Knotty Pine Resort — Attraction in Chester

UNSAFE and terrible staff. Save your vacation and maybe a limb. Rent elsewhere. Untrained or uncaring staff. Completely inattentive and act as if its a burden you're even there. Too busy fooling around talking about a party to even notice you when you walk in.

We rented a boat and got the most rushed unenthusiastic instruction and safety briefing. It was completely inadequate and made me wonder how many people go out on the water unprepared. Thankful we already knew about boats because he wasn't friendly and we didn't even feel comfortable asking questions. During the briefing I noticed people pull up to the dock for gas. As we pulled out we passed the doorway to the shop I could see the same two employees just chatting behind the counter. The man who gave us the safety briefing had to fetch one of them to go greet the people waiting for gas. She came out but didn't look happy to be required to do her job.

When we returned they were arguing with a couple regarding damage to their boat. The staff told them it was the renters responsibility to note all damage during the pre inspection before they go out. The couple said they never got a pre inspection. I not sure how it ended but probably not well for them. We also did not receive a pre inspection but thank goodness we passed post inspection. I understand you sign a damage waiver but the way we were rushed out almost seems intentional now. Like they don't want you to have the time to look to closely.

The staff made us feel like a burden and their lack attention and dedication to safety is completely irresponsible. Boats can be very dangerous and there were several red flags that made us feel safety and customer service were not a priority. It really soured the experience overall.

I have fond memories of this place from when I was a kid. It was a fun tradition I wanted to keep going with my family. It's sad to see it go downhill. We will not...

I will never do business with Knotty Pine. Ever. We live out of town and were excited to get a house near the lake for the week. We rented a boat and jet ski for one of the days during our week stay. A week before we were to leave the owner of our cabin called us and cancelled our stay because of the dixie fire. We called Knotty Pine immediately and left a message. They claimed they didn't get it and also would not give us a full refund. They claimed if they gave everyone a refund then they wouldn't be able to pay their employees. I'm sorry, but if there is an official evacuation order, good business is to give a full refund. We wanted to be there. But I have zero control over the fire evacuation order. I just found out yesterday that the fire came up to two miles of where we were supposed to stay. Meanwhile our family had to get real creative for an alternate vacation. My husband still had his days off and we already had plane tickets for our college daugjters to fly in. Finding a new place to stay was impossible due to the last minute. Because Knotty Pine held on to our money for an additional week we were even more limited to our choices of what we could do. Last year our vacation was ruined because of Covid, but at least everyplace gave us full refunds. This year, because of fire evacuation. Knotty Pines, you need to reconsider your refund policy or rather lack of one. Utterly disappointed...

As we travel the country in our RV we love renting pontoon boats. Lake Almanor is gorgeous, a wonderful warm water lake to enjoy. But of all the states we have rented in, this place I would not recommend. Even for overnight boat rentals, they don’t provide an anchor or rope, don’t allow you to beach your boat, so really there is no way to secure it overnight. Another family was renting for a week, and once they complained multiple times about paying $3000 and not getting an anchor or any good alternative, they finally got one. While we are pretty comfortable on boats, for the average renter they don’t give any tutorial on how much gas you have, info on the lake that might be helpful, check if you have life jackets or not. Truly they just take your money and send you on your way. At first we were just disappointed with the service. But upon returning the boat, they said we damaged the prop even though they said there were scuff marks when we took it out. When we questioned it, knowing we did no damage, they said we should have taken a picture of the prop before we left, wow so really just their word against ours. We are not individuals to normally complain, but this was just way over the top in not providing an adequate service. So sad that this company put a damper on our otherwise wonderful few days of camping...