Upper Iowa Resort — Hotel in Waukon

I don’t recommend staying here. We stayed two nights in cabin 3. We could not use the water in our cabin because it smelled like rotten eggs. The office closed at 6, so we weren’t able to let them know until the next day. Their response was them telling us that they would fix it the next day after we checked out. They never offered to switch our cabin or compensate us even though there were cabins available. We had to walk to the wash houses to shower and were unable to use the hot water for washing hands or dishes. The other issue we had is the beds. There are two twin bunk beds, and a pull out couch. The top bunks are not useable because they do not have side rails. They have put plastic removable rails up that slide under the mattress, however the slightest bump caused them to move. There is no way that it would prevent someone from falling six feet to the floor. The pullout couch on the other hand was so old and sunken in that sleeping on it was nearly impossible. If the poles weren’t jabbing you, you were rolling to the center. There is absolutely zero cell reception in the valleys that this is located in. To remedy this, they offer the WiFi code for $2.50 per phone. That’s sounds good, unfortunately the WiFi signal is only able to be picked up by the office and the large cabin. The rest of the cabins as well as the tent spots and campers are too far. It’s insane that they have no problem charging for WiFi that you have to sit outside the office to use. The office opens at 10 am and closes at 6 pm. This means that if you are hoping to go canoeing you have to wait until the office opens, and you can’t go swimming after 6 as the pool and basketball/horseshoe courts close when the office does. As much nickel and dimeing that they do you’d expect it to be a bit nicer. We have stayed in other cabins elsewhere for less and had a much...

We had a big family Campout this past weekend @ UIR with 60 people in attendance and UIR was more than accommodating! Some of the family had rented cabins but most of the family had camping spots for their campers. All of the sites were nice & the cabins offered great amenities.

Lots of trees for shade, lots of open space to gather & spread out our corn hole/bags boards for our corn hole/bags tournament. The campground was down in a valley, so seemingly protected from the poor air quality at higher elevation due to the recent wildfires smoke, which was a nice bonus...plus it was cooler temps in the valley, which was also nice.

Staff in the office was pleasant. Resort had lots of nice amenities. The river was fun for people in the family to kayak & canoe on. The sandy pool was fun for lots of the family to enjoy (though a bit over-crowded on the weekend when non-campers apparently show up to enjoy it).

Tessa even took time away from her busy day to stand in as a substitute for a relailtive that had to step away from the corn hole game for a bit AND she patiently waited for all 60 of us to get situated for a group picture so she could take the picture for us! Thank you, Tessa!!!

Also, the restrooms/shower houses were clean & airy, too. My only recommendation is that they get some sort of rubber mats with holes to put in the shower stalls so people don't have to stand in the pool of shower water to dry off & so it's not so slippery.

Overall, it was a fantastic place to stay for the extra long weekend & i can't wait to go back!

Great job, UIR!! Thanks...

Well, let me tell ya, Upper Iowa Resort is a little slice of heaven right here in the Driftless Region. We rolled in with a big ol' group and had ourselves one helluva time. That spring-fed swimming pool? It’s like findin’ a California beach, smack dab next to the Iowa River. Cool, clear, and just what the doctor ordered after a long day.

I gotta give a shoutout to Tessa and her crew. They’re as down-to-earth as they come, always ready to lend a hand or crack a smile. One day, we decided to float down the Iowa River in our innertubes, and wouldn’t ya know it, Tessa herself shuttled us upriver. Talk about service!

Now, when we first got there, the wife was a bit uneasy about the lack of cell service—no bars in sight—but let me tell ya, it ended up bein’ the best thing ever. Nothin’ but us and the great outdoors, with no distractions. And if you do need to plug back in, the park’s free internet is fast as lightning, so you won’t miss a beat.

Upper Iowa Resort is a real-deal treasure, and we’re mighty grateful to Tessa and the folks there for keepin’ this place runnin’ strong. If you’re lookin’ for a spot where the air’s fresh, the water’s cool, and the people are good as gold, this is it. We’ll be...