Camp Lucy — Hotel in Dripping Springs

I would not recommend having your wedding at Camp Lucy. Before I go into the negative experience I had, I will say that the food Camp Lucy (Whim Hospitality) made for our wedding was delicious. I had many people tell me it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding.

As a COVID bride, I planned two weddings – the first in Ireland, which we had to cancel, and the second at Camp Lucy. It was easier to plan a wedding across the world than it was an hour away at Camp Lucy. Their communication was terrible throughout the entire process. For how expensive Camp Lucy is, I was beyond disappointed at their terrible customer service and truly awful communication skills. It was difficult getting a contract from them, difficult getting hold of anyone on the phone, and nearly impossible for our guests to pay for their rooms (they turned my future in laws away when they drove out there specifically to put their credit card on file for the rooms saying only the account manager could do that and that she wasn’t there at that moment). The only person who was clear and accessible to us was Claire, the accountant (who was wonderful to work with!), when we had questions about the invoice that our account manager wouldn’t/couldn’t answer.

The moment that ruined it for me though is when I saw multiple random guests, not related to the wedding, walking around with our wedding welcome boxes and itinerary. Camp Lucy had assured me only 30 minutes before that they could handle passing out these boxes to our guests when they checked in (something any hotel, let alone a hotel centered around hosting events should be able to do). When I confronted my account manager about it she said that she had communicated it with the three people working the front desk and did not take ownership of the issue. She told me “I’m sorry and I hear you,” but did not come up with any solutions on how to fix it.

The hotel itself is beautiful, but it also had some issues. We stayed in their newest suite, which was spectacular except for the fact that the shower only had scalding hot water. When we told the front desk they said they knew and had been trying to fix it. When you’re charging $500+ a night for a room, the water shouldn’t burn you. My parents had the other suite and when they checked in there was food on the carpet and no towels. We also heard from other guests that their towels and sheets had brown stains. One guest’s bathtub wouldn’t drain and she had to ask the front desk multiple times before they fixed it (housekeeping came, and changed the towels over it and left it).

Our wedding day was beautiful and the other vendors we had were all spectacular. I think Camp Lucy has everything it needs to be the great venue it claims to be, they just need people with the common sense and skills to make it happen.

UPDATE 4/27/21 Camp Lucy, in true fashion, it's nice of you to say that you reached out directly, but it's been 4 days and I have not heard from you and neither has anyone in my family (and we did check our spam). This is a perfect example of the frustrating communication we dealt with throughout our entire planning...

My husband and I stayed at Camp Lucy last weekend as a spur-of-the-moment getaway from the ITC Deer Park fire residue in Houston. The property was everything we had hoped for and more! The feeling of a remote location, large beautiful hill country estate, but just a short drive from Austin, is absolutely stunning. The rooms, small cabins nestled on the hillside, had everything you might want! We stayed in a spacious king room with soaker tub and rain shower. The wet bar/breakfast area was just right and well appointed. None of our windows faced another cabin. Curtains black out any unwanted light for great sleeping.

The beautiful buildings brought back from Vietnam and repurposed into Tillie's, and the wedding chapel are breath-taking! I consider myself to be a bit of a foodie, and worked in the hospitality industry when I was younger. I am always delighted when I come across a gem like this property! Chef's culinary creations were unique and surprising, beautiful and delicious. I can't wait to come back so we can work our way through the whole menu. Staff is some of the best ever! Thank you Lizzy & Caroline! You ladies rock, and you made it look easy.

I liked the attention paid to small details. For example, morning coffee was served in an over-sized cup which reflects the way we now consume coffee. Camp Lucy stocks Topo Chico sparkling water, yay! We are in Texas after all. Soaps in the rooms by Bee Kind were NOT in plastic bottles. To-go cups are compostable vegetable-based plastic. No plastic straws were in sight, no disposable paper napkins. Kudos for your green efforts!

If I could make one suggestion, it would be to make the entire breakfast menu a-la-carte. The all-inclusive breakfast is 5 courses, 4 of which were carbohydrates or grains. Grain intolerance is on the rise, (thanks Monsanto) and low carb diets are very popular these days. If I could be so bold as to suggest offering single egg Benedict served over your slow roasted short rib meat instead of pork... with fresh grapefruit half, when in season. That would be my wish :-)

We thoroughly enjoyed our morning walk of the property. We toured every building and then walked to the farther wedding venue and back. The entire property is well kept, and stunningly beautiful! I cannot stress enough how great the staff is. Every manager, every hostess, every server, every housekeeper - everyone made us feel welcome with their great smiles and excellent trade-craft.

We will be coming back! Thank you for such a...

We really enjoyed our stay! rooms are absolutely beautiful, shower was nice! bath was aesthetically pleasing (bring your own bubble bath) nice touches such as the makeup towel and bathroom amenities. The robes were lovely and the TV had alot of channels, also a radio was nice but, no plug-in for my phone on one side was strange but, I unplugged the clock. The kitchenette was nice as well with yummy coffee pods. The pool bar was lovely and so was the bartender, the pool sadly was shut down before we got in it and we were offered one free drink which was okay but, by then we already had a $70 drink tab, and did not need another drink lol..that was a bummer but, still a beautiful pool and lounge chairs. Just a huge activity that was unavailable to us but, I understand safety measures. The restaurant had a very limited menu but we ended up finding something and it was so beyond good, the flavor, the presentation, it was truly a party in my mouth. The restaurant was told it was our anniversary but, it was never acknowledged so that was sad. We roasted marshmallows by the fire and it was a relaxing way to end our evening. The next day, we had a guided tour to feed the alpacas, donkeys and also did archery and axe throwing both very fun with great friendly guides!! I do think axe throwing should not be $20PP as we were tired after archery and didnt throw for very long, that activity since there isnt very many activities should be included with the stay, if we stayed one more night it would have been great if there were more activities for adults. The breakfast was really nice to take back to our room, easy quick and yummy, happy they had oat milk-big plus for those with dietary restrictions. I would like to mention that before arriving I emailed reservations that we were celebrating our anniversary and it wasnt acknowledged, even mentioned again at check-in. I do think if Camp Lucy provided their guests more personalization stay based on what they are celebrating with the simplest of things such as a special card (10% coupon for a mug or T-Shirt, or dinner), bottle of wine or even a dessert, just something as a nice token of appreciation of us choosing Camp Lucy to celebrate a special time in our lives, would have changed this stay into a more romantic vibe for us as well as very special. It's the littlest things that matter. Overall, I will recommend Camp Lucy to friends. We truly were grateful this place was open...