Blue Lake Resort — Hotel in Ephrata

Where do I begin? I'll start by saying I normally do not leave lengthy negative reviews. There were, however, a few positives:

1. The campground itself was clean and kept up pretty well.
2. The lake area was a little small but all in all was great for the kids to get in the water, there was a dock. We enjoyed playing at the lake.
3. The views around us were awesome and the stars were of course, beautiful at night.

Other than that: -We made reservations for 8 people (4 of which are children under 9) and was told by the lady working in the office that if my family got there first we could just tell the office the name of our friends (whose name the reservation was in). We get there and the camper (number 14) was not the one that we were told we'd get. We let that go and worked it out anyway. The smell that would intermittently come throughout the day in the camper and right outside was atrocious. The toilet was leaking from the back. The oven and stove were not working. The camper was not clean when we arrived, the floors were dirty, there were cobwebs and dead insects in the corners of the camper and on all the windows. The drawer and cupboard was broken, etc.

My friend talked with the management after the first night and the owner came and tried to fix the leaking sewage hookup and said we could stay in the camper next door the following night for free to make up for the mix up with campers and other issues. We thought that was a great gesture and appreciated it.

While the next camper (number 12) was bigger and the stove and oven worked, the electricity in half of the camper did not, the AC did not work worth a darn for about 6 hours, the toilet was grimy and had obviously not been cleaned in ages, the drawers were all broken and the so-called "bunk bed" in the 2nd bedroom that folds down did not have a mattress- it was just a piece of plywood. I have added pictures of camper #12.

As if that weren't enough when we went to check out the office lady said that she never knew there were that many people in our group (when we'd even called it in AND included that information in our original reservation) then proceeded to charge us $10 per person per night over 4 which was Not disclosed to us beforehand even though she tried to say that she told us. We would have just found our own place to stay if we'd known that. And when my friend told them the extra charges were not a part of the agreement they had the audacity to say "Well we gave you three other camper for free the second night you shouldn't be complaining." So really what they did is try to make up for their "loss" even though the other camper would have been empty anyway.

The only "surprise" there was on our end for them is my nephew decided to come at the last minute. I would have been 100% okay with paying an extra fee for him since he wasn't part of the original plan.

If you have your own camper the campground is nice but other than that, I'd...

We had a great time at Blue Lake resort with a family group of about 15 people. Some of us were in RV spots which had full hook ups for water and power.

Some of us were in cabins which had the benefit of being closer to the bathroom, and we rented a Geo Dome, which had a Lake view and was really special in its uniqueness. Both the cabin and the Geo Dome had air conditioning which was much needed in the heat.

Wind was not an issue in the at night or during the day if your secure everything on land and water that can float away lol.

The RV spots that were rented were right on the water and that was so fun, especially with the standup paddle boards and other watercraft. We didn’t access the lake from the geo dome because it was a bit gooey on the bottom in that area but we did have a nice porch outside our Geo dome.

We were in geo dome 50 and that is all the way at the very end with tent campsites right behind and they were playing loud music till 11:30 PM. Super loud!! Not cool.

The biggest drawback are how few bathrooms there are. There is a shower/ toilet house w three of each stall for men and women. The bathroom was about a two minute walk from our Geo dome and for late night trips or multiple trips that’s reall annoying. It’d be cool if there was even a compost toilet on the far end of the campsite.

We didn’t rent anything or use the camp store. When we arrived check in was closed, but our room was left unlocked, we actually never received a key for our dome, and someone on the phone gave us a gate code.

The best part of the whole area is The gorgeous view up the lake. The lake wasn’t very busy and again that view is worth every penny of staying at blue lake resort. The campsite itself may not be super pretty but you’re there for the cool refreshing water and that incredible Lake view from...

I wasn't sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised- 4.5 stars. We are normally tent campers but decided air conditioning would be a good thing and staying in a trailer would be rather novel. We were so glad we did! We absolutely enjoyed our stay. The lake is beautiful and the views were spectacular from our porch and any of the sites along the water. The staff was friendly and with no cell service, having wi-fi allowed us to stay connected and plan our day trips. We were so much more comfortable in the trailer than we would have been at any campground in a tent. And it was wonderful having our own bathroom. Note: for tent campers - the sites along the water are crushed gravel and some are pretty small (one tent affairs), the tent field was dry grass. Some nights it got REALLY windy and I can't imagine what it would have been like in a tent. If you stay in the sites closest to the highway you'll probably be able to hear traffic, but our end of the campground was peaceful and quiet. We stayed in trailer #7 - great view, had everything we needed (bring your own towels, toiletries and chairs for the porch), included cooking pots/pans utensils, cutting board, soap and sponge to wash. Full sized fridge with freezer, mini 4 burner stove and oven, coffee pot , microwave and toaster. I felt comfortable walking around barefoot. The only thing keeping it from a 5 star review was that there was room for improvement with cleaning - yet it felt acceptable for a campground. Sure there were a few spiders, and a bit of bug detritus in corners - I've stayed in motels...