Big Cedar Lodge

First, let me say that my family has always loved Big Cedar, and we will probably try again in the less busy months. That being said, there is a major issue with the staff and the Christmas experience we were trying to give our kids. If you have small kids, you could likely shield them from this negative atmosphere, but this trip was very different than years past. We were greatly considering becoming members with Blue Green and I'm so glad we declined until things get better. There were great moments, but again, this year was just odd. The cabin we stayed in was dirty. The staff at both eateries seemed miserable and tired of people. At Fun Mountain, an on-site arcade, we had a spectacular time. My 3yo and I got beer spilled on us because a man wanted to stumble over my 7yo, likely drunk. While cleaning up my toddler, a worker remarked "Can you move. I'm waiting on you." Trying to finish off with a bang, we waited in line so my two older children could play laser tag. The attendant let a group of 10 adults cut us and fill up the arena, telling us we have to wait another 15 minutes. I tried to get our money back but all sales are final. My phone had poor signal, so I couldn't use our app to call a shuttle. The staff also said they couldn't call one for us. We walked back, finally making it to the main buildings (there are no walk-paths from Fun Mountain). Big Cedar has been our Christmas vacation for the past few years, and I think we will try somewhere new in 2025.

My wife and I booked a Valley View King w/ Kitchenette room for a mid-week getaway. This room is shown on the diagram with two separate bedrooms and a separate kitchenette, along with a sofa bed. See the diagram and picture of the room from their website. My wife called the day after we booked the room to clarify some information about the kitchenette. While she was on the phone with Kathy she asked about the two separate bedrooms. Kathy said she was pretty sure that the room only came with one separate bedroom (not two bedrooms), and didn’t know about the sofa bed. She forwarded the call to Latisha, who confirmed the room had one separate bedroom and a sofa bed in the room with the kitchenette (two separate rooms). Upon check-in we found out that the diagram and picture on their website associated with this room is COMPLETELY WRONG. This is all one tiny room (12’ x 12’). See the picture we took of the room. It’s easier to describe what the room DOESN'T have that’s shown in the website picture. There is NO second table and chairs, there is NO desk, there is NO separate bedroom, the “kitchenette” is right next to the bed, and there is NO sofa (at all!). This was the smallest hotel room we’ve ever seen. Upon check-out we told the person at the reservation desk our issues, who didn’t seem at all interested in the fact that their website information is completely wrong, and didn’t offer even so much as an apology. After filling out their survey, my wife receives a phone call from customer service admitting all the information is wrong and offering a small discount on our NEXT visit. The room we booked wasn’t worth 1/4 of the price we were charged, and any discount wouldn't convince us to book another closet like they gave us. Buyer beware. Nothing they say or show on their website is true, and they'll lie on the phone if you ask them about room specifics.

I booked a 2 night stay for my husband's birthday using the winter sale discount/off season stay (as we would not be able to afford the full price stay during more popular dates). We stayed in Falls Lodge, in a Premier King room from Feb. 25-27th. When I booked there were options to add sweets and blankets and gifts to the room but I didn't really see anything that was worth the cost for us. I rec. a welcome call from the concierge prior to our stay and I asked if I could have a small birthday cake delivered to the room, they said that would be no problem and it would be around $35 and the kitchen staff would send me an email with details/receipt. I received no further communications from the concierge or kitchen staff and when I called to see if I could pay ahead of time since my husband was putting the incedentals on his card and I didn't want to ruin the surprise they said they will be discreet at check in but would not let me pre pay. FYI about the incedentals for anyone planning to book, it was a $200/night hold ($400 total) which was more than our room cost, so plan accordingly if you need to use a different card than you booked with as it won't fall off for a few days. (We're not rich, so this trip was a splurge.) Moving on to check in day...I received a call in the morning offering early check in for a fee, we passed as we were going to explore the property first. As we drove in we were greeted by some very friendly deer. We did arrive a few hours early though and went to the front desk just to get some information and they let us check in early without a fee. Once we drove up to the lodge we unpacked the car and headed to our room - 393, the second I opened the door there was a plumber laying on the floor of our room fixing a leak in the jacuzzi. We were both surprised. He told us our room was supposed to be decommissioned and the front desk was aware. So he called the desk and sent us back to check in, meaning we had to repack the car and drive down the hill, they apologized and assured us our room would be ready by 4 and gave us a $25 game voucher for fun mountain. My husband was not happy about this because after driving several hours he wanted to rest in the room but we headed to fun mountin anyway, played bingo for free (we were the youngest couple there) and then ate at fun mountain. The food and service was top notch. We were told we'd get a call from the front desk when our room was ready and never did so I called the desk and they said we could head to our room, (another fail in communication) but the room was cleaned up and ready this time. The cake I ordered was sitting on the desk in the room and looked great, they also added a tiny cake that said best wishes and we had 2 free waters in the fridge and a basket with free cookies, popcorn and gummy worms. The rest of our time we explored the resort, we played mini golf, ate at Devil's Pool/Buzzard Bar twice, listened to great live music, ate breakfast at Truman