Apache Lake Marina & Resort — Hotel in Apache Junction

We have boated and vacationed at Apache Lake for 25 years. This was the first time we stayed at the hotel.(resort). We booked the rooms on their website 4 weeks in advance. The same website that advertises the restaurant, bar and other facilities available there. Upon arrival, after we were given the room key, they asked, "oh, are you ok with no hot water in the rooms?". After seeing the slightly blank look on my face, (I was wondering if she was joking), another girl came out from behind the counter and told the other employee to just give us a room in the other building, where the hot water was working. And, she said, the rooms there are a little nicer anyway. ???? Then, we asked for the hours of the restaurant, as our extended family of seven (including 3 under 10) had planned to eat dinners in the restaurant. We were told that they "didn't think the restaurant or bar would be open today, and maybe not all weekend.". This would have been nice to know on their website, as the closest other restaurant or food store is 1 hour up a washboard road. Luckily, we brought enough food for lunches and snack on the boat, so we were able to scrape by for 3 days. No place to put luggage or anything in the room. No dresser, luggage stand, just two beds. Bathrooms had been remodeled, that was a plus. Not sure who chose the ultra modern sinks, fancy showerheads, and dim electronic mirrors, but it would help if (considering the giant bathroom) they could have spent a little on a shelf or something to but your toiletries. That always bugs me in a hotel. The air conditioner was so loud it woke us up the 9 times it kicked on the first night. The second night, I decided to try the fan only, thinking it was cool enough and would just be like white noise and allow us to sleep. Nope, the fan is really loud. There's a tv, but no remote. When we told them about the missing remote the next morning (we didn't care about watching tv, just didn't want to be blamed later for a missing remote) they said "ok, but the tv service isn't really working here anyway". ????

The room was clean, (except the crusty towel in the one small drawer between the beds) just missing places to put your things. For $180/night, I expected a little better room than just a clean "Super 8" with a noisy AC.

I understand it was the beginning of Fall, going into the off-season, but if you cut back on services, let folks know when they book, and maybe give better off-peak rates.

This "resort" has sooo much potential. Beautiful setting. Great lake. The main road is being paved this Fall. How about cleaning up the place a bit and investing a little in the property? In 25 years, I've only seen it get more run down. Except maybe some modernized bathrooms.

BTW, the girl working in the little store Friday night was very nice and helpful. Even gave us a discount on some canned drinks and gave us some coffee grounds for our coffee maker we thought to bring. We had only brought enough coffee for one morning as we planned to get coffee and breakfast in the restaurant before boating.

It is clear, they're trying to improve in a few ways, but lacking in most others. They were clearly a bit embarrassed to tell us about the restaurant "probably" not being open that weekend, so I know they want to do better, but I guess the owners don't know how???? Hope they can get their act together. It could be very nice.

Still a great time on the lake, but we may camp next time. And bring...

UPDATE: We decided we want to go back this summer to try it again because the kayaking was great. I checked the website and they have increased their cost. and doesn't appear they have improved anything. But, sadly they have priced us out of returning.

For the short readers, I want to love this Resort but there are a few things that hold me back. We stayed from 6/1 to 6/5 in the RV hook up area. This stay was good enough, if I could get the same spot, I would be more likely to go back. But I am still trying to weigh out the cost of getting there, the road in, the normal 50amp area with the cost per night, is it worth it? Our rig:38foot Weekend warrior 5th wheel and a Ram3500, total length is about 58feet. The dirt road that I now see mentioned in the reviews was tight to say the least. Its 13 miles of dirt road with tight passing areas. They are doing construction to widen but seems slow going.

The start of our stay was rough to say the least. My wife checked us in. She received a comical map, they told her where we were on the map, where we needed to go, and that we were in space 27. That was it. There were no signs either. We got turned around and end up have to make a difficult U-Turn. We found the 50amp area. The positive they do have electrical, water, and drop area at each site. 50amp area view is ok. The spaces are very close together about 17feet wide. Space 27-It’s about 45feet from the fence to the telephone pole and a pile of dirt holding the telephone pole. I couldnt get my trailer in that space. So I looked and figured I would park in25 and go back to the office without the trailer to request the move. But 25 was reserved, the manager went with us to show us other options. I would say he saved me from writing a very negative review. He knows his resort well and was very nice! He agreed on a space and I moved the trailer. It was a nice area with a great view, we lowered the ramp door and watched the sunset. Went for a walk with my dog in the morning, this bought an area for improvement. Most of the employees I came across didn’t say anything. The employees at the office/store were excellent, most seemed to be related to the owner or managers, but very friendly. The staff doesn't really enforce the rules. Friday night our neighbors’ friends showed up with a pop-up trailer and another with jet skis. They parked the jet ski trailer behind our trailer blocking the wonderful view. They then listened to mariachi fairly loud, and stubbled around drunk dancing. No employees said anything. I mention this because I believe one of the employees lived in a house right next to us. Saturday night was the worst. My wife and I are in our late 30s. For vacations we like to relax, hang out with people, and maybe drink some. But we are also considerate of those around us. The neighbors had a big party. They packed cars, tents in rv camp sites, trucks towing water toys, and quads. A person that rented a camp site had to wait for them to move some of the vehicle, but it was still very difficult for him to back in. No employees ever came to check if people paid for overnight or to help the situation. Under Noteworthy Details is my conclusions due to...

This was our last stop on our RV trip and we chose the destination based on their website info and reviews. They were promoting reopening of the bar and restaurant on our arrival date and we were excited to celebrate with them. Let me begin with getting there. 7-mile bumpy dirt road that will take you an hour plus to complete in RV. When I say bumpy, it's like a plane turbulence every time you pass speed of 5 MPH. The views on the way are stunning and it made us kept going with a hope 'this is going to be worth it'. DON'T attempt to drive the route at night. Upon the arrival, 2 friendly people welcomed us and provided information where to park. The restaurant and bar 'reopening' didn't happen and they weren't convincing that it would happen before our departure. There was not much of supplies and no food available while we were there. Come prepared with your own food, gas, propane, etc. Once we started to drive towards our spot the property looked completely run down and unmaintained for years. RV spots are very tight but since we were the only 2 RVs there this wasn't a problem. The next day we met Brad who told us was he was the general manager and if we needed jetski, pantoons or anything to give him a call. We thought renting a pantoon for a half day would be perfect. Long story short there was nothing to be rented, we ended up spending the rest of the day walking around the dirt parking lots discovering this place has fallen a apart over the years. It looks to me that after the fires in 2019 and the sale of the property this place remained untouched and I am sure Covid didn't help. My point of this review to you. If you are planning to take your family on vacation to Apache Lake M̶a̶r̶i̶n̶a̶ ̶&̶ ̶R̶e̶s̶o̶r̶t̶. Remember, there's no functional Marina or Resort. It's a beautiful Apache Lake with stunning views, rundown facilities and dirt parking lots with nothing to do. If we knew this earlier, we could of saved ourselves time and have a better time halfway through the dirt road at other campgrounds. We checked them out on the way out and they seemed filled with people and families having fun. I really wish that someone with $$$ will read this and look into investing in this place to bring back Marina and Resort. You will need a better road to get there in order to succeed. Under current situation and condition I am afraid this place won't survive too long but I hope someone will rescue it...