Big Cedar — Hotel in Hollister

Mixed bag of nuts here. It is very confusing to navigate upon arrival and knowing where to check in. We were staying in camp long creek and first-time visitors. We arrived at the main gate, and we were told that everyone had to check in at registration regardless of where we were staying. We drove 2 miles to registration through a mountain, which seemed to take 30 minutes.. So we went to registration and were RUDELY told that we needed to drive 8 miles to camp long creek to check in and that "they weren't responsible for someone else's direction. ".. I didn't care about that!! Just need to know where to go!!! We spent 50 minutes just trying to figure out where to check in. This information was NOT in our email when we made our reservation. The folks at camp long creek were very nice and accommodating once we reached the gate. The cabins were beautiful, clean, and very quiet. We stayed in winter, so there was not much to do at Long Creek, so we drove back and forth to the main campus several times for activities, dinner, and breakfast. The Christmas lights and decorations everywhere were amazing. They also have shuttles that run back and forth to the main campus. We ate at devils pool restaurant and it was excellent. Donel was a wonderful server, and the food was amazing. Although, even with a reservation, we still waited 40 minutes to be seated at our table. We ate at the Truman Cafe for breakfast, and the line was out the door and took over an hour to order and receive our food. Kenneth was great at Truman Cafe and was very helpful and courteous. For the price you pay to stay here, one would think the customer service would be a little more pleasant and that they could afford to hire people to make the guest service experience a little more accommodating. Everything seemed like a free for all with minimal communication/organization. They literally closed a road (for the Christmas light tour) as we were trying to turn into the main facility... actually closed two roads right in front of us. We had our car tag on the mirror as well. Again, that goes back to simple communication upon arrival. If this place was not located in the Ozarks and had the natural beauty of the grounds, I would probably give this place 2 stars. We can stay in Broken Bow, OK for a 1/4 the cost and similar natural beauty. The rooms were nice but cheap vinyl flooring and shiplap walls are not high-end finishes. Our fireplace did not work as well as the drawers in the $600 lowes bathroom vanity. Overall, it was great for the lights and season we stayed, but for the cost to stay here, we were not impressed. I will say again that the staff at Camp Long Creek were very accommodating...

Wrong information, wrong pictures, and lies.

Update: it's now over a week since our stay, and after alerting everyone to the mis-information on their reservation site, the information is STILL WRONG on their website. They don't care who else they lie to.

Original post: My wife and I booked a Valley View King w/ Kitchenette room for a mid-week getaway. This room is shown on the diagram with two separate bedrooms and a separate kitchenette, along with a sofa bed. See the diagram and picture of the room from their website. My wife called the day after we booked the room to clarify some information about the kitchenette. While she was on the phone with Kathy she asked about the two separate bedrooms. Kathy said she was pretty sure that the room only came with one separate bedroom (not two bedrooms), and didn’t know about the sofa bed. She forwarded the call to Latisha, who confirmed the room had one separate bedroom and a sofa bed in the room with the kitchenette (two separate rooms). Upon check-in we found out that the diagram and picture on their website associated with this room is COMPLETELY WRONG. This is all one tiny room (12’ x 12’). See the picture we took of the room. It’s easier to describe what the room DOESN'T have that’s shown in the website picture. There is NO second table and chairs, there is NO desk, there is NO separate bedroom, the “kitchenette” is right next to the bed, and there is NO sofa (at all!). This was the smallest hotel room we’ve ever seen. Upon check-out we told the person at the reservation desk our issues, who didn’t seem at all interested in the fact that their website information is completely wrong, and didn’t offer even so much as an apology. After filling out their survey, my wife receives a phone call from Anne Thomason of customer service admitting all the information is wrong and offering a small discount on our NEXT visit. The room we booked wasn’t worth 1/4 of the price we were charged, and any discount wouldn't convince us to book another closet like they gave us. Buyer beware. Nothing they say or show on their website is true, and they'll lie on the phone if you ask them about room specifics. Since all the rooms are non-refundable, you're stuck when...

We recently enjoyed the trail of lights, which was beautiful, but definitely raised some safety concerns. The nature trail was extremely winding with the road not having adequate paint to distinguish the edges of the road. The trail through the facilities there were very dangerous with pedestrians darting in & out of several cars. I had a couple of teenagers run past my moving car. All the beautiful light displays were crowded with the patrons and we weren't able to get a decent shot without someone else being in the photo. The trail markers were very difficult to see and we couldn't get a cell signal down in the valley to see the digital map. Of course, once again some paint along the road would have helped being able to tell the path we were supposed to be on. Very disappointing Big Cedar, even though the lights were beautiful, safety should still be a priority every time someone visits your facilities. You need to move the trail of lights to a different location where there are no patrons dodging vehicles. I stopped for at least 50 people, some in the crosswalks but manily them just walking wherever they wanted, during the trail of lights. There were no crossing guards, no staff to help direct, seemed to be very poorly planned out. I can't enjoy the experience if I have to worry about accidentally hitting someone or going down the wrong path so...