We stayed at Kalahari for 3 nights with the Stay & Play package, and overall we had a great time…read morewith a few things that could be improved. We arrived around 1:30 PM and were pleasantly surprised that our room was already ready -- such a relief after traveling, especially with kids. However, the new luggage carts are definitely a downgrade. They barely hold anything, and if you have more than just a couple of bags, it turns into a hassle. Really hoping they switch back to the old style. The waterpark itself is always a blast, but I do wish the hours were longer. Closing at 8 PM on weeknights feels early when you're on vacation and trying to fit everything in. Same for the sweet treat shop -- we felt rushed trying to get from the waterpark to the room, get dressed, and then make it down to the arcade and grab treats all within about 45 minutes. We chose the Stay & Play package mainly for the arcade credit ($100 each night), but we didn't realize that when you use the package credits, the games don't give you tickets. That was disappointing, especially with kids who love winning prizes. On the positive side, the kids absolutely loved the Build-a-Bear experience. It was pricey at about $100 for two bears, but it is vacation, and they had so much fun that it was worth it. I also really liked the new charging wristbands -- super convenient and nice not having to carry a card around all day. As for comfort, the waterpark air could've been warmer. I remember it feeling much more comfortable in past visits, but this time I felt cold almost the whole time. The hallways were especially chilly. Food-wise, the Pizza Pub was fantastic. We had it delivered right to our room, and both the pizza and the chicken chunks were delicious -- honestly one of our favorite meals of the trip. Overall, even with a few hiccups, we had a fun stay and would visit again. Kalahari still delivers a great family getaway, just with a few things I hope they adjust back to how they used to be.

Unfortunately, this was the worst stay our family has had at Kalahari - this may very well be our…read morelast time coming here! We contacted resort staff three separate times with serious concerns during our stay and saw no action taken--only empty apologies. That lack of response was extremely frustrating and made it feel like guest experience was not a priority. Going back to the room for a break didn't help. Our room faced a solid wall, did not have a fireplace as advertised, and we dealt with constant loud door slamming and wall pounding from nearby cleaning staff. It was not relaxing and made it difficult to rest. The conditions in the waterpark were also unacceptable. The lines for the water slides smelled strongly of urine, as if people were urinating while standing in line, which was extremely unpleasant and unhygienic. The wave pool was especially concerning. Chunks of concrete were breaking off the bottom of the pool, and I cut my foot on one of these pieces, about the size of a penny. There was concrete grit throughout the water, which was very unsafe - I gave chunks to the staff to emphasize my concerns. On top of all of this, everything was freezing cold. The wave pool water was freezing, the slide water was freezing, and the hot tubs were not hot at all despite hour-long wait lines with 40+ people. Even the indoor temperature felt cold. For the cost of this stay, none of this was acceptable. Overall, this experience was not worth what we paid and fell far below expectations.

Good price for a clean and safe room. Room looked to have been remodeled relatively recently…read more Bathroom definitely a little small, but serviceable. Shower never ran out of hot water. Bed was comfortable. AC, TV, and WiFi worked. Awesome ice machine at the end of the building. Overall, a decent place to stay. I think their clientele spends their time fishing on the lake or shooting at Camp Perry, but it seemed perfectly fine for anyone if you just need a place overnight until you take the ferry over to Put-In-Bay (only a couple minutes down the road). No restaurants or even convenience stores nearby without driving the few minutes into Port Clinton. Front desk lady said to book directly on the website to save a couple dollars. No pool, but otherwise a good, solid value. Four stars.

Wow, the cutest ever motel! Clean and pet friendly, newly renovated rooms with wood like floors,…read moredefinitely a well priced, quaint place to stay! We will be visiting again.

Made a reservation for a full service RV site. A few weeks before check in, I was told that there…read morewas an issue with the sewage and I would have to move to another site with less grass. Ok fine, things happen. I got here on Saturday evening and was handed a map. No signage on the rows, finally a worker offered to show me to the site. Great, got the RV hooked up. I did get a call on Sunday morning offering to move me to another site that was not full hook up as this site has no grass at all. Heavy rain last night, I am now in a sea of mud, thank goodness that I put everything away last night. The employees are super nice and are trying their best. They are the only reason for the 2 stars. The showers are nice and very clean as well. I hope the owners make some serious improvement. Our group hoped to make this an annual trip for our family reunion but I don't see that working out.

This place was great last year but this year, not so much! It went downhill…read more Bathrooms need cleaned and plumbing done. I think alot of things need maintained and its obvious it hasn't been done. The outdoor pool was closed and was looking forward to swimming in that.

My daughter and I brought my 9 and 10 year old grandsons here. We were a bit nervous of the mixed…read morereviews. The price for a family suit on a Wednesday with 4 passes to the water park is very reasonable. Upon arrival check in was simple and went pretty quickly. You are allowed to start your fun before the room is ready, which is good because the waterpark closes at 8 and opens at 10 am. You can also continue to play after check out. We found this very nice because you wouldn't get much time to play if not. Our room was ready early but our bands didn't open our room so they gave us new ones. The girls working were friendly and helped us sort it out quickly. We were disappointed to find hair in both of our beds. We called and requested fresh bedding because we wanted to get playing. They never came but they did give us a new room, also with hair on the sheets. Our cleaning person came in and we watched her replace the pillowcases with clean right off the cart and guess what? Still hair! This is a laundry issue but we were relieved to know it wasn't because our beds were dirty. This was our only negative issue. Our room was clean and spacious. The pull out sofa wasn't the most comfy but we were so wore out we slept well. The Waterpark wasn't very crowded and it was very fun for our boys! My grandson said he felt like a VIP and they will both remember this fun time. The workers keep a very good eye on things. We felt safe. There's a Dunkin Donuts in the lobby and you can order on an app which I recommend because I ordered at the kiosk and waited 30 mins for 2 coffees. ($9) I would recommend ordering ahead and pick it up when you get a text to save waiting too long. We brought in snacks and drinks to our room. We had a fridge but no microwave. Overall we all agree it was a great time and we will return. The kids loved everything and they said their review is "great"!

Second time we were here. Came in 2024-2025 new years and had a great stay.. I have a special needs…read morechild and when we first arrived he was " lost" in the water park and staff was on it very fast! Using their radios and alerting all staff . Room was clean also. ( I bring a black light flash light when I travel to check rooms for any biological material before I unpack anything) .... Now it's November 2025.. we stayed overnight only.. my autistic son absolutely Loves the characters.. Violet especially! When we left last time he cried 2 days straight missing the " wolf pack " characters in costume. So this visit I asked the staff if at all possible Violet could make an appearance while we were there.. and Sammy the squirrel since we didn't get the chance to meet her our first stay . The staff was AWESOME! Sunday morning made my sons WORLD when he met Sammy squirrel for the first time! And he saw violet again too! He brought her a gift from Pittsburgh as well! Thank you SO much for making my sons year! My only gripe was on Saturday evening during story time my son wanted so bad to be picked to physically participate in story time and the girls only chose smaller children to participate even though my son who is 13 special needs was standing and waving his hands begging to be called.. yes we received a lot of weird stares from parents wondering why this big child was so excited about great wolf.. but I feel I shouldn't have to advertise to the WORLD that my son is 13... on the spectrum and loves great wolf!!! Sometimes I feel they only market to children 10 and under... and I am in NO hurry for my child to grow up.. if he still loves the great wolf costume characters when he is 20 SO BE IT! Maybe keep an open mind to ALL children... even if they look older.. because autism doesn't have a " look" ... and my son was sad that he couldn't play a part in story time.. he has been watching great wolf stuff on YouTube all year.. and drawing all of the characters all year too anxiously awaiting returning this weekend.. as a mom that's what I work hard for .. my money goes towards my sons joy.. and considering all of the other water parks around Sandusky I could always give my $ to another place... hope this doesn't sound too harsh.. but I leave honest reviews..

We spent 2 nights on a weekend at the resort. We booked the…read morebunk room which had 2 bunks and a king sized bed at the room/waterpark only rate in late February 2026. The good: Waterpark and room were clean. The staff were all super friendly and helpful. Kids really enjoyed themselves (10 and 14). There are lots of restaurant options within 3-5 miles to fit any budget. The majority of lifeguards took their jobs seriously and enforced rules. It was less expensive than other indoor waterparks. Room fridge was great for storing snacks and drinks. Nearly everywhere in the hotel is crazy loud, but, the craft room was a great place to take a sensory break and slow down for a bit. The area by the aquarium on the third floor was also quieter often. There was a seating area for reading and tables available for boardgames with a view of the bay. The bad: We waited in line at 4:15 pm for a half an hour to just check in. They had a line of people filling the entire lobby with 4 staff checking people in. It was not streamlined at all. The changing room did not have a curtain or door on it. Nor did the bunk room. The only place to change privately was the small room off the bathroom with toilet and shower. Walls are paper thin. You will hear everything going on in the hall and the rooms around yours. We also happened to be right off the elevator bank which added a whole new level of noise. Elevators are slow and tiny. With luggage, you can fit 3-4 people tops. We chose the stairs almost every time despite our room being located on the 3rd floor right next to the elevators. That said, the stairwells are super loud as it's all metal and cement/concrete. Large attractions do close. The wave pool was closed half the day Saturday which was our kids favorite thing. You need a special card for any arcade, bowling, or golfing you do and that's an extra $3 charge plus what you load onto it. They have cute character "room doors" throughout the hallways. These are often right next to a room door and kids will push the buttons to make them talk all day/night. So many of the areas were unnecessarily loud. You couldn't hear anyone speak in the arcade or waterpark. Stairwells were like banging on metal drums while they echoed between 4 floors. The ugly: Their mini golf (albeit it glow course) is highway robbery. $10 per person (despite being told it was $6 by staff) and only 8 holes. The 9th hole was just putting your ball up a ramp into their skee-ball cup. If you mad it a fun sound went off, if you didn't, it collected it and played a failed sound. Our "bay view" window was COVERED in bird poop and cobwebs on the exterior side. The entire side of the building was filthy to look at. I would not suggest paying extra for the view. This might have been a one off experience in the activity pool but the one time we tried it, I had teenagers tackling me from behind as they fought over basketballs. I was pushed over multiple times by them when they crashed into me (and others in the pool) and nothing was done about it by parents or lifeguards. My kiddo and I eventually left because the ball he and another younger kid were playing with kept getting takin by the teens. Overall, it was a cheaper room option than other places but I'm not sure we'll be going back again. The extra fees for everything else adds up quick and sleep was nearly impossible with the noise level around our room.

It was a decent experience. Our kids enjoyed the waterpark. They do have a bunch of dumb rules…read morewhile you are in the waterpark though. We got yelled at for swimming to close to the walls and we also got told that our 3 year old was not allowed to wear her swim shoes. Probably won't be back.

We have stayed on the island many times. We did a sister trip and stayed somewhere new Bayshore…read moreResorts!! We allll loved it. And will go back every time in the future! The rooms felt very clean. It was at the very beginning of the season. The pool, hot tub, tiki hut, coffee shop were all closed but the staff was very accommodating. We stored our luggage until time to check in. Also Nick had the fire pit started for us for when we returned so we could enjoy it! We took many photos with the beautiful lake view!! This place is highly recommended!!! Thank you for the wonderful place to stay.

This place is terrible. Our first morning there was no cold water...that's right no cold water in…read morethe entire hotel. The water in the shower was so hot it was scalding and you could not shower. Brushing your teeth with scalding hot water is fun too. The maintenance man told me he was busy remodeling the 3rd floor and could not get to it. How about the bar, we'll the bartender hardly could speak or understand English. They only had 3 types of beer, they were out of everything else. Our friend ordered a Margarita and they had no mix so the bartender mixed tequila with some other clear alcohol and squirt and charged $12.00. Speaking of charged, this is the only hotel we have stayed at that charged $3.00 for a small coffee and $6.00 for a large, in fact it's first hotel that we have stayed that charged for coffee. You can't complain to the manager because he or she is non existent and was never once on site. And to top it off you better not need anything a night but if you do you can find the night desk clerk at the pool after it's closed with her boyfriend the other bartender, that by the way closed the bar early so he could steal booze and meet his girl friend, the night desk clerk at the pool. We will never stay at this over priced joke of a hotel. Most of the staff should be fired and the owner would know this if he was ever there or gave a crap.

Another holiday another amazing stay! First class accommodations and first class company!! NE best…read moreresort!!

The bathrooms are very clean, and there are several ice makers on the property as well. Food is…read morealways good, but they never have waffles on the menu - but you can't have everything.

Sorry but I love this place. The villas are where it's at. Says you can sleep 6 but we have crammed…read more8-10 people before. We rent them for $500 a weekend and it's worth it. Bring your cooler and drinks and head on up. The pool is solid and the bar/restaurant is as well. The villas have AC and stove, fridge and microwave. Villa 5 has a huge deck and grill. Bring your own towels and linen and you are set. Sometimes we don't even make it over to PIB. Middle Bass more for locals and not near as rowdy. Good weekend

Good food, reasonable prices, laid back and easy. Service was excellent. Good vibes here. Would go…read moreback often.

STAY AWAY NOT WORTH THE MONEY !!!!!! This place was run down and very dirty !!!!!! Both TVs are…read morebroken the vent fan in bathroom is broken. Stains on the carpet the beds are worn out. The whole outside is just filthy you can tell this is just a money maker and the owners don't care about anything but making money. The staff is over worked they are cleaning the rooms and running the front desk. For what you pay it should be nicer. They do not even have any staff on the grounds at night so you are on your own if you need any help so sad was expecting so much better for the money we paid.

This place was horrible. It's dirty, the grounds are unkempt, wifi was poor at best. There is a…read morewaiver that must be signed saying no smoking/vape inside rooms or there is a $250 fee. That's acceptable BUT our room had a broken door, 2 holes in the wall, stained carpets, broken TV, and cracked sink in the bathroom. The pool is NOT heated as advertised and the jets in the hot tub barely work. By the 2nd day we were all sick and checked out early and of course were not offered any refund. Save yourself the time and disappointment, don't go there.