Grand Lake St. Marys State Park Campground — Hotel in Saint Marys

We have been coming to this park for nine years. We used to really love it here. However, in the last two years it's really gone downhill. I'm reviewing them today based on a couple of poor interactions with lifeguards.

They are constantly on their phones. They try to hide them under towels or down in their laps.

My children who are swimmers (8 years on a team) were told not to swim under water for a long time because it's not safe. I honestly thought she was joking.

My biggest issue with our trip this weekend.... My kids were yelled at by a lifeguard because they were using the shower next to the pool. She claimed she could hear them pushing the button from the office on the other side of the wall and it was "annoying". I pointed out that they have to push the button to turn it on. I told her it wasn't only my kids doing it. I told them to shower after they go to the bathroom. She said "ma'am, it's time for you to leave my pool" I was kicked out because my kids were using the shower. No one else. Just me. Rangers were called because my kids were using the pool shower. The park director told us not to shower off after using the bathroom because the chlorine will kill off anything. Yuck. I felt like I was being punished for teaching them good hygiene. Finally... This might be a little petty but we also noticed they are taking much longer breaks this year. The lifeguards are meant to only have a 10 minute break every hour for the last ten minutes of the hour. But this particular group of girls decided that they would blow the whistle at 47 minutes past the hour and then also not allow kids back into the pool for 5 minutes past the hour. Kids (not just mine) were restless and the splash pad wasn't turning on. Everyone was getting anxious to get back in. When I asked when they would open the pool back up the lifeguard screamed loudly at me "you'll know when you hear the whistles blow!". I think she just wanted everyone to hear her.

Maybe they were all just having a bad day but I really felt like we were singled out and mistreated. It wasn't even that busy. Approximately 30 people in the pool. And they didn't even have the slide open.

The reasons I said the last two years ...

Last year the mowing guys blew grass on our tents, towels and vehicles. It was wet grass. It stained towels and made a mess of things.

Last year we got to the campground and wanted to buy a site for the day so we could go swimming and cookout. No one came to the window to help me. I had to go inside. The lady was sitting on her phone. She was annoyed that I interrupted her phone call. She didn't even get off the phone. She told me I was fine I could have just gone through. (There is supposed to be a $3 charge for visiting, IF you are visiting someone who has paid for a site) I told her I needed a site. She said I could do that online. I asked if I could do it there (in the office) too. She huffed at me, and told the person on the phone "I'm gonna have to call you back because this lady doesn't know how to use the Internet " I blew it off but on my way out after filling out a very simple paper and paying cash for my spot, I said thank you and she said "bye" and picked up her phone. I get it. People have bad days. But it seems like the people here are unhappy and taking it out on people who just came to have family fun. Also... Mirrors are unusable in most of the bathrooms. Camp hosts don't really help much.

Concession stand ladies took five dollars from a little kid when we were there. She had told him everything was for donation only. They must not have a license to sell food. The little boy maybe 6 or 7 handed her a $5 and she just took all his money. He was only getting a small jug of juice. I felt bad for him.

Also, don't touch the water. There are signs everywhere. Especially if you have open wounds or even small cuts. We have had two infections just from touching water while fishing. One in a paper cut. On in a bug bite. Don't mess with the water

I hope this...

I tent camped in the summer of 2023 over a weekend. In the tent camping area, I managed to pick the one that was in the worst shape possible. Very little grass was left at the site and there were low spots that tended to become mud puddles when it rained. The tent camping sites are not large, and had there been good grass in the one I used, it would have been fine for a tent. On the positive, the rest rooms and shower house worked as expected and were generally clean. The main problem I had was the raccoons at the campground that have either been fed by people or have become very much accustom to the ways of people. While not large in number they, in a couple of words, were major trouble. Take care with anything in a plastic bag. They will steal any and all of those even if they do not contain any food products. The raccoon very much understand how to open and get into pouches and packs and can do so very quickly. The St. Marys lake is nice, but given the trouble with the critters, I am not sure I would stay here again, or at the very least, I would select a spot that might make it harder for the critters to be as much of a bother...

Good: decent campground with lots of activities for kids, nice shower houses and front office staff is very friendly. Nice pool with a water slide and really cute splash pad. Nice boat docks. Safe enough that there seemed to be a lot of trusting parents who left their children unsupervised.

Bad: lots of unsupervised children, people yell at you to slow down even when you are only going 8mph in a 10. Pool is cold and shuts down for a full hour for meal breaks, then every 45 min, splash pad closed, water slide closed. Sites are close together, with nothing blocking the view from your neighbors except your own vehicle or camper. Park does not enforce quiet hours, 3XL man in white truck was extremely rude when I asked who enforced quiet hours since we had been kept awake until after 1am (both nights), he proceeded to yell at me for carrying a water cup outside the pool area while another camper had an open beer inside the pool. On top of all that, the lake is dirty and shallow.

I found this place from a booth at a travel show. I was extremely disappointed and I will...