This is our first time to Lake Cumberland State Resort Park. The people at the Front Desk are very…read morenice. First, we had a campground reservation. Hubby went to change the oil in our truck and there was oil in the coolant. It was not drivable. After speaking with multiple people including the park manager, we were not allowed to simply switch our reservations from the campground to the lodge. They are two separate entities. Keep this in mind when booking. When I called to book at the lodge, I asked about fridge and microwave and was told they rooms don't have them. Check in went well. When we arrived at our room, there was a minimal number of lights. It was quite dark. One lamp between the two queens. No floor lamp. The screen door to the balcony was busted. I called the front desk and we were moved to another room for $40 more. The elevator was gross. I used my fingernail to see if the rust-like stuff would come off and it was easily removable. The entire trip I was tempted to get a Brillo pad! The new room had a fridge and wasn't missing lights. The next thing we discovered was that there was no daily housekeeping. Supposedly this was because of COVID. There isn't fear of catching COVID but here in KY people simply stopped working during COVID and they didn't return to the workforce after COVID. Towels, coffees, etc. were available two buildings over at check-in lobby. The next crazy thing about the lodge is there is minimal food! There was a breakfast buffet and a dinner buffet, but no diner and only take out for lunch. The nearest grocery store is more than 10 miles so bring whatever you need to eat, plus utensils! The breakfast buffet was good. Service was good. Again, nice people. It was a small breakfast buffet but adequate. No fruit, cold cereal, muffins, omelets, veggies... but the basics were available for $15. The pool and hot tub were good temps. Clean. Lots of kiddos from the campground on the rainy day. Speaking of the campground, the outdoor pool was supposed to open before the holiday, but they were only interviewing lifeguards that Friday to start after Memorial Day weekend. Poor planning? Here is a very odd thing. On the rainy day, our lodge/camper group wanted to play games. We went to the activity room. There were two nice game tables but there were no chairs!! So we went to the area off the lobby to play cards. We were the only ones in the area by the fireplace and the ceiling fan was on. The front desk figured out how to shut if off, but the AC vents were blasting cold air out. We tried moving the table and chairs but air was blowing everywhere. We played a couple rounds but we were freezing! We asked the front desk if the temps could be adjusted to make it warmer or just shut the system off. It was only 50 outside, rainy and cloudy. We were told the temperature inside the lobby area was electronically controlled by "the state"!! Very very interesting that a State Park which should have some environmental conscience wouldn't allow staff to adjust indoor air temps based on outdoor temperatures. Doesn't seem like a way to conserve. Lastly because of the baby, the kids brought the golf cart to the campground. It's street legal, licensed, insured, etc and they paid $25 to have it with them. Some lodge guy told the kids that the park ranger would ticket them for using the between the campground and lodge. Nice to know after the fact. We watched the baby while the kids had a date night at the State Dock restaurant. One of the cooks had quit that day. The 45 min wait time was an hour and a half, the food was bad. My son-in-law had diarrhea starting that evening and throughout the next day! Nobody else thankfully caught it, so probably something with the food.
All in all, the park has so much potential, but Kentucky seems to struggle for average. We rented a pontoon on our last day, and the rental at State Dock went smoothly. Unless you have a boat, I recommend visiting Dale Hollow.
