Winding Waters RV Resort — Hotel in Emerson

Janean is a Peach!

Sikeeeee! Okay, let’s start from the beginning…

Check-in was great! The kind lady who helped us (of course I didn’t get her name! 🤦🏼‍♀️) was incredibly gracious. I explained we’re from the area and planning to move “home” to be closer to family, and that we had an extra vehicle and trailer due to the move. She was so understanding and even welcomed us “home"! The gentleman who escorted us to our site was also fantastic, showing us exactly where to pull out of the way while we got set up then take the additional vehicle & trailer to our near by property.

At first glance, the resort seemed good- fairly well-maintained grounds (lots of standing water), friendly staff, and convenient to Cartersville. A bit pricey, but we hoped it was worth it for the amenities and location.

Pool: Small but fun! The slides are a hit with the kids. However, I was told when booking that the pool would be heated- it definitely was NOT. The water was freezing, even on a sunny 80° day in early October. 🥶

Sites: All are pull-through and easy to navigate, but they’re packed in tight and offer ZERO shade. Pretty typical of RV “resorts” these days.

Golf Carts: Rentals are reasonably priced and convenient for getting around.

Staff: Aside from power-hungry Janean, most of the staff were friendly and helpful. Some of the younger employees seemed a bit disengaged, but if you’ve raised teens or college-aged kids, you get it.

Location: Great spot, centrally located with quick access to I-75 and Hwy 41/411.

Bathhouses: Great to have but they weren’t kept clean during our stay. We assumed staff were busy with the RV Show that weekend. 🤷🏼‍♀️

WiFi: While there’s no shortage of towers on the property, the WiFi service itself is terrible. If you’re planning to get any work done or stream your favorite shows, definitely have a backup plan. Cell service is fine, probably thanks to the lack of trees but the WiFi leaves a lot to be desired.

Now for the downside; on our third night, Janean single-handedly turned a pleasant trip into a frustrating one. We had family members dropping off one of our kids and wanted to stay for a short visit, grab food from the on-site food truck and say hello. They were told it would be $20 per person to come in for an hour! When I tried to discuss it, Janean was dismissive, rude, and downright hostile, insisting we were told about this policy at check-in (which, after a travel day with a 2 trailers and Atlanta traffic, was hardly something top of mind or concern). We also were not informed about the exclusive RV Show upon booking a month in advance.

It was disappointing, especially at $90+ per night, when our guests weren’t using any amenities (and honestly, neither did we, thanks to the freezing pool and dirty bathhouses).

In closing: We’ll be skipping Winding Waters in the future. I had been warned this place has excessive “HOA-style” rules but figured we’d give it a chance. Don’t be like me, save your money and stay somewhere that actually...

I’m sad to leave a not so great review 😥. We have been to many campgrounds and I can truly say the staff has always made us feel so welcomed, and even appreciated our company.

When I booked our reservation over the phone, I told the nice lady (the only one who showed kindness by the way) that we were bringing a bass boat. She told us that was just fine. The moment we arrived, and stepped out of our vehicle, a golf cart pulled up and without being friendly or smiling, let us know they don’t allow boats and to let him go figure this out.

They came back and told us to park the boat in a different area, which was great by us. However, my husband and son’s fishing trip was cut extremely short one of the days bc after my husband plugged bass boat up to charge, the staff (without even being decent enough to let us know they had done this) unplugged the boat from the charging area that THEY said we COULD use, and ZIP TIED it shut in case we found they had unplugged from charger and plugged it back up. Wow. So mean.

The other issue (I wouldn’t have even left a review on, had it not been for the charging issue that came about) was the front desk staff was less than welcoming or nice the few times we had to go in there. After the first two times of going in to purchase items, I dreaded having to go back in because they wee not very welcoming and I felt like we were in the way.

Lastly, they had a RV show in the middle of the campground. Cool, huh! We enjoyed looking at the campers one of the days we were there. That staff was very nice! (didn’t work for campground). Sunday morning though the music was absolutely WAY too loud, but no big deal! However I did want to find out what time the music was going to be turned off. So I called to ask- NOT to complain at all! Just the simple question of what time did that end that day. The lady (sounded older) was just so rude for zero reason. She kept calling me ma’am, and saying you’ll have to go down there and ask them myself, that this isn’t there show. Just no reason to be mean. Could have said the same thing in a nice way, OR, better yet, do your job and find out what time the loud music goes off while we are camping at your campground 🤦🏻‍♀️ It was techo music. Not very easy to wake up to.

Anyway, hope they can start being a little more kind and welcoming to their...

This park is okay at best. The train runs through multiple times a day, it’s right next to the highway which is heard at any place in the park. The worst part is the rude employees and the everlasting list of rules.

They have “premium” sites with dog pens right across from the dog park, where people just put their dogs in and let them bark their fool heads off while you’re in the dog park and nobody says or does anything about it.

The water pressure will definitely blow your lines open, and my surge protector detected 3 surges during my 1 month stay, so they have some utility issues.

One of the rules is no dog fencing, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. I stayed for a week before I saw 3-4 others who were long term campers with fencing up, so I assumed it was a more lax rule that they only enforced when issues arose and put mine up as well. There were no complaints that I was aware of, and the fencing is mostly to keep MY dogs safe, not to keep them in, since twice prior people were unable to control their barking snarling dogs. After 3 weeks a staff member called me and informed me I couldn’t have the fence. I explained that several others had fencing up as well and she was extremely rude, talking over me while I was talking and being very dismissive about my concerns for my dogs’ safety and above all else, if some are allowed to have a fence and others arent, it’s discrimination. She said she would have a manager call me back. An hour later, the manager (Micah) called me back while I was in a meeting at work so I didn’t answer, he left a voicemail YELLING at me. He then proceeded to call me 3 more times immediately, so I answered and let him know that I was at work and I would call him back. I decided at that point I was going to move parks because they are overpriced and rude so I never called him back. Once I returned, I realized they vandalized my fencing and bent one of the panels and left an eviction notice for the end of my reservation. Good riddance!

Oh and the employee let me know that they had planned to do construction at my site without notice and there was still several other with dog fencing up.

Definitely think twice about staying here, other reviewers have also been vocal about the rudeness of employees and it’s pretty clear they feel entitled to treat...