Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch — Hotel in Apache Junction

A great place! We stayed for 4 nights in October with our 21 & 24 yr sons in a family cabin. It was in 80's every day. The ranch is beautiful and rustic. Don't expect fancy. It was built in the 1920's and is like traveling back in time and the internet was spotty in our cabin (was a welcome change) and only one small tv on the entire property in the main lodge. It's got a gorgeous location and easy access from the airport (30 min to AZA/Gateway.) It's family run and John, who manages and overseas the ranch, and everyone we interacted with are positive, welcoming, and helpful. Thank you all! The meals are included and fabulous. We looked forward to them knowing they would always be good and home cooked whatever it was. Mornings had a buffet style breakfast with different hot options daily. During our stay we had egg/sausage bake, veggie back, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh muffins, hash, breakfast potatoes, fruit, cottage cheese, bagels etc. Water, oj, coffee. They have a pop machine to purchase Coke products if you want very reasonably. Dinner was also a treat with every night being different and with seating by cabin #. We had burgers and brisket one night (an event that they have outside and open to the public with entertainment-at ours a guitar duo of singers). Other nights we had ribs, pot pies, steak & chicken & always fresh dessert i.e berry shake, chocolate pudding, cakes-a different one each night. The food is quality fresh and with all the trimmings i.e salads for example goat cheese and cranberry with walnuts one evening. For lunch, we were away, and they made box lunches we had roast beef, turkey, & PB&J. Each had an apple, chocolate chip cookie, bag of chips, & celery w/ranch. The food is a highlight. On property, we enjoyed the heated pool (they provide towels) with a gorgeous mountain backdrop. The pool is on the smaller side and was built in the 50's. Some of the paint is worn away from the concrete bottom which may cause some to think it's dirty, but we found it clean though it is old. The pool was never crowded when we were there and often we were the only ones in it. It's open 6am-10pm. We also enjoyed playing ping pong and corn hole outside, nightly fires with smores, and playing pool in the main lodge. There are areas to sit by the river. They treat you like family here. It's like a family camp with a lot of history. There are many repeat visitors. One family there had been going every year for the last 38 years! We were in cabin #10 which is a great location by the pool. It has two bedrooms, couch and table & four chairs in the main room with a bathroom w/tub & shower. The fridge is a small apartment style (several shelves and drawer) with a small freezer on top. Beds were comfortable and each bedroom had an a/c/heater with temp controls and there were box fans. ||We did various excursions (additional fees) as well. On property, we took a 1 hr sunset horse ride which was fabulous. We haven't been on horses in 13 years and only once before that. It was the perfect length of time and they use stools to help you mount your horse. The scenery is beautiful as we road by the Salt river and Bulldog Mountains, much of which was shaded. The horses are obviously well taken care of seem happy and the wranglers are great. Thanks Lottie! ||We also did a 2 hour Foxtail Salt river kayaking trip that launched from the ranch on the banks of the river. Highly recommend. There is a current which makes it an easy enjoyable trip though is not too fast to make it stressful. There are a couple forks that have faster water over rocks which provides some excitement but the water is shallow and while a bit faster wouldn't qualify as rapids. We went on the 9:30-11:30 unguided trip on an October morning and we were alone on the river for most of the time. We did pass some fishermen and picked up some other kayakers as we got to the pick up point. The scenery is beautiful, peaceful, and fun going under a bridge and seeing the various cranes & birds. We had no problem staying right size, no one fell in, though we did take a waterproof bag, waters (there are cupholders), and sunscreen that we clipped on the end of the kayak looping through the cord on front or back. We wore swimsuits and water shoes with only water dripping from the paddles as we paddled to get us wet.||15 minutes away we rented a UTV with Stellar Adventures and went off-roading for 2 hours. Awesome!||We also drove 70 miles/1.25 hrs straight to Payson and visited the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park and hiked down and under the Tonto Natural Bridge. Highly recommend somewhat steep & a lot of steps and for a short but rewarding couple hikes including a waterfall. There is an option to stay above with a flat paved walkway to 4 different viewpoints.||You can't go wrong with a visit here if you're looking for a relaxing way to connect with nature to get away from it all. Thanks to John and everyone who made our...

My wife and I did the 2 hour kayak unguided tour. I would highly recommend this tour, and this company. Honestly, the employees we met made the entire experience absolutely beyond my expectations. We talked to the grounds employees as well as those working the kayak tour, and they all had meaningful conversations with us. Meaning if they asked ‘how you were doing?’ they would wait for an answer. They give you a good crash course on kayaking. This was only our 2nd time in a kayak. They gave us much more information than the place we rented from the first time. The guy that did our crash course was very good. He threw in just enough humor to keep you engaged, and still kept it informative and professional. They did stabilize the kayak while getting us into the water, again a nice touch quite different from our first time. These employees are amazing they seem to really love what they are doing! Once they launch you into the water, this is an unguided tour. So, its you and the river. Every group will be different, so I went into this planning on it was my wife and I that would need to help each other down the river. This is a class 1 section of river, with a class 1 rapid. There is a current that will move you, and the rapid section was awesome. I personally watched several videos on reading rivers, catching eddies, and different techniques for river kayaking. Which was good and bad. I felt comfortable picking lines down the river, but I also had things I wanted to try. We are very new to kayaking and trying to figure out what parts of it we want to take part in, and help us figure out what kayaks we want to buy. On the way down, I got into the small eddies easily. I came up to a bigger one to test myself, I went for it, over rotated and rolled that yak over. I was in the back of the pack so my wife, watch to make sure I was good. Which I was, the bungees on the kayak kept my stuff on the kayak. I did drift with the kayak into deeper water. So, I had to float and get up on the kayak which was easy. I continued to play on the small water all the way down. At the end, the driver came to pick us up. Again, he was awesome, asked how it was, offered us cold water. He genuinely wanted to know how your experience was. So of course I told him I rolled it and he listened to what happened and laughed with me. I am trying to keep this somewhat short, but the conversations made the day that much better. I would highly recommend. Make sure to listen to the crash course. Make sure everything is in dry bags, dip those paddles and enjoy the beauty of nature. It’s a truly beautiful area, we saw wild horses and some fish. I will definitely be going back, and next time I will be doing the 4 hour. This is a class 1, and I wish I could take my son down it, but per policy he is still a little young. Also, I read positive and negative reviews when I go to a new spot, which one of the most recent brings me to my last thing – READ the waiver, you are signing it so you should read it. But, read it and if you aren’t comfortable with it then don’t do it. This isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok. For people like me this is an awesome escape in an amazing area. This company is a great place to go for the equipment and...

Unprofessional, Rude, and Flat-Out Disrespectful Service, 4/10/25

The behavior of the female bartender with long dark hair at Saguaro Lake Ranch yesterday was so beyond unprofessional, I can't stay silent.

It was 99 degrees out — brutally hot — and people were sweltering, thirsty, and just trying to enjoy the wedding. I approached the bar politely, asked for some ice, and was met with an attitude so cold, it was almost laughable. She barely looked at me and said, “We’re out.” Fine. I thought, “Okay, maybe things run low. No big deal.” But then, not even two minutes later, a guy walks up, asks for ice, and she immediately hands it over like it’s no problem at all.

So, what exactly happened? Were they suddenly “out” of ice when I asked but magically had enough for him? Or was I simply not worth the effort because I wasn’t some random guy she felt like being nice to?

When I confronted her about it, she tried to defend herself by saying, “We’re low on ice.” Hilarious, because it sure wasn’t an issue when he asked. If ice was really that scarce, why didn’t she just say that to me? Why lie and pretend there was no ice when she clearly had some ready to go?

But let me be clear: it wasn’t about the ice. It was about her rude, lazy, and condescending service. Her behavior wasn’t just unhelpful — it was downright disrespectful. She didn’t just deny me ice; she denied me the most basic level of courtesy. The fact that she thought I’d just sit back and take it without a word is embarrassing for her. She was completely disengaged, acted like she was doing everyone a huge favor by showing up, and couldn’t be bothered to do her job properly.

Her attitude was beyond frustrating. She didn’t give a damn about the event or the people at it — she was there to make her day easier, not make the guests feel welcome or comfortable. This wasn’t a slip-up or a minor mistake — this was an outright insult.

Now, to be fair, the wedding yesterday was absolutely stunning, and the venue is beautiful. But when you have staff members acting this poorly, it ruins the beautiful moment.

Saguaro Lake Ranch absolutely needs to take a long, hard look at who they hire to represent their venue because this woman should never be trusted with handling a high-profile event like a wedding. Her behavior was downright shameful, and if this is the level of service you can expect from their staff, it’s a clear sign that they don’t care about their guests or the reputation of the events they host. If you’re considering this venue, be prepared for the very real possibility that your special day could be ruined by staff who are lazy, rude, and completely unprofessional. If they’re willing to let someone like this treat guests with such blatant disrespect, I can’t imagine what other disasters...