Sandy River Outdoor Adventure — Hotel in Farmville

The “glamming tipis” get 3 stars as accommodations, and 1 Star for the management.

The Dreamcatcher tipi was lovely and well designed, with a nice area for the family to hangout, a cute set of bunk beds for the kids downstairs and a sleeping lift for the parents. Very cozy and peaceful. In general, a great place for a family getaway.

The negatives: there was a fair amount of road noise. It was freezing in the tipi at night. Granted, when we stayed, the temperatures at night were well below freezing at night. But the heating setup was inadequate and bedding was not warm enough for really cold weather (no down comforters and only 1 substantial extra blanket, which they really need). Fortunately, we had long underwear and wool socks. But, this was not what I expect when the accommodations are advertised as “heated”.

More concerning, most of the heat was provided by space heater, some with open heating coils. But we could not find any smoke detectors (or CO2 detectors) near the beds, where you put the space heaters at night. It’s only a matter of time before a space heater tips over or is too close to a bed and there is a fire.

The management was a disaster. They just leave the tipis unlocked and expect you to find your own and settle in. But without a map, we were going from tipi to tipi trying to figure it out which was ours. It is completely self checkin.

There was no key to the door in our tipi. The management never answered the phone when I called. But when I texted, she said it was safe, and to leave the tipi unlocked. Which made us nervous, with our personal possessions inside.

The next day, my family went to explore and I took a nap. Unlocked door, because no key. 2 strangers, including a strange man, walked in and woke me up and said I was in “their” tipi. I showed them my invoice and told them they probably had the wrong tipi, but they insisted not. They went and found a staff member to evict me, and she also said I should not be there— despite my showing her the invoice indicating that I was in the right tipi and confirmed/ paid through the following day. When I refused to pack up and leave (standing in my PJs in the bitter cold), she mad some phone calls and discovered that the couple had walked into the wrong tipi. Why did the staff member not check this as the very first thing?

The staff member shrugged, told me this wasn’t her fault because she didn’t handle bookings, and left. Okay then.

I had expected the management would contact us to apologize, explain and deal with the mixup in a professional manner, perhaps offer to comp a portion of our trip, a meal,etc., but she did not. When I tried to call, no answer. When I texted her that evening, she said that she was out of town, and expected guests and staff to let her know if there was a problem. Which no one had. So— not her fault either.

Apparently, it was no ones fault, because no one ever took responsibility. No one from the owners or management ever spoke to me/is personally

Again— no one helping guests check in, tipis unlocked (ours with no key to lock the door after arrival) and a strange man waking me up from a nap and telling me to leave. This predictable and preventable, given the checkin set up. But still freaked me out, since I am a woman and was alone in a rural area at the the time. And the management just did not seem to care.

Also, they are doing construction on the premises, so we were all woken up by a chainsaw very near our tipi before 8 am the first day. And the noise continued for most of the morning. Not exactly the lazy, relaxing morning I had planned.

We would love to come back for the facilities (not in the winter, once they have smoke and CO2 detectors) and would normally recommend this to all of our friends as a great long weekend, fall break getaway. But not unless and until they get new management. And NOT...

Honestly, the trip started out amazing beginning with the first phone call to reserve the tipi and activities. Every person I spoke with was so welcoming, excited, and helpful. They were accommodating to all the changes I made along the way and I made a few. They were thorough and patient. I had been wanting to do this trip for a year or so. I was so nervous it wouldn't happen with the covid but luckily Sandy River is rocking and making everyone feel comfortable and safe while ensuring all safety guidelines are followed. My 30th birthday was on! The pool is closed but there is still alot to do with out.

We started the day off with the ziplining adventure course, which was rewarding and challenging! There was always help along the way if needed. We all said it was our favorite activity. We also added the package for a photographer and it added such a special touch. I highly recommend it for capturing moments of falling, laughter, and as well as over coming challenges. My 2 friends were so excited to see the captured moments.

We then had lunch and were allowed to check into our sundance tipi early! My friends and I were wowed by the design and features! It was darling!!! It was seriously the cutest thing ever!!!

We then did kayaking, which Mark was kind enough to give us a little extra time to unpack and delay our start time on the lake. It is huge by the way! We greatly enjoyed our time paddling and resting along the way.

We had a lovely night by the fire making smores and hotdogs! We had to call numerous times to ask for the wifi connection and to get another lighter since ours was empty. They were so kind and prompt during every after hour request. We greatly appreciated it. The beds were very comfortable and we even cut the heat on before we fell asleep. The ac and fan kept us cool during the day. We all (4 total) had enough hot water to shower back to back and the kitchen had almost everything you could need and more! You get keys to your tipi so all your belongings are safe and sound and each tipi has the name labeled on the doors.

We woke up the next morning to check out and to enjoy one last activity. We were going to take a bike ride in downtown Farmville. Unfortunately, I woke up to a flat tire like on the rim flat. Mark immediately helped us with out hesitation and Sandy assisted our tire change. Candace also ran and got us a board to steady the jack on. Everyone helped. It was very comforting. It was all greatly appreciated since we had an almost 3 hour ride back home. The nearest Walmart was closed due to the holiday and there was nothing near by to help in this situation. I cant thank this place and its staff more for their outstanding customer service they provided for their general services, and then to assist a helping hand in the end, out of the kindness of their hearts. Mark even called to get our bike times adjusted, due to the delay, and to ensure we would have bikes when we arrived.

The trip was so personal during each encounter even though they were quite busy tending to other guests and handling all the extra protocols with cleaning and such.

The bike ride to bridge was very fun as well! Actually relaxing! The bike owner whom helped us was so nice also! I highly recommended the trip to this area.

Overall this is a repeat trip very soon and I forsee this becoming a tradition! I cant wait to share this experience with more people and to support this bussiness. Since my friends and I have shared our photos there has been an outstanding amount of interest in requests to ask where this was and to gather information about it. I hope it has brought them more bussiness. Anything to return the help and joy we will forever remember and hopefully more to come. I know a few have already booked their stay so I am excited that they will get to experience what I will remember as the best birthday ever! Thank you...

Ok. This place was simply amazing. I do not even want to leave this review because I would like to keep this place secret! It exceeded the expectations for my group and I. We booked two Tipis, the Shining Star and the MoonDance this past weekend and we made a leap of faith and jumped into the unknown. And boy we are glad that we did! When we arrived we were met by Candace, the owner, in her golf cart ready to give us a helping hand transporting our stuff to the Tipis. When we stepped inside the first Tipi we were instantly blown away by all the details, the cleanliness and the overall ambiance. 5-Star accommodations in a Tipi. Everywhere I looked I saw charm, ingenuity, class, hard work realized and creativity magnified. There were details large and small to discover and appreciate everywhere. The owners really take pride in what they do, and their property reflects it. Our group was so excited, and we instantly took off our shoes. We wanted to keep the property as clean as possible. It was like being at home, when we saw how clean and crisp the Tipis were instantly we were comfortable and respectful of the space. We wanted to enjoy it while we were there, and leave it as we had found it.

We were told before we got there that the nights might get a little cold because of the temperatures outside, so we packed accordingly. We were understanding of the fact that we were in indoor living in the outdoors, the Glamping Tipi experience is exactly that. We couldn't find one thing to complain about, staying in a Glamping Tipi is outside of most people's box but that's part of what we appreciated it.

The first night we had Dinner under the Stars. Each Tipi has its own fire pit and we utilized both for our group. We grilled steaks, shrimp kebabs, chicken wings (because we are black, lol), crab legs, spinach and cheese mushrooms, macaroni and cheese (because we are black, lol) corn on the cob, potatoes, roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes with cinnamon honey butter, caramel sauce and roasted marshmallows, and grilled bruschetta. Yes, we had a feast in our new digs. They provided the wood and we had our own personal fire goddess in our group that made the flames sing for our feast. We did all the prep before we got to Sandy River and brought only enough for our group so that we could enjoy fully our entire experience with minimal clean-up required. The fire pit made everything easy and might I add delicious.

We had other amazing events throughout the weekend that were centered around enjoying the Tipi experience. We collected fresh eggs from the chicken house and one morning we scrambled and sunny side fried them up for breakfast with bacon and sausage, English muffins and fresh fruit salad and dip..... all over the fire pit. It was amazing. So fresh and thoughtful, everything is so relaxing at Sandy River.

Some members of our group did the Adventure Park on premises and had a blast. Others of us went into Farmville and took a pottery class that we really enjoyed.

All in all I definitely want to thank the owners for their vision and all the hard work that they did making Sandy River the oasis that it is. We really appreciated it and cannot wait to...