1000 Islands / Ivy Lea KOA Holiday — Hotel in Leeds and the Thousand Islands

Disappointed! My family has been coming to the KOA Ivy Lea every years and over the recent years we have made it a tradition to attend with friends and family over the Thanksgiving weekend for the festivals that are offered (Turkey pot luck dinner/Halloween) It seems that since the new owners have taken over the quality has really come down year after year. The park has many broken items that really should be addressed, I would like to know if this park would meet CSA regulations as there were carabiners holding links together on the swing. Cleanliness - the bathrooms are gross. The showers needs some TLC and elbow grease to clean. Mild on the walls and the shower heads have no water pressure because there is too much build up on them. The change pad for the kids is filthy, there was poop on it still. Someone should be checking the bathrooms every hour and make sure they are clean. the pool, our kids enjoy the idea of swimming in October still and every year for the last few years they have been able to actual swim in the pool because it was heated. This year it was not. I complained to the office but "I'm sorry" was the answer, you think in a costumer service base that they would try to resolve the issue. DO NOT ADVERTISE A 86 F pool if you can not offer that you advertise. To me this is false advertising. The pool was cold, the only warm part was the little spa that offers 3-4 kids max in there. The hot tub was rammed with 20 people all day long. So disappointed. Especially for the parents who has small children who NEED an adult with them in the pool. Nature trails are overgrown (use to be behind the cabins) No fun events for the kids like the other KOA offer in the day (such as a scavenger hunt) though I understand that this is a charity weekend, it would be nice to have some more things for the kids. ie the rockets should have been 1-2$ not 4$ its paper and foam only ONLY. Turkey dinner - Limited amount! enough said - near the end there was not as much left for anyone. It changed a lot from what it use to be (an event were all were in a pop up tent with tables and chairs and plenty of food) For the $130/night that we pay you think it would offer more. Sadly, 2024 was the last year for our family and friends at Ivy Lea to do Thanksgiving. Not worth the drive and the cost. If the new owners will just be taking the profit and not putting it back into the park, it will never become better.

Sad as this WAS the nicest KOA and worth the additional cost but not anymore. Not worth the extra...

I'll preface this by saying we LOVE staying here. We've been coming for 6 years and it feels like a home away from home when we go. Staff are great, cottage is good, so much for the kids to do. That being said, this year was definitely different. We have been renting the same cabin for all 6 years so needless to say we don't read the description each time. Just click and book. This year we were absolutely dismayed when we arrived to discover that they had taken out the hot tub that has always been there. There was no disclaimer or notice on the listing, nothing noted on the reservation or when we checked in. Yes, that's partially on me for not reading the fine print, but as another poster has said, when you book the same cottage year by year, you'd expect some amendment posted where it can be seen that the amenities have changed. The hot tub is half the reason we return year after year. Pricing definitely didn't go down to reflect it, in fact it went up slightly. Every year we've been there, the pull out couch has been broken, to the point that in order to put it back it takes 2 people and you have to flip it on it's back to get the mattress to push in. They did finally replace the fridge which was great, last year you couldn't out anything on the door.

Additionally we arrived a couple of minutes before check in at 2, so were happy to wait outside while cleaning was finished (it was about 1:55) After a few minutes of no noticeable movement, we peeked in to see what was up. The cleaner was on the couch watching TV/dozing. We waited a few more minutes and at quarter past 2 we started making noise outside to alert the gentleman that the guests were there. This was 2:15 (again, no huge deal but we were taken aback that he was watching TV while we waited) He finally came out and gathered his things from the porch, returning a while later to see if he'd left garbage behind. We had a good chuckle about it after he left but not everyone would be so accommodating.

Pros: family friendly, tons of activities for the kids lovely staff, prompt attention to any needs you might have cottage is perfect for our needs

Cons: -lack of communication about changed/less amenities staff oblivious to kids constantly in the very clearly marked Adults Only hot tub (yes, we could complain but no one wants to be that person) and there's little staff presence to ensure pool rules are being followed (alcohol on the pool deck, vaping in the hot tub)

That being said, this is our favorite getaway....

This KOA is a dump! The cabins and playground are not clean. We stayed in the deluxe cabin DC5 and we could immediately tell they barely cleaned in between guests. The bathroom toilet had debris on it, the shower had lots of stains and the shower curtain was dirty and in need of changing. The kitchen kettle, coffee maker and dish drainer were dirty. It doesn't look like they do any type of maintenance cleaning on them. We did not use these items out of fear of getting sick. The couch set in the living room was gross. I don't understand why they don't have a couch protector on it so they can at least wash it from time to time. The floors had debris on it - clearly not a lot of sweeping or mopping took place. We ended up to wearing our shoes while inside the cabin to avoid getting gunk on our feet. Another concern was the mattress protectors on the bed. They had lots of lint and debris making it clear they did not wash them between guests. A friend of mine who stayed in another cabin saw a big urine stain on her mattress. The lack of cleanliness at this KOA made us cringe every time we had to sit on something or eat. I spoke to the manager about my concerns and his only response was that the season is busy and the person who is usually responsible for checking over things is on vacation. What a terrible excuse! We pay good money to stay in these cabins. The cost is pretty much on par with the rate of a hotel room yet we did not get a basic level of cleanliness. After our stay I did a deeper dive into the reviews only to find a lot of complaints over the years about the lack of cleanliness, so this is not a new issue.

We stayed at the KOA Cardinal in Ottawa last year and the difference was like night and day. We had none of these issues, in fact, when we walked in we could still smell the cleaning supplies that had been used to thoroughly clean the unit. Another plus with KOA Cardinal is that linens, pillows, towels and a keurig machine are included for all cabins whereas this KOA makes you bring your own. Other issues with this KOA is that overall, the place is run down. There was barely any activities or staff interaction. The campsite itself is small, we could barely get in a decent walk. And don't be mislead by the photos, there is no water body that's visible from the campsite itself. We will never come back to...