It is very rare that I give a negative review for anything, anywhere, beyond a few words and at least 3 stars (I do allow for mix-ups and things that I just don't prefer). However, Barnes Acres DOES deserve this review and a whole lot more. This past weekend my non-profit group rented the "campgrounds" and "event space" for an annual event. We knew that most of the populace of our event would either be camping or hoteling, though some (like my friends and I) decided to rent cabins for the weekend. At $117 for the 2 nights, we figured that's a pretty good deal. Knew that the cabins did not have running water, nor any bathroom facilities IN the cabins, but as most of us normally tent camp, that was considered luxury. The problems began upon arrival. The check-in point for our group had NO idea who to contact nor if the cabins were open for those of us that did rent a cabin. And I didn't, either - because of the 4 times I tried to get ahold of the camp owners, zero times were they responsive (turns out there was a reason for that - we'll get to that in a moment). BUT we persevere - up to the cabins we went! Thankfully, we found our cabin - Cabin 6. How? Well, there was no number on the cabin, but we extrapolated that our cabin was between cabin 5 and 7. Turns out cabin 1 didn't exist, but that's neither here nor there. Along with the pile of trash in the stinky trash-can outside our cabin door (which was left open and there was a sticky drink cup on the railing), we found it just fine. Next came the surprises - per the website we were promised "2 double beds on the main floor with 2 lofts above. The lofts sleep 2-4 kids on each side (depending on the size of the kids)." Now, to us, that mean there'd be mattresses up in the lofts as well as the two double beds below. Fortunately, it was only the 3 of us in the cabin because there were no mattresses in the lofts. And what were in the lofts - dirt, grime, random refuse from what we assume were small animals, no one would want to sleep in. But it was okay - the 3 of us (a married couple and myself) made it work. We thought. Imagine our surprise when 20 minutes into finally getting to bed (we moved the stinky trash can, found a lightbulb in a neighboring cabin - because the lamp that we had in our cabin didn't have any, and decided that the permanent resident behind the cabin probably was okay to be around - we hadn't seen him and he seemed fairly quiet), the bed collapsed under my friends! I don't think I have to tell any of you dear readers that this does not a good night make. We ended up moving their mattress to the floor and spent a very stressed out night trying to get some sleep. In the morning, we went to the main event space to find out that there were several other issues our group was dealing with: 1) no running water in the kitchen. 2) only one shower working on the whole campground. 3) the promised golf cart was not in evidence (though WAS a part of our contract when our group decided to run the event from this space - there are a LOT of hills on this place) 4) dogs being locked up in one of the cabins - that had been reserved (along with the endless defecation that dogs tend to do when being locked up) 5) the site not being cleaned up from a wedding a few days before our event 6) one of the owners being in jail for check fraud (oh no - did I let the cat outta the bag??) 7) no one answering any of our texts, calls, requests, anything I don't think I need to go on. If you want a good place to rent out for camping, a wedding, an event, or anything else in Savannah, MO - look elsewhere. This place is a damn dump. read more

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