Jellystone Park™ Grayling — Hotel in Grayling Charter Township

Not sure where to start. I have been coming to this campground since around 2008. It’s a sad day when someone has to report deceptive practices to a business owner in order to get them to return “cancellation” fees that were not spelled out on the cancellation policy, rather, hidden deep into the “Terms and Conditions”. So everyone is aware, there are consumer protection laws that prohibit a business from hiding important information like “cancellation fees” in the “terms and conditions.” Five days ago I booked a 3 night stay for the end of July. Something else came up so I had to cancel. When I called to cancel I asked if the cancellation fee is still $10, Stacey stated it has been $35 since they (new owners) took over 3 years ago. I reviewed the cancellation policy on the site and it did indeed state that and only that. Stacey did NOT mention the $35 site lock fee (which is ridiculous ) and $5 reservation fee being “non-refundable “ on top of the $35 cancellation fee. I agreed to the $35 fee and went on my way. It was not until I received the refund receipt in my email that I realized the owner withheld $75 in “cancellation fees”. I called back and left a voicemail questioning the additional fees. Stacey returned my call the next day and stated the additional fees are stated in the “Terms and Conditions”that appear when booking, and that I had agreed to by checking the box. I stated that under the cancellation policy it only indicates a $35 cancellation fee. Fast forward a couple hours, Stacey called me back and stated she spoke with her general manager and they agreed to refund the fees stated in the “Terms and Conditions “. They have also updated the websites cancellation policy to include the “other fees” (which are ridiculous). It’s unfortunate that many, many people over the last three years have been screwed out of the hidden “cancellation” fees because of the owners deceptive practices. As a frequent traveler/camper, this is one of the more expensive campgrounds I have visited. They have driven the cost up so much that it is cheaper to get a hotel. I understand it is my choice to camp, but they have sucked all of the fun out of it. I would recommend finding other alternatives.

Best of luck,

In Response to the owners feedback:

Stacey The fact that you would lie to defame my character speaks volumes about yours. Here are the facts: There was never a notification given to myself or my family members regarding being “banned” from the campground. I never booked under a “different profile” to avoid anything, as I was never informed I could not return. My booking receipt confirms the same information that I used to book, year after year. Had you offered to return the “hidden fees” upon our first conversation I would not have been motivated to leave a google review.

Best...

I want to begin by stating how excited my family and I were to go camping this weekend at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Grayling, MI. My husband and I both had fond memories of camping at different Jellystone parks when we were younger, and wanted our children to have the same experiences we had and look back just as fondly on this trip as we did trips before. That will NOT be happening. As you pull into the campground, you see a large jumping pillow, playground, and basketball court. Our kids went wild waiting for their dad to finish checking in. That is where our experience first started to go wrong, check in. We did not make reservations because the weather called for thunderstorms all weekend, we did not want to pay to reserve a site and lose the money because we didn't go. (Since there is a no refund policy, which we still lost our money because we paid for 2 nights and didn't even stay one, we stayed 6 hours.) Anyways, at check in, this middle aged, cranky woman (didn't catch her name, unfortunately.) complained about having to check to see if something was open since we didn't reserve a spot. There were tons of spots open, the nearest campers on either side of us were 4 spots away. Also, she fought with my husband about putting a wristband, that we had to wear the whole trip, on our 5 MONTH OLD. The wristband has sharp edges, and our baby chews on everything. It was an inconvenience for us older ones to wear them, but we still did. To fight with a paying customer over that though, is unprofessional and ridiculous. So after that encounter, my husband was already in a foul mood. Also, we learned that the pool, which my oldest child was looking forward to the most, more than anything else on the whole trip, was small, overcrowded, and worst of all, cost $5 A PERSON. We tried to stick it out, and make the most of it, but by the time 11pm rolled around, and everyone was still drinking, screaming, setting off eachother's car alarms for fun,we had had enough. Our baby kept waking up, our oldest was crying because the drunks were scaring her... and this is a FAMILY campground. We packed up and left the campground at midnight. We literally could have just flushed our money down the toilet and saved ourselves the disappointment and stress that those 6 hours caused our family. We will never return, and we have already changed 3 families minds about staying there for their family vacations this year. There is so much more I could say about this place, but I'm tired, I'm angry, (this morning was supposed to be our first morning waking up at our campground, and enjoying the day, instead, here I am at home, writing this review.) and I have better things to do. But in short, do NOT throw away your money. Do...

This park is amazing! We (my wife, my daughter and myself) bought our first camper, a travel trailer 7 years ago. Our first year we booked a trip to this park with a group of friends and absolutely fell in love as our daughter was 1.5 yrs old at the time. The next year we went up 3 or 4 times with friends. The following year we did the 6 weeks early season camping special by ourselves and booked several more trips with and without friends, one of which was a 10 day stay during the 4th of July week and always ended our year there with a Halloween weekend. We sold our travel trailer and bought a 5th wheel and 3 years ago we were blessed with the opportunity to become seasonal campers! This will be our third summer as seasonals and we literally try to make it to the campground every weekend that they're open. We have made so many amazing friends there over the last 7 years. We call the other seasonal campers our camping family. We even hang out with a handful of them in the "non camping season" and keep each other calm while we go through camping withdrawals! Lol Over the years we've got to know the old owners and the current owners very well. Both did and have done an amazing job ALWAYS making us and everyone they encounter feel like family and friends. The staff is amazing as well, a lot of them are younger girls and boys that are still in Highschool, they do an extraordinary job running and participating in the daily activities while engaging with the kids. Many of them have grown up camping there themselves and know exactly what the camping kids and adults love when it comes to the one on one interactions a lot of the activities involve. This park is out in the middle of forest in Grayling and gives you that I'm in the outdoors camping feeling while still having an amazing list of activities, themed weekends and amenities to provide you with constant stimulation ALL day long of that's what you're looking for. Or you can lay back and watch the ground squirrels scurrying about, birds singing, maybe see a deer while taking a morning stroll. You can go lay by the pool and catch some rays, play putt putt, volleyball, basketball, frisbee in the park, take a bike ride, wagon ride, watching movies/cartoons at night on the outdoor screen, dancing the night away at the glow dance in front of the ranger station, etc..... All in all this park has become our home away from home for almost 7 months a year literally almost every single weekend and several full weeks from late April through The middle of October. I recommend this park to everyone that wants to go camping whether you're in a tent, camper, renting a cabin or a rental camper. There's something for everyone here at Jellystone Park...