Holiday Acres Camping Resort — Hotel in Bonus Township

I would love the owner to contact me before I write my review. You haven't been here since we checked in and I would like to give the benefit of the doubt that you don't know how it is when you're gone.

Review: Holiday Acres Campground

Our recent stay at Holiday Acres Campground was nothing short of a nightmare. From the moment we arrived, we felt unwelcome and targeted by both the staff and the locals. It's hard to say definitively if this place was racist, but the behavior we experienced certainly felt that way.

Firstly, we were harassed and intimidated by the locals. They would drive around our campsite at night, yelling racial slurs and other offensive comments. This created a disturbing and unsettling atmosphere that made our stay extremely uncomfortable.

The staff were equally unpleasant. We were falsely accused of peeing in the pool without any evidence, which seemed more like an excuse to target us than a genuine concern. Additionally, one staff member consistently displayed unprofessional and rude behavior. She berated one of us and treated him condescendingly, as if he were a boy rather than an adult. She exhibited this condescending behavior with the locals as well.

Requests for assistance were met with eye rolls and obvious reluctance. Her dismissive and offensive attitude was consistent throughout our stay. The final straw came when we were kicked out for calling her a name after she persistently treated us with disrespect. While name-calling isn't appropriate, her behavior towards us was intolerable and unprovoked.

The facilities were also abysmal. The bathrooms constantly smelled like fart, possibly due to the high sulfur content in the water, which only added to the overall negative experience. The showers were yellow with orange bits that could be scraped off, and the lack of cleanliness was appalling. The playgrounds looked so poorly maintained that you could get a splinter just from looking at them.

To make matters worse, we were falsely accused of stealing by a local camper. Despite promises to review security footage, no evidence was provided, and no apology was offered for the false accusation.

The pool area was another disappointment. The pool was cold, likely because it had just been filled. While the pool area itself was nice, it lacked lounging chairs, which would have enhanced comfort and relaxation.

Overall, our experience at Holiday Acres Campground was horrific. The combination of harassment from locals, the hostile attitude of the staff, the filthy facilities, and the lack of amenities made for an extremely uncomfortable and distressing stay. I would strongly advise anyone considering this campground to stay far away, especially if you are looking for a welcoming and respectful...

I have been a seasonal for 3 years and will be returning next year. Here are my pros and cons if you're considering a stay:

Pros - The sites are huge and grass, most are fairly level with little adjustment needed. Great if you have kids or dogs. If you're looking for a concrete parking lot campground, you'll be disappointed. The river is great for fishing and kayaking. There are many spots downstream to get out of if you go in at the campground. It's not a difficult paddle. The staff enforces the rules, especially with dogs. That may not be a pro for folks that want to let their dogs run wild and be a nuisance to everyone, but it makes me happy that staff enforce leash rules so strictly. As a seasonal, there are some rules on what you can do with your site because of state and local laws, but for the most part, you have the freedom to make your space your own. The people here are nice. The campground runs events every weekend, and the seasonals do potlucks, bags tournaments, margarita nights, and all sorts of things on their own. Usually, everyone is welcome. Lastly, IT'S QUIET. Sure, there's normal noise from the road during daytime working hours and occasionally from neighbors, but I love sitting outside by the river drinking my coffee and listening to the birds in the morning. Or at night, sitting by the fire having a drink listening to the crickets and watching the fireflies. Aside from certain holiday weekends (especially Halloween!), this isn't a party campground.

Cons: The campground is in the floodplain. That means higher than normal mosquitoes and lots of poison ivy. They spray for mosquitoes weekly, but still wear bug spray and mind any foliage with 3 leaves. This also means that after heavy rains, the river can and does flood into the campground. When that happens, they have to keep people off wet sites, or else you'll sink in the mud. Because of the floodplain, most sites do not have sewer hookups. There are train tracks nearby, but trains are short and infrequent. The campground has no control over these things. The campground is also on groundwater wells and can sometimes have an odor, but that's the way it is in this whole area. The new owner took over shortly before I started coming here and is still renovating the bathrooms, converting sites to 50 amp, and repairing the golf course. It takes time.

I think so long as you come here understanding the things above you'll like it. If you pick only one weekend, pick Halloween Weekend....

This campground is the worst in all northern Illinois. The host Carol is just plain rude when you have any questions and talking to other campers they agreed with my observation. The place has no security as gate are in the open position as they have been all season from what I am told. The sites on the main road in to the east are without fire pits and just have a few that seasonal campers made themselves. The trees are dead everywhere and when asked to remove a branch so it won't fall on my camper they told me NO! If you want it down you will have to do it on your own. The sites on east side are 90% 15 amp service and 99% of campers are 30 amp if not 50 amp. So blowing a breaker is common and if it happens while your away then your camper will be hot and the refrigerator will have spoiled food. The play grounds are bad on east side and on the west are a bit better. There is a mini put course that looks more like a race track for RC cars and such and the actual track for just that looks like it is never used. There is a small river that runs on the north side but with all the rain this summer it over flowed the banks and 90% of the campsites were unaccusable and stuff was floating everywhere. This was of no fault of the campground but nothing was done later for those who lost weekends out there. The management is looking to charge you with any charges they can as one seasonal told me they had to up grade power outlets and tried to charge them $3.50 for a plug. Activities were few and with no real effort to involve campers and when they did have a eating event is was poorly attended because campers knew wanted little to do with management events. One nice thing is that they don't discriminate those who have older campers and allow the seasonal's a lot of leeway as to what they do at there sites so the variety is nice to see. While the other campgrounds (2) within 5 miles were full after the rains stopped and water was down, this campground had 100s of...