Chesnut Bay Resort — Hotel in Fort Payne

Chesnut Bay was a very good spot for our reunion, with proximity to the Atlanta airport being a major factor in our decision as we had people coming from beyond driving distance. We rented a pontoon boat for one day, rented jet skis on another day, and used two of our own boats for water skiing, tubing and knee boarding. We spent one afternoon at the waterpark (extra charge) which everyone liked. The young kids had a great time at the pool with the water slide, spending some time there each day. We used a pavilion for two group meals (first come first served, no extra fee required). We made limited use of the small beach areas and fished (mostly unsuccessfully due to the timing of our visit) off our designated dock and from our private boats. We enjoyed a family badminton tournament in the grassy area adjacent to the sand volleyball court. In the evenings we played card and board games in the larger units.||||There were some negatives. The site is somewhat congested for driving and parking, and the boat ramp is on the narrow side. We left our boats in the water for the duration of our visit and we would suggest bringing tie lines and bumpers for doing so as the lake is frequently windy. The main community pavilion, located by the Lodge building, is off limits unless you rent the building and pavilion for a substantial extra charge. We used the free pavilion which was underequipped with three picnic tables, zero grills, and only one undersized trash can, requiring that we grill at our units and transport the food to the meal site and carry trash back to other locations. Several of our group wanted to use the free kayaks and paddle boards that are available but they were locked up and hence not accessible. The on-site cafe was closed for most of our visit, which extended from Saturday to Wednesday. (They may just be open on weekends.) The on-site vendor for the boats, jet skis, etc. was very cordial and helpful. However, you might find the speed of the pontoon boats is disappointing for tubers.||||The units themselves were mostly nice but varied in quality of the furnishings and interior decor. Any renter needs to know in advance that most of the units have steps, sometimes steep, outside and especially inside the units. For our group members with handicaps, we rented a golf cart, which was essential to their ability to access the beachfront, pavilion, etc. and to enjoy the site.||||Our only ventures off site were for groceries and other needs at Coosa's convenience store and at Walmart, 15 minutes away. One group drove to a nearby site and walked a trail to a place where intrepid younger family members could jump off a high cliff on the edge of the lake. For those wanting to hike, the nearby Desoto State Park offers trails and scenery overlooking an...

This was our first stay at Chestnut Bay resort and we have thourghly enjoyed it!! From the beginning when calling to get information about the resort til we left, the staff were wonderful and very helpful! Our house (#20) was excellent and perfect for our family. We enjoyed family bingo night and the opportunity to win prizes... although we didn't win any ourselves, it was lots of fun. Pros: Staff-friendly, helpful, easy to get in touch with! Great paved walk ways made it easy to get around to everything! Restaurant on-site: Sharky's. Excellent food at very reasonable prices! Our group had cheeseburger (unique taste of marination but extremely good!), Grilled cheese, chicken basal wraps, fries and sweet tea. All were excellent and the staff was very friendly and helpful. They even cater! Extra FREE activites- movie nights at the amphitheatre, bingo nights, Friday night street party. Our house also was stocked with board games and TONS of movies. You can also rent movies for $1 in the office. The view is amazing. And it is so peaceful! I can't speak for all of the houses, but ours was really clean, stocked with everything that we need and essentials to get us started, and PLENTY of towels and wash clothes! We didn't have to rewash the entire time we were here!! Pools...the two pools were very nice. Cold...but nice. Fishing- we gave it a try. It didn't work out great for us, but others seemed to be doing well with it!

Tips: -If you have a golf cart and can bring it...do so. If not, you can rent them for a fairly responsible price. They actually worked with us bc we needed it like 56 hours not 72 and cut us a deal. It isn't a have to have item...but it really makes it easier to get around the resort and back and forth to the water park as well.

Recommendations: -lighting- there's not enough lighting around the resort at night... especially at the pools. We carried a little lantern around to be able to see but some extra small street lights would really be nice. -dog poop: unfortunately lots of people do not abide by the rules of cleaning up their dog's poop and so the area close to the lake entrances are covered with dog poop (sidewalks as well as grass) so you have to strategically dance around it. -wifi: it is available but very spotty. The staff tried to help and give us another router option but it wasn't any better. I think it is more of a location issue. Not a deal breaker for us bc it was nice to get away from the internet some but if you really have to have it, you need to invest in extra data on your phone for the time.

Again...overall, this was a great experience that we have truly enjoyed! We...

My family and I made reservations at chesnut bay to stay in one of the houses. I called before booking the reservation (I believe I booked in june) and asked when the water park closed for the season. The lady at chesnut bay told me that it was open until the weekend after labor day. I then scheduled for the first week in August based on that info.

So August 2nd comes around, the day we were supposed to check in. When we arrived I went in and checked us in. I was trying to determine if my family needed to rent one golf cart or two golf carts because of the number of people. I went ahead and rented one because we had a handicapped person with us. As I was trying to determine the distance between things and if it was pheasible to walk the property manager that was at the desk informs me that the water park is only open on weekends in the month of August. I was extremely disappointed because being able to take the kids to the water park is the entire reason we booked the vacation! My handicapped mother really wanted to watch them at the water park. I explained to the manager that we would prefer to come back on a weekend of this was the case. She became very hostile and rude and refused to accommodate in anyway! She told me that I should have checked the website of the company that owned the water park because it us posted there. However I was never informed that it was owned by another company.

She was extremely rude to my husband. At first refused to move the reservation or give us a refund. She finally agreed to give a partial refund AFTER my husband talked to her husband( the co-owner) he made excuses for her behavior stating that she had a bad day. My husband asked her to provide paper work stating the partial refund(even though I think a full refund should be provided because we did not stay at all...we went home) she at first refused to give us paperwork. After my husband politely insisted she became very hostile and told him and my little boy to wait outside(it was very hot).

We have always had good experiences with vacations. We are very laid back about things. The houses are cute, the place looks really great however the property management company are the worst I have EVER seen. I would highly recommend not wasting your time...