The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens — Hotel in Pine Mountain

I booked a weekend getaway at Callaway Gardens' Lodge to celebrate my wife’s birthday, choosing the Bed and Breakfast Package. This was our first visit—and unfortunately, it will be our last.

From the moment we arrived, navigating the property was a major challenge. We repeatedly encountered closed or blocked roads, boarded-up entrances, metal gates chained shut, and card readers requiring room keys—which we only had access to from 4 PM to 11 AM. The map provided was cartoonish and unhelpful, and the signage didn’t reflect the numerous closures. We spent miles driving in circles just trying to find our way around, which set a frustrating tone for the rest of the trip.

When we finally reached the Lodge, we discovered we had been booked on the wrong floor. When I originally made the reservation, the agent (Heather, I believe) upsold me to a lake-view room and assured me it would be on the 4th floor to offer the best view for our special occasion. At check-in, we were told there were no 4th-floor rooms available. After some back-and-forth, one “became available” but was still being cleaned. That also turned out to be inaccurate. When we first visited our balcony, we noticed the chairs were tilted forward against the railing—presumably to prevent water from pooling. Later that evening, we observed from the lawn that about 75% of the 4th-floor balconies had their chairs in the same position, indicating no recent cleaning activity.

The room itself was decent but not without issues. The air conditioning unit was unusually loud—sounding more like a commercial washing machine than an A/C. I’ve never heard anything like it. The TV was also poorly mounted, hanging at a sharp angle to the right. I tried to adjust it myself, but it felt unstable. Maintenance sent a very young technician who said it was “just mounted that way.” I ended up wedging my water bottle under one corner to level it (See Pictures)—not exactly what I expected for a room approaching $500 per night.

We dined at The Piedmont Room - Prime Rib Buffet on Saturday night, only to find a long line of over 16 people waiting for one server to carve meat. By the time we got our food, the prime rib was cold and of noticeably low quality. We left most of it on our plates. On a more positive note, breakfast the next morning was very good. The omelets and pancakes were cooked to order, and there were a few nice side options as well.

On our final morning, we tried to explore more of the grounds. Unfortunately, we ran into the same navigation issues as before, making it difficult to enjoy the experience. After several failed attempts to find various attractions, we finally gave up and made our way out—again requiring multiple turnarounds.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the trip was the lack of actual “gardens.” For a place called Callaway Gardens, we expected vibrant floral displays, especially in mid-April. Aside from a few flowers by the lake and near Cason’s, the grounds were largely bare—mostly tilled or planted areas with very little in bloom. The entire property felt unkempt and run-down. Frankly, our neighborhood clubhouse has a better variety and volume of flowers.

In summary, this trip was a letdown on nearly every front—from the frustrating layout and room issues to the underwhelming dining and lack of gardens. What was meant to be a relaxing birthday weekend turned into a stressful and disappointing experience. For anyone looking to enjoy a beautiful garden setting, I strongly recommend the Atlanta Botanical Garden instead. This visit simply wasn’t worth the two-hour drive, $120 dinner, or sleepless nights in a room that sounded like a laundromat...

My name is Kaile Gunter. My family and I stayed at Callaway during the first week of June 3rd 2018. While the landscaping and quality of food was great, the place was not customer friendly. We were told that the Cabana was open at the pool by the employees at front desk and it was not. We asked the next day was it supposed to be open, again they said it was and no one was ever there to open the bar all day. An employee came out to the pool in the afternoon to empty the trash. We asked her if she was going to open the Cabana. She said no, and didn't bother to ask further why the place wasn't open or why we were asking for someone to open it. There were a few excellent dinner servers for the Piedmont restaurant, but on Monday night it took three hours to finally recieve the food and check. It was very slow service, though our waiters were attentive and kept checking on us. The hotel cleaning service was horrible. Unless I am just ignorant to be expecting this, but the bathrooms were not cleaned to the point where the tub had hair and skin from its previous use the night before, hair in the sink, and a dirty mirror. Crumbs on the table were not cleaned off and the beds were not made as well unless the king bed had all of its sheets stripped off (pull out bed never got made up). The rooms' balconies had spider webs, so much so that it was uncomfortable to sit out there. My mother during the trip also had to bring her bedsheets down to the front desk because there was blood on them and they were not changed, so she asked if she could get new sheets since house keeping had not been reliable with cleaning the rooms the past few days. While the employees were nice to her face, I happen to walk by later and over heard the same blonde woman complaining loudly at the front desk about a woman asking for clean sheets. I was going to ignore it but then the employee began to disrespect my mother and laughed about it with a coworker. Instead of handling it in the moment, I gathered my mom (who is the resort's main customer in our group as SHE is the one paying for most of the rooms and expenses) so she and I could address the situation together. We asked for a manager. The manager came out and in front of the employee and fellow coworker who she was gossiping with we explained our disatisfaction at their service. I personally said that it was unprofessional to speak negatively about customers and that we expected better treatment. I got no reply nor eye contact from the employee who gossiped about my mother. My mother was kind and just repeated her wishes to have clean sheets. The manager did have our rooms to be one of the first ones cleaned, but she failed to provide an apology. There were several other problems at the resort, and overall I was ready to leave the second day of our week there. I am pretty sure none of my relatives are going to return to Callaway, but I can promise you that my mother, sister, and I are never going to stay there again. Our trip was lovely but only because of the family time we had together, but that could have been done with a cheap meal at McDonald's. Everyone has their own preferences, but I for one can never stay at a place where the majority of the employees are lukewarm at best to customers. Please management, if you do care, do something about this so that way other future customers are not given the same...

Visited The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens this weekend and overall had a great time; however, I left with a very poor impression about how Callaway handles business. On two different occasions while I was on-site, I was overcharged for services and had to correct the front desk and the receptionist at the Spa. The first experience was at the Spa. Upon arrival, I was told about the special that they were running where if you purchased the collagen eye treatment you would receive the hot stone massage add-on for free. I agreed to the purchase, but then was charged for the hot stone add-on. Additionally at the Spa, while receiving the collagen eye treatment add-on, the strips were not placed properly and one strip ended up on my cheek instead. My massage therapist apologized profusely and told me she had the charge for the treatment removed. I was still charged for the treatment by the receptionist. So in total at the Spa, I was charged for the hot stone add-on when it was supposed to be free with the eye treatment, and I was also charged for a botched collagen eye treatment. When given my total and asked for my card, I asked how my total was calculated, and they responded by saying that there was a service charge that I was not accounting for in the total. They would not provide me with an itemized review of my services. After some back and forth, the charge for the hot stone add-on was removed, but I still had to pay for the botched collagen eye treatment that my massage therapist said she would removed. My second overcharge came at checkout. In my package, I was suppose to have breakfast included. It was not till after my card was charged that I received an itemized detail of the charges to my room to review. She handed me my receipt and I was charged for breakfast. I pointed it out to the front desk, and she removed the charge. If I had not questioned both, I would have been overcharged somewhere between $40 and $60, and I was charged for a botched service.

Also wanted to share, the manicure I received and paid $70 for was sub-standard. The polish is already chipping, and I still have dry places that needed more attention. In Atlanta, I could have gone to a nail salon and received an SNS manicure AND a gel pedicure of extremely better quality than what I received at the Spa for the same price of $84 ($70 plus $14 service fee).

This has always been an overarching issue with Callaway. There confirmation emails do not give good detail and overview of your stay comparative to other hotel and spas such as Old Edwards Inn. One big paragraph with no links to directions, where to park, etc.

High notes of my trip. The massage was amazing. My view from my room was breath-taking, and the carson brew was delightful.

Will return, but will demand much better service and high standards and...