Lake Bryan — Hotel in Bryan

This is a complicated place to rate and I really need to average two very different aspects of it.

Venue/Park: 4/5 It is an amazing lake with a lot of land to hang out and relax. The restaurant looked cool and had some great entertainment listed on the website, though it was closed while we were in town. This seems like a great place for a festival, event, or to go boating on the weekend.

Campground: 1/5 This was one of the worst camping experiences I've ever had (and we've camped in 50+ places in most states in the US). First, the attendant at the front needed some training on camping policies. She told us that there were not any electric tent camping spots at the lake, despite the website and the parking pass she gave us specifically saying that electric tent camping spots were available on a first come, first serve basis. There were actually plenty of electric tent sites available and we grabbed one. When we asked if we could have an RV spot she said we needed to reserve one, I asked if we could do that and she said she wasn't sure if one was available. I'm not sure how you can run a campground that works off reservations if you don't know what is reserved or not. Second, the bathrooms were atrocious. The women's bathroom had no toilet paper, none of the water fountains worked in the area, there were no showers, one of the urinals in the men's bathroom was overflowing with urine, and most of the porta-potties were missing toilet seats. It was really gross and unsanitary.

So, depending on what you want to do this venue is either fantastic or horrid. I'd return to hang out for the day but I wouldn't sleep...

It's one of my bigger disappointments. Decent people shouldn't go here. They'll be happier somewhere else. Spike strips are generally a sign that a location is locked into a death spiral, and this is their answer to too many visitors with a total disregard or disrespect for anyone and everything. The bathrooms alone were a health hazard. Defecation everywhere, piles of paper, swarms of insect.. I'll stop there. Both days droves of people arrived in junk cars with 5-8 people crammed into them. Loud music dusk till dawn. Parking in your campsite, walking through the site, throwing up, and urinating in your site. You have absolutely no protections here. I wouldn't return here if they gave me a lifetime membership. The only solution I can think of would be raising the day use 5x or more. They won't do it till someone gets shot. Also, there's no shower, which by itself is a hard pass for most campers. That all said, which was quite a bit, the park has amazing potential. It's quite pretty. There are kayaks and paddleboards for rent, a few trails, and a bar and grill on site. I wish it were better maintained, policed and had some sense of order/saftey. I would caution anyone wanting to visit here not to do it Fri-Sun. I expect our impression would have been better mid week, but as it was, the experience was unforgivable for a place to allow my family this...

Paid to get in 4th of July. Brought one brand new floaty lounger to be able to chill on the lake. On the way in, I paid and then I drove up 15 ft and they had 2 lake workers already waiting as soon as you are done paying you drive up next to a parked cop car and then workers start asking if I have any coolers (really its because they probably want to check for fireworks)and they asked to look at coolers in my trunk. The coolers were full of our already seasoned bbq we were hoping to get to cook there. My big floaty was also in there, and after they barged open our trunk in a huge hurry and found no fireworks or cooler problems, they slammed my trunk door on my floaty, causing holes in the part of the float where you lay your body AND the arm and headrest part of my floaty. Broke both parts that inflate of my floaty. I would not have even come to the lake if I did not have my float. My children couldnt have near as much fun as they wanted, and to top it off before you pay, they speak nothing of how there are 0 bbq pits available, so guess what I couldn't 4th of July bbq there either. One star. Ruined my...