Camden on the Lake Resort — Hotel in Lakeside

Camden on the Lake is gorgeous, aesthetically. It's a beautiful hotel/resort. We stayed in a jetted tub king suite w/ balcony on 6th floor, kitchen, bar, couches, 2 TV's, etc. It was swanky. It LOOKS clean. It isn't until hours later when you take your shoes off and realize "are those onions on the floor?" Sure enough, some rings of purple onion in the middle of the carpeted living room. Then we find someone's vape under the bed, some Jack Daniels bottlecaps under the dresser, food trash already in your trash can, and much more. The silverware in the drawer, a nice touch, would be nicer if it were clean. The jetted tub is amazing, but would be nicer if it filled up in less than 80 minutes and maybe still had hot water by the time you can get in. I could do without the stains in the tub, the hair, the dusty/grime film on the back ledge of the tub. The balcony is beautiful and spacious with great views, but the ash tray on the table is full of cigarette butts and ashes. I could do without that.

Then I made the mistake of sitting on the side of the tub and glancing over toward the toilet, which allowed me to see under the top rim, and it's straight up BLACK with grime and dirt. We sat on that toilet thinking it was clean, and it was late in our stay before I saw how filthy it was. Trauma. Under the beautiful vanity in the bathroom, used qtips, dust, dirt, miscellaneous little scraps of things, just very obviously not swept or mopped recently. I get it, housekeeping sucks, and no one wants to do it. But I expect a certain level of sanitation to be done. This wasn't one round of housekeeping poorly done. This is systemic. No one is checking these rooms for cleanliness. No one has scrubbed that toilet with a brush and cleaner in a MINUTE.

The trouble with being a resort is that one part of the resort can reflect positively or negatively on all of the others. After seeing the cleanliness of the room I don't want to eat at your restaurants or get in the hot tub now. After seeing broken luggage racks, tubs that fill at a snails pace, I don't want to rent a boat from you. One piece done horribly ruins the facade.

As I said, we were in a suite on the 6th floor, and we visited in early April before the summer season begins. We checked in around 3pm, and all was well until about 7pm. Then what I can only describe as a tour bus full of college kids showed up and FILLED the hotel. Honestly, I don't mind a certain level of noise. I'm not someone who calls the front desk because someone has a TV loud or is being extra amorous. However, these people flooded the hotel and we waited at least an hour for them to get settled in before really even complaining to ourselves. They had multiple, multiple rooms on the floor and were just in the hallway, right outside my door YELLING entire conversations down the hall to other friends. The room across from ours had a lot of people coming and going and I swear each person slammed the door as hard as possible as they came and went 25x an hour. The worst part was that if they had just gone to a room and partied or did whatever it wouldn't have been intolerable. It was the fact that they would be half in a room and half in the hallway, so that the "party" was not contained or soundproofed in any way. I did eventually call the desk. Security came up to speak with me in front of all of these people, which was unnecessary and awkward, and they said they would do more checks of that floor thru the night. The noise continued and worsened for HOURS. We ignored it and were fine but I know plenty of other people who would have been MAD. If you're looking for quiet, serene, lake life, this isn't it. But they're pretty clear about that in their advertising. It's more of a party spot. That's ok, we need those too. However, even a party hotel should be clean and kept well, especially at this price point. Sorry Camden OTL but we will going back to 4 Seasons or Kinderhook...

We had a great time here and found this was one of the nicest hotels we've ever stayed with, barring a few negative bits (which didn't overshadow the stay as the good bits outweighed the bad). We had a double deluxe room for four nights. The room had a little kitchenette complete with mini fridge (no freezer, cannot adjust temp either), small stove top (2 smaller burners), sink (with detachable sprayer and garbage disposal), and dishwasher. They also supplied a variety of plates and large but shallow bowels, flatware and cooking utensils, toaster, and small coffee pot. This super impressed me as I've never known a hotel to supply all of this. The bathroom was large and wonderful. The shower was a dream and had shower heads at each end. Room had 2 full beds (full but seemed small for full sized), small desk, chest of drawers, flat screen tv, and DVD player with surround sound. There was also balcony with chairs. We did a bed bug check first thing and saw no bugs. Hotel was mostly quiet at night aside from the weirdly voracious way the toilets flush.  What I thought was a little odd was that there was no lounge chair in the room, only a desk chair. Every hotel I have ever been in had at least 1 decent chair. There was also oddly no wall art and random bits of scotch tape on some of the walls (guessing from previous guests). Our stay was great, but I do have some less than perfect points that I found uncharacteristic for a resort of this level of professionalism. There was mold on the shower ceiling (obviously being neglected for long periods), furniture and cabinets (even inside) were dusty and full of cobwebs, coffee pot had perhaps never been descaled/cleaned (I ran around 10 pots of water before it ran acceptably clear of debris), there is a very irritating gap in the curtains that cover the windows (room faced a brightly lit parking lot and this was super crappy when you're trying to sleep-fixed with a paper clip), and the thermostat glows like the flippin' sun at night and there is no way to dim it other than layering cloth on it (takes thick dark cloth layered a couple times to make a difference, the darker the room the brighter it seems), and finally, the surround sound was not set up with the DVD player (per instructions, the brands of devices had been changed and were just not programmed to jive yet). We also disliked the beds. They're clearly well-worn, and one had a noticeable sinkhole in the center. Pillows and bedding were really nice. However, the room was overall clean and sanitary and sanitary is the most important to me. This is why my review is only 4 stars. The pool area that is lakeside is awesome, views are amazing too. Also I was very impressed with every staff member I met, they were all kind...

I recently stayed at Camden on the Lake, a hotel I've previously enjoyed during my visits to the Ozarks to see my daughter. Unfortunately, this visit was marked by several disappointing experiences that significantly detracted from our stay.

Reservation and Check-In Issues: Upon booking online through Amex, I opted to pay in person, intending to use a different card from the one used for the reservation. At check-in, the manager, Jeremey Odell, was noticeably impolite about this request. His behavior became unprofessional when he made a disparaging remark within earshot as we walked away, implying we were being deceitful, despite my history of patronage.

Lack of Accommodation for Affiliated Discounts: I inquired about a discount provided to parents of students from a local school, a benefit I believed was applicable to our stay. However, Mr. Odell informed us that because our reservation was made through Expedia (via Amex), he could not honor any discounts. His justification was the commission paid to Expedia, coupled with a remark suggesting we should be grateful for staying at what he deemed "the best hotel here." This interaction was not only dismissive but also lacked the hospitality one would expect.

Room and Service Shortcomings: The room's condition further diminished our experience. The washer/dryer unit was inoperative, a significant inconvenience we hadn't anticipated. Although we requested room service, the effort was minimal, focusing solely on making the beds without addressing cleanliness elsewhere, notably in the showers, which remained poorly maintained throughout our stay.

Personal Reflections: As a young Black woman traveling with my ailing mother, the treatment we received was disheartening. I couldn't help but feel our customer service experience was influenced by personal biases rather than the hotel's stated commitment to guest satisfaction. This visit has led me to reconsider future stays and question the proclaimed status of Camden on the Lake as the area's premier lodging option.

Conclusion: While I've had pleasant experiences at Camden on the Lake in the past, this visit was marred by issues ranging from customer service failings to room maintenance oversights. It's my hope that sharing these observations will encourage the hotel to reassess its approach to guest hospitality and service quality, ensuring that all visitors feel welcomed and valued, irrespective of how they book or their personal...