Margaritaville Lake Resort — Hotel in Conroe

Posted this on Trip Advisor as well and sharing here as well. This place gives me mixed feelings. Recently visited with my family which includes me, my husband and 2 kids and the experience was mediocre. We purchased day passes and wanted to check it out while we were in town.

Landshark Bar & Grill: After getting our day passes's from the front desk we asked for a recommendation for lunch and were recommended by the front desk to try out Landshark and it was an average experience to say the least. We walked in and requested a table and it took awhile to be seated. Meanwhile there were plenty of tables open and the staff inside seemed to just not care. When we were finally seated it took awhile to be approached by a server. After 20 minutes, I had to go up to the front counter and ask if when we would receive service. Finally, 10 minutes later a server came up to us and took our orders. It was by a sever I noticed was gathered at the bar with other servers about 4 on their phones laughing and talking not paying attention to guests, including my family. I thought maybe it was just a bad first impression and things would turn around however when we received our food one of the order's was wrong and when telling the waiter he seemed as if he an attitude. I couldn't help that my daughter who is a picky eater and has food allergies order was put in wrong. If it had've been mine I would've accepted it but in general if someone orders food and it's not the way they ordered it they should be able to ask for it to be fixed without receiving attitude especially since we were paying customers. After having a conversation with the waiter explaining my daughter's allergies he seemed to reluctantly take it back and then gave us the food prepared the way we requested. Regarding the food it was pretty good. Overall I would not recommend coming to that restaurant as it seems although you may get some decent food it is not the worth the bad wait times or the careless and rude staff.

Pool Area: Overall where we had the best time. After the bad experience at Landshark this was a game changer. The pool areas were clean and the staff were very friendly. Eliot at the towel hut was very welcoming and answered many of our questions as we were learning the area. My two kids greatly enjoyed the slides and kid water playground. My husband and I had a great time in the lazy river and it was nice relaxing experience. While taking a break from the water we had a nice worker named James who seemed to be walking around checking on people stopped to check on us and offered us fresh towels as well as asked us how we were liking the pool areas and how our day was going. We got back in the lazy river as a family and soon after my son unfortunately cut himself somehow in the lazy river so we got out and went to the towel hut to ask for assistance. James was there and when he saw my son he immediately grabbed the first aid kid and helped us out. It was not a bad cut at all very minimal really but just like most kids my son was freaking out seeing the small amount of blood and him being autistic as well scared him. However James was more than helpful. He was very gentle and helped me calm him down by talking in a soft tone and gave him the bandaid to put over his cut. I appreciate him being really helpful with my son. Not even knowing my son was autistic he still made sure to just be kind and understanding. Visiting any type of resort or waterpark I have never experienced such a friendlier staff member and employees like him should be a standard. I would like to commend him for going out of his way help. After I had gotten my son settled we continued to enjoy the pools and I left my kids and husband to get my family drinks from the 5 O'clock Bar and upon walking up all 3 bartenders were just sitting down on their phones. I walked up and waited for them to notice me and it took about 5 minutes. Good place in some areas...

We recently spent 2 nights and 3 days at Margaritaville with a group of four adults. While the resort had a few positives, overall, our experience was underwhelming, and we don’t plan on returning in the near future. Below is our detailed feedback:

Positives

The rooms were very spacious and comfortable in terms of size.

Emily, the bartender at License to Chill, was fantastic — definitely a highlight of our visit. Her friendly attitude and great service deserve a full 5 stars.

Room & Housekeeping Issues

The shower design was a major issue. The half-glass door didn’t function well — water splashed all over the floor, and the open design created an uncomfortable draft. It felt like the shower wasn’t designed to work with that style of door.

Water pressure was noticeably low in both our room and the rooms across the hall.

Housekeeping never serviced our room during our stay. We didn’t opt out of service, yet our bed was never made, and we were left without fresh towels or linens. It was especially inconvenient that only two towels and two washcloths were provided for a multi-night stay.

Pool Area & Adult Experience

The lazy river was extremely narrow — only one tube could float through at a time, so it felt more cramped than relaxing.

We were particularly looking forward to the swim-up bar, but it was closed by 8:00 p.m., despite the pool staying open until 10 or 11 p.m. That was very disappointing, especially since we were hoping for an adult-oriented atmosphere in the evenings.

The next day, the swim-up bar area was full of children, which really took away from the adult vibe we were expecting. We would strongly recommend a cocktail server service around the pool in the evenings — we would have gladly stayed longer and spent more if that were available.

Being told we needed to dry off and wear more than a swimsuit cover-up to walk into the restaurant for drinks felt inconvenient and against the relaxed, resort-style experience we were hoping for.

Boat & Trailer Parking Concerns

We brought our boat based on the understanding that parking and slips were available on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, we weren’t informed that overnight boat slips were not allowed.

This required us to pull our boat out daily and park it about a mile away from the resort in a gravel lot.

The parking area had no lighting at night, no security personnel, and no visible surveillance cameras. This felt very unsafe, especially for valuable property like a boat and trailer.

There was also no registration process or monitoring of the lot — anyone could enter from the main road, which poses a serious security concern. We reported this to the front desk twice, but nothing changed during our stay. Also the boat parking lot is located a mile away from the resort entrance off the main road.

Dining & Late-Night Service

Most of the resort shuts down by 11:00 p.m., and there was nowhere to get snacks or even bar food after that time. If you plan to stay here, bring your own late-night snacks.

The mini fridge in the room is suitable for drinks but not cold enough for perishable food.

Parking & Valet Issues

When we arrived, there were no open parking spaces, and hotel guests are not allowed to park in the Landshark restaurant lot.

This left us feeling pressured to use valet service. Unfortunately, the first time my husband tried to retrieve our vehicle, they couldn’t locate his keys. After a period of concern, they were found clipped to an employee’s belt — not a reassuring experience.

Overall Impression: While the resort has potential and some standout staff, the number of operational issues — from design flaws and poor communication to lack of amenities and security — overshadowed the positives. With some key improvements, Margaritaville could better live up to the experience...

In the shortest words - worth it if you’re on a budget and don’t mind average service, overpriced food for the quality and a clear lack of up kept pool amenities.

Now for the long version - my family of five stayed for three nights, four days. We tried to check in early at 11am and was notified of an extra $100 dollar charge. We waited until 12pm and paid $50 dollars. Mind you - you cannot use the facilities until you check in, which quite frankly doesn’t make much sense with how much you’ll spend on drinks during those extra hours. We checked in, the rooms immediately looked great, elevators were fast but our room did have some issues. A leaky faucet, fridge that didn’t work (cool), a stuck patio door that didn’t lock, and a glitchy light that flickered on and off (room 1008). Room also had an odd smell that we got used to, I chalked this up to the humidity. We quickly got organized and down to the water park. Walk wasn’t too bad, and at first glance the amenities looked good but we did notice some things. The kids water park is not maintained, several water structures not in service, major paint peeling, rusting on metal fixtures and the chairs/tables could also be replaced. Speaking of chairs, definitely not enough during peak season. Let’s chat about the staff, overall they were okay. No lifeguards - most competitors in this resort type space have lifeguards and the servers were far and in between, oftentimes chatting at the bar vs taking and running orders.

From the kids water park, we headed to the lazy river. Some things here as well, non working or faulty water structures, very narrow lazy river and nothing to get too excited about but wasn’t terrible.

We also went to the two other pools, where the swim up bar is and the larger water slides. The larger water slides is the only location that has a lifeguard and there is only one. The swim up bar and 5 o clock somewhere bar area was nice and service was good as well, no complaints here.

While at the resort, we continued to see a clear lack of maintenance from the mini golf to the arcade, etc. we also ate at all of the dining options and while the food was okay (think chilis), we felt it was overpriced. Something else to consider too, the margaritas are priced differently throughout the resort ($1 to $3 dollar difference) and this adds up if drinking throughout. Cheapest drinks were at the land shark bar and grill, they also had a nice sandy beach area with a dock.

For activities, we tried them all as well including mini golf, the arcade and Einsteins boat rental where the prices were good and service was okay - we rented a paddle boat and this was nice.

The biggest complaints overall, was service. It was lackluster and best service we had, came from the valet.

The biggest pros are the price, you get what you pay for and the room was nice, well decorated and we had a great view (king suite with lake view).

In summary, if you’re up to driving to round rock or Dallas, give Kalahari a try (even for just adults - great underground grotto with swim up bar) or great wolf lodge or the Gaylord in grapevine. These options are pricier but it’s worth the extra few hundred dollars for the true vacation experience. The margaritaville brand is a good one but the resort manager at this location...