Giant City State Park Lodge & Restaurant — Restaurant in Carbondale

I have no idea why there are such high ratings for this place. Stayed in the cabins, a bluff cabin the first night, and the prairie cabin the next two nights. Their reservation system needs to be updated. It took forever to check in, about 20 to 30 minutes, without waiting in a line. The bluff cabin was ok, but it's a long walk from the car/parking lot to the cabin, about a 1/4 mile, so don't plan on running back and forth to your car. The view was overrated, and too many bugs at night with the lights on to hang out on the deck. Not worth the money. The prairie cabins are cheesy, like 90's decor, needs to be updated, tv sucked, remote didn't work. It just didn't have a cabin feel to it. We were placed in the cabins furthest away from the lodge. People going to wineries were given the cabins closer to the lodge, so there seems to be some hustling between the lodge and the wineries going on there. I regret not staying in the cheapest of the cabins, which are the historical ones, but I thought they all were historical, so there's some false advertising going on there too.||The lodge is the best part of the property. It seems to be a gathering place for the locals though because it was very crowded on the weekend, and obviously wasn't only guests staying in the cabins, so don't think you'll have the place to yourselves. The all you can eat chicken dinner was overrated too. I've definitely had better chicken, the sides were good though. The all you can eat fish was way better. Customer service was inconsistent. Our server the first night was terrible, but the server the second night was fantastic. The customer service from the family was also inconsistent. The grandson, Mikey, and the grandfather Richard were excellent, and I really enjoyed interacting with them, and they really went out of their way to go above and beyond. Richard's son, and Mikey's father Mike was completely opposite. He was very rude and condescending as we were checking out. He had a nasty nice attitude, where his tone sounded friendly, but the words coming out of his mouth were so rude. I was totally shocked he was acting that way after we spent so much money on the lodge and restaurant. It was like getting a big f you on the way out. I was looking forward to the southern hospitality the family boasts, and left feeling like Chicagoans are way more friendly and hospitable, and could teach them better manners. And no one was wearing masks including all of the family members working there, who were obviously making a political statement. That was disappointing. I would expect a state run operation to be neutral, and at the very least, not be defiant of our current governor. It is not surprising icu beds were at capacity in that area recently, and covid is running rampant. The trails in the area were awesome! Highly recommend the Giant City trail. The visitor center was nice too. We stayed at the lodge because we were thinking of renting cabins for Thanksgiving with extended family, and dining at the lodge, but it turned out to be a one and done experience, mostly because of the customer service from Mike, and the rude server our first night dining at the lodge. I'd recommend enjoying the natural resources of the area, and dining at the Lodge, but skip the cabins and stay at the campground, or a hotel in Carbondale instead. I wish someone had told me all this before driving 5.5 hours to spend alot of money to be...

I have no idea why there are such high ratings for this place. Stayed in the cabins, a bluff cabin the first night, and the prairie cabin the next two nights. Their reservation system needs to be updated. It took forever to check in, about 20 to 30 minutes, without waiting in a line. The bluff cabin was ok, but it's a long walk from the car/parking lot to the cabin, about a 1/4 mile, so don't plan on running back and forth to your car. The view was overrated, and too many bugs at night with the lights on to hang out on the deck. Not worth the money. The prairie cabins are cheesy, like 90's decor, needs to be updated, tv sucked, remote didn't work. It just didn't have a cabin feel to it. We were placed in the cabins furthest away from the lodge. People going to wineries were given the cabins closer to the lodge, so there seems to be some hustling between the lodge and the wineries going on there. I regret not staying in the cheapest of the cabins, which are the historical ones, but I thought they all were historical, so there's some false advertising going on there too. The lodge is the best part of the property. It seems to be a gathering place for the locals though because it was very crowded on the weekend, and obviously wasn't only guests staying in the cabins, so don't think you'll have the place to yourselves. The all you can eat chicken dinner was overrated too. I've definitely had better chicken, the sides were good though. The all you can eat fish was way better. Customer service was inconsistent. Our server the first night was terrible, but the server the second night was fantastic. The customer service from the family was also inconsistent. The grandson, Mikey, and the grandfather Richard were excellent, and I really enjoyed interacting with them, and they really went out of their way to go above and beyond. Richard's son, and Mikey's father Mike was completely opposite. He was very rude and condescending as we were checking out. He had a nasty nice attitude, where his tone sounded friendly, but the words coming out of his mouth were so rude. I was totally shocked he was acting that way after we spent so much money on the lodge and restaurant. It was like getting a big f you on the way out. I was looking forward to the southern hospitality the family boasts, and left feeling like Chicagoans are way more friendly and hospitable, and could teach them better manners. And no one was wearing masks including all of the family members working there, who were obviously making a political statement. That was disappointing. I would expect a state run operation to be neutral, and at the very least, not be defiant of our current governor. It is not surprising icu beds were at capacity in that area recently, and covid is running rampant. The trails in the area were awesome! Highly recommend the Giant City trail. The visitor center was nice too. We stayed at the lodge because we were thinking of renting cabins for Thanksgiving with extended family, and dining at the lodge, but it turned out to be a one and done experience, mostly because of the customer service from Mike, and the rude server our first night dining at the lodge. I'd recommend enjoying the natural resources of the area, and dining at the Lodge, but skip the cabins and stay at the campground, or a hotel in Carbondale instead. I wish someone had told me all this before driving 5.5 hours to spend alot of money to be...

We were first-time visitors here and we will definitely be recommending this place. The lodge, built by the CCC, is stunning! Make sure you take some time to hang out in there. They are very welcoming and you can easily curl up with a good book, play a game or two of chess, or just simply people-watch. Don't be afraid to mention its your first time either as they will likely tell you some tips and recommendations for the area. For example, when we checked in, we were told not to miss the sunset on top of the observation tower. We were really happy with that recommendation. As for lodging, we stayed in a historic cabin and found it to be very cozy. It was quite hot on our visit but the AC worked like a charm. While you may find the TVs to be quite old, we hope you won't be using them much as there is much to explore outside. The water pressure and temperature are great and we found the rooms to be very clean. Also, don't worry about parking. There are plenty of spaces for everyone's car, especially on the side of the lodge. Speaking of the outside, you'll find this lodge has a very lovely pool which is well maintained. Make sure you take advantage of the trails too where you can find an assortment of mushrooms and plants. As for the restaurant, you can say this is the place to be for dinner, especially on the weekends. They are known for their fried chicken but if you plan it right, you will have spent a Friday night here where you can also get the Friday Fish Fry which is equally as good and all you can eat! Their soups French Onion and Chili were also good. We also really enjoyed our waitress Natalie who gave us some really good recommendations for the area to check out. We were lucky enough to have her both nights we dined in the restaurant which we were really happy about. We hope our travels will bring us back here to enjoy with the rest of our family...