Holiday Shores Campground & Resort — Hotel in Town of Dell Prairie

Worst experience I have ever had checking into anywhere. We were coming from up north a bit so I double checked check in time frame. It only said what time check in starts; no where does it say what time it ends (I assumed 9, but should have called to verify) we got there at 8:20 pm. The store was closed. There’s a white board that states ‘late check ins.’ It was empty. A guy pulled up in a golf cart who said he works there (I thought he said security, but he was an employee of some sort) He said he was calling the owner for us, but there was no answer. He said there was nothing he could do and to come back tomorrow when they are open. I tried calling the phone number also (never received a response). I sat there for about fifteen/twenty minutes and decided I had to forfeit that night and waste money on a hotel. The next day, I explained this to the girl at the desk. She ignored me, told me they do not have security and continued my check in. I asked the policy; if they call people who are not there when they close. She never answered my question. I went to the store later to buy stuff and told her that I was uncomfortable with how we left things. All I wanted to know was the policy and procedures, so I know what to do in the future and wondered why she wasn’t concerned that someone who works there told us we couldn’t check in after 8 (she acted like I was lying again). This time she told me that the key was taped to the office door with my name. How would I know that? Why is it not on the board? Why do their other employees not know this? I asked to speak to an owner or manager and she said yes but they were not there and she never had anyone reach out to me. Communication is clearly horrible . I then avoided the office, so I didn’t have to feel uncomfortable. There were also beer caps all around our cabin and loud music until 2am Thursday night (not bad, just not the family style that I was looking for). I like campgrounds for their peacefulness, not to be ignored and called a lier. It’s one thing not to refund the night I wasn’t able to stay there, but the fact that I didn’t even get an apology or acknowledgement that their communication needs improving. I would definitely not...

Traveling across the country, taking our time, we spend 10 days here and I have mixed reviews. First, the park is huge! There are so many campers and guests on weekends there is no way the staff can control the actions of other campers. Kids driving golf carts, loud music till 11 and 12 at night. People not picking up after their dogs, picking up whiskey bottle off your spot in the morning. The camp ground has rules, but there is no way the staff can enforce them. Sometimes you have to rely on people just being polite and following the rules on their own. As I said, the park is very large with lots of people. The staff were fantastic. Always greeted with a smile and always very pleasant. Another problem was asking some of the help that worked the grounds a question, like where the closest bathhouse was, or directions to the office….didn’t do any good because they didn’t speak English. The RV pull through sites are vey spacious and hookup’s are good. The sites aren’t level but it wasn’t anything that could be fixed. I’ve seen worse. There aren’t any bathhouses in the pull though area. The grounds are clean, green and manicured. On weekends it’s a party atmosphere. I’m older now,70’s, and not the party person any longer. So a word of advice to those who like quiet at night. Look elsewhere. They are good people, just like to party. You will hear the bass of your neighbors, two doors down, in your camper till late at night. And like most people that have been drinking they can get loud. Nothing vulgar, just loud. The fire rings are great and perfect for roasting hotdogs or making s’mores. The picnic tables are large and in good condition. In closing, I would pass if I’m in the area again only because of the party atmosphere, and kids driving golf carts. Oh, I forgot to mention. There is very poor cell service there (which the park has no control over) but the WiFi is horrible. Especially on weekends when everyone is trying to use it. It’s non-existing. There aren’t any air tv channels either. A hotspot on my truck seemed to be able to...

We got to Holiday Shores and went to the agreed upon campsite. It took awhile to find it, as the resort is HUGE! There are a lot of narrow roads that twist and turn. Once we did find the campsite we reserved, we found someone was already there!. We went back to the office and were told someone had 'mis-typed' the campsite number on my reservation form. As other people have noted, Holiday Shores needs to seriously consider upgrading to a computerized system. They gave us another site and we were told it was a better site, as it was a pull thru site. We managed to find the new site. While it was pull thru, it was not level in any way, shape or form. The campsites are all very close together. Unfortunately, many of the other campers had dogs that barked all day and night. Many campers also had loud parties late into the night. I never saw security or staff drive around to tell people (or their dogs!) to quiet down. Given how large the resort was, we decided we needed to rent a golf cart. I had to walk a 1/2 mile, uphill (not kidding!) to get to where the golf carts were rented. I was told to come back the next day to see if there would be one available. The next day, (after begging and pleading!) I was able to get a cart. I found out we could only get the carts from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. I was and am unhappy I had to pay almost $60 a day for a cart I could only have for 9 hours a day. We noticed that the entire resort is run down. The pool area had concrete that was cracked. The playground areas also looked very old. There are hundreds of campsites and cabins. The numbers are also repeated, which made it very confusing to find your campsite. While they offer wi-fi, you have to pay for it. The wi-fi only got a signal if you were near one of the offices. The 'activities' they offered were pretty minimal and not very creative. I found most of the staff were friendly. Overall, this was probably one of our least favorite campgrounds we...