ nightly. This place thinks it's a 5 star resort.. so far from it.. my sister (associate) was kicked off the property - told to physically leave if she didn't pay the $245 card that minute) because I (owner) left in an emergency and didn't return. (They had me on camera leaving and said that's why my sister can't stay without paying the $250 fee. She was then yelled at in front of other people in reservation area, either pack up or pay the $250. She said she will never return, this is so sad to me she was so disrespected. We had gone every year Mother's Day (5 sisters) for the last 15 years. I hate that this place we loved, has become a money hungry control driven cooperation and I hope other people will think twice doing a membership.. by the way it's NOT a time share it's a deeded ownership except you can't deed it to anyone else without paying thousands!! read more

So many people have such negative things to say but this resort is truly a wonderful place to be with family and to make friends. I've personally been a member for 30 years and we go often. So many things to do and enjoying nature , campfires, swimming etc. read more

NBR. Last year there was a post here where several group members recommended Lost Valley Lake Resort The Official Lost Valley Lake Resort Group (Owners Only) and my family and I immediately scheduled a tour and signed up for an executive membership. I want to share our experience since last August. We joined last August and had a conversation with Carrie the resort manager in October about several false statements that were made to us during the sales process along with several concerns that came up during that stay. ( including the person who works for LVL that set up my camper being intoxicated and parking it Partially on the patio. She ended up passing me on to the sales manager who works for coast to coast. Both were extremely apologetic an comped us a stay in a villa in assured us that sales rep no longer worked for them. While this did not erase our concerns, we came down for a nice weekend. This weekend, the gentleman who had driven our camper while intoxicated and the sales rep who made multiple false statements are still here. I spoke with Carrie again and she agin suggested I speak with the sales manager. This morning I went to speak with him. He walked me to the patio outside the sales office. While I was respectfully voicing my concerns and asking for answers he began to speak over me. I told him I was still speaking and I asked him to wait for me to finish. His unprofessional behavior Not only continued, it worsened. While holding my three-year-old daughter I turned to go back to the office and head to my car. He started following me telling me that he was having me removed from the resort. While walking through the reception area I turned to respond to him and let him know to stop following me that I was leaving. When I turned around he was still walking towards me and stop to toe to toe. I told him to step back so I could speak to him and he refused. I asked again and he again refused so I went to walk out the door and pulled the door closed behind me so that he would get away for me and my child. He went to the guard shack asking to have me removed after buckling my daughter in her car seat I drove to the other side of the guard shack to speak with the woman working. She approached me and we began to recap what happened the sales manager then came into the guard shack to again start yelling over me. luckily, my parents were driving by and I waved them over. This man did not stop his behavior until my father came over. No customer owner or person should ever be made to feel this way especially a woman with her small child. After leaving, the resort manager Carrie called and said we could come get our camper whenever convenient and sign a for terminating our membership. After this call, I called her back and requested that form he sent via email for review and that we have documentation from LVL and Coast to coast since there are two companies involved, she then stated she couldn't make any guarantees and this form was just to remove our camper, not to terminate membership. Since this, my family has been removed from the ownership FB group which is not actually controlled by owners but by LVL staff. read more

Lost Valley Lake Resort has really upgraded its facility since I was a child pre-teen in the 80's! Three swimming options- an indoor pool, and outdoor pool and the lake. They also have a spa! A variety of entertainment theme nights with a band, plays and outdoor movies. There is even horseback riding and lessons for children and adults. Dogs are allowed and there is a dog park. There are three event buildings with a variety of room room sizing for parties and celebrations! Diversity in ages and racial backgrounds is a major plus! This is why I have always felt extremely comfortable as an African American at Lost Valley Lake Resort, a private and exclusive getaway. Now you can live on the property year-round in the exclusive, gated, luxury homes and RV sites. The only drawback that I saw was not enough flowers to pretty up the newer buildings on the landscape projects. They are still undergoing a major renovation on the Villas which are coming along very well. read more

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Huge park with 2 lakes and lots of aquatic options. Activities are entered around kids so this is a happening place for families. Security escorted us to our site after check-in, which was much appreciated. We would have definitely gotten lost without their help! Our back-in full hookup site was mostly level. Successfully programmed about 30 over the air TV channels but the reception was poor. My AT&T phone had a weak signal. Free wifi in the Fort Wilderness and Lake Expo buildings was slow, but the Lodge was pretty good. Did not try the onsite restaurant. Long drive to Walmart and outside food options. This place was an absolute steal at $10.00/day through RPI. read more

My husband and I have been Executive owners since 2005. We have seen some really good changes in the resort over the last year or so. The roads are the only issue at this time, but they are planning on working on that in 2019. The staff are courteous and nice. I have asked them to trim trees and the next time we came down, it was done. As far as the deed transferring to your children, that is stated at the time you buy in. Maintenance fees started around $650, one year they went way up to replace the leaking pool and for the sewage system, which they are waiting for the state on the next move. This hike was needed to make the resort nicer. Imagine a resort without a pool. This year the maintenance fees are $795, which I still don't believe to be bad. We LOVE Lost Valley Lake. It's my happy place! read more

This resort is great except the roads. They haven't been worked on in years. It really takes a toll on the rig. Go very slow. The people here are really courteous and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. The main lodge and the gym was rebuilt a couple of years ago and are really nice. The activities are endless. read more

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I am so very glad I read the reviews for this resort. I was going to check into it but no way no how now. I have never seen so many bad reviews in my life . I don't even know if I even seen 3 good reviews out of all of them. You can keep your so called resort read more

Lazy staff, broken down equipment, And our condo had a broken hide a bed. The first night our kids had to sleep on the floor. Service is lousy. It's a holiday but the hours for everything are shortened and few activities for the kids. The activities they did have were a joke. They had a candy cane hunt that was supposed to be an outside activity but they had it inside because the staff didn't want to go outside on a dry sunny day. The activity sheet said candy canes and prizes. The candy canes were the prizes. Nothing for the kid who found the most. If it was not for the Covid, I would of taken my family some where better for Christmas. Next year for Christmas I'm going somewhere else. read more

Do not pay $6k to get out of your membership. My parents got them to take $4k which is still a ripoff and i would have got a lawyer myself but they were done. Just dont want to see any other retireees being ripped off. Lost Valley should be ashamed but what do you expect from thieves. Hope this place goes under. read more

(Update 18 July 2017, They changed the "maintenance" fees to $1000 a year! My father cannot afford that, he now has a poor English speaking man named Pedro calling him from a collection agency. Well he did, it's so easy to block numbers these days. A little elementary business class for you Lost valley. If you sell 1000 hot dogs for $1 you make a profit. If you sell 0 hotdogs for $1000 each you go bankrupt. I truly feel sorry for anyone that get suckered into this sinking scam ship.) My family and I have fun here. There are indoor and outdoor pools. A swimming beach. A stable with $15 dollar trail rides. $2 pony rides, a child is on a full size horse hand lead. I like to fish on the couple lakes and ponds the whole time I'm here. You can rent aluminum boats with trolling motors, peddle boats and kayaks at the boat house. They sell bait there and they have a fish cleaning station. You can bring your own vessel but it's trolling motors only. No gas. I'm bringing my fishing kayak next time. All and all I really like the place. Now for the stuff that could be better. This is not due to the business. But the location. There is little if no cell service at the resort. We communicate using Motorola radios. Texts seldom will even go through and making a call is impossible. So no Yelping unless you go to one of the buildings with free Wifi. My dad is the "owner" not sure what he owns. He pays ($1000 now!) a year maintenance fees on top of the huge buy in fee he paid when he started. He can get a primitive camp sight for free. If he wants to stay in a rundown outdated trailer it is $30 a night. That being said. I would not buy into this place. You can find ownerships for sale all over the Internet. For FREE! They just want you to pay the $1500 dollar transfer fee. They want out. For me as an associate (family member of owner) I pay $100 a year for a card. My dad can call and reserve me a trailer. Then I go for $30 a night. If he were there at the same time the $100 card is not needed. All in all. If you know someone with a membership it's well worth $30 a night to tag along with them. You will have a great time. I however in no way would recommend buying into this. It has scamtastic written all over it. In response to the resort response below. I feel it is scamstastic due to the huge buy in fee. You stated the very reason it is scamstastic. As an owner my father can rent things. I'm sorry. Where I'm from that's a scamstastic statement. I own my Jeep. As the owner I do not have to rent it. I paid for it and own it. I own my house. I pay my mortgage. If I had to rent it I wouldn't OWN it. My father owns a place to pitch a tent. What he paid for that is ridiculous. There are state parks such as Table Rock lake that have amenities and do not scam people. I'm sure there are private ones as well but I'm kinda new to being back in the area after a long time away. Maintenance fees are understandable on things you own. I maintain my Jeep and my house. There are two ways you can make this an honest business. 1. Stop charging "owners" to rent what they supposedly already own and pay to maintain. 2. Give them back their money. Stop the ownership lie. Adjust rental fees accordingly. Rental fees include maintenance fees. They don't tag that on extra at a hotel room or when you rent a car. read more

Was at the Belleville show and Cheryl C. Was doing a fantastic job at the lost valley booth. Seems like a very interesting resort that will need to check out in the future. read more

In response to Jane D on 5/27/19, I agree with your assessment. I've been a member at least 20 years and it gets worse and worse to the point I don't want to come to LVL anymore, but it's the only way we can get our money out of it ... it is worthless on the open market. I can't even donate it to a needy group, or an individual without spending $2,000+ in LVL fees and legal transfer fees. I own a trailer that is sitting getting older, and Executive maintenance/owner fees have gone up to staggering $$$. Buyers remorse is the understatement. I might just stop making payments and let it go. The only thing I get for my money is storage for the trailer which I intend to sell soon. THe condos have been in rehab for years now. Sorry but I think we're in the same boat of dismay. Just want to let you know it's hard to sell and it did cost a LOT OF MONEY. Best wishes. LLMV read more

I travel to Coast affiliated Resorts and Lost Valley Lake Resort is by far one of the top in the nation. The facilities, restrooms, and appeal for RV traveling will keep me coming back read more

My maintenance fees started at $200 went to $400 and then a massive leap to over $1000. DO NOT "buy" here. You will own nothing. The maintenance fee can literally be whatever they want it to be. Won't be surprised when they triple it next year. read more

The recreational center is very nice and there are many activities to do. Other than that this place is a dump. As soon as we showed up we were going 15 MPH in the campsite. We were immediately pulled over by security and she said "slow down! The next time we're kicking you out". We all couldn't believe what just happened. The campers you rent were disgusting. The beds were like laying on springs. The fridge had mold in it. So if you like moldy food and a broken back this is the place for you!! read more

We are currently here for our "free" weekend. We will not be back. The beds are as hard as a rock, so we all slept horribly. We could hear the upstairs tenants walking around and using their shower this morning.. The girls at the reservation desk (especially Brooke) have a serious attitude problem and make it seem like you're wasting their time. The restaurant is understaffed and the food is average at best. The outdoor pool that I was told about and was planning on spending a good amount of time at is under major construction and not even open! The mini golf course was a joke. I was not told that reservations had to be made for horseback riding, even though we were given 2 free passes, and we were turned away after being told they were full for the whole day when we went in this morning.. We were locked out of our condo when the battery on the locking mechanism went dead, and my husband had to break in just so that they could fix it, because the IT guy that could over-ride it wasn't here today. Due to this, I assume, we were told they could squeeze us in at the stables... At this point, the only reason we're staying another night is to tell administration in person how horrible this weekend has been, and get my deposit back. I will never come back here. read more

me and my FAMILY of 5.. went for our first vacation since we had our new baby... and it was the most horrible experience I have had .. our VACATION was cut short because of animals under the villa number 7. Our neighbors were rude when I was trying to look at where the animals got under the house at... my children went to go see if the neighbors decks had holes like number 7s did. And they did not have holes .... we have a toddler in a playpen that was in the living room. The animal kept trying to get through the vent all night which caused many WAKE ups to my 1 year old. And me and my fiance to freak out wondering what the noise was... also a BIG hole in the vent in living room so I couldn't even let my toddler crawl and walk ... she had to be in playpen the whole time.. I went to give her a bath and the water came out grey and black and stunk really bad... I let it run , still smelled horrible , so there goes [mission] clean baby... The curtain in the back door had a hole in it when we got there... the vents missing a piece, we heard the animal right there by that vent..... trying to get into the villa.... we went 19th and 20th... stayed only one night had to cut vacation short.... The kid Halloween hunt was NOT FAIR.... You had a teen hunt the night before... u let 4 and under go with kids that are 5 and up..... no age maximum on that... so wasn't fair... like every kid was their and only 8 white buckets.... so all 4 and under got the buckets cause you gave head start.. should have just had seperate for toddlers ... Security wasn't friendly at night either.. cranky at 840pm .... I didn't catch her name either.... The staff at the lodge where you rent stuff was busy on laptops not paying attention to customers trying to rent anything.. lazy girls .. read more

I enjoy going to lvl as often as I can, it's our second home. We stay in our fifth wheel that is stored there. Our children always have plenty to do, swim,games, mini golf, movies. It is great for our family and we have many fond memories and are always making new one. My parents even came and stayed in a condo for a week. It was so nice having the whole family together on vacation. It is a camping resort so a few roads are rough and some things need updating but like anything built in the 80's that needs to happen. I would highly recommend to someone looking for a vacation spot that isn't far away. read more