My family has been coming to Darnell's every summer for the past 11 years. This place used to feel like a second home to us, but over time, we've watched the quality of service steadily decline--and it's been heartbreaking. The staff have become noticeably colder and less accommodating. Something as simple as asking for basic kitchen utensils--items you'd reasonably expect in a unit with a full kitchen--is treated like a huge inconvenience. We've had to ask for things like spatulas or pots just to cook a basic meal, and each time we were met with eye rolls or annoyed tones, as if we were asking for something outrageous. One moment that really stuck with me was while we were filling out paperwork in the office. I was joking around with my adult children--just laughing and enjoying the moment--and the woman behind the desk shot us such a nasty look, it instantly soured the mood. That kind of attitude has become more and more common with each visit. The location is still beautiful, and the property itself has a lot of potential, but the way guests are treated now doesn't match the price or the experience we used to love. After 11 summers, we've decided this was our last. It's disappointing to say goodbye to a place that once held so many good memories. read more

Better the last couple years. Julie in the office handles things well. Makes you feel like valued customer. Good value. Beautiful grounds. read more

We come to Chelan every year and this by far was the worst experience we've ever had. We usually stay at the Point but this was a last minute trip and they were booked. We had stayed at Darnell's one time about ten years ago and we had a great experience. This time was not. There were several incidents that happened that could have been handled way more professionally than they were. First, we went to the store, spent almost $200 on groceries only to find the fridge doesn't work. No big deal I figure because, they would either put a new one in the room or move us to a room that has a working fridge. I was wrong. The younger girl who came to the room was very sweet and handled it to the best of her ability. She did the right thing and called the manager and she was told to handle it this way. She came to look at the fridge and said we could put our groceries in their fridge in the office which I would have been fine with, except we wouldn't have access to our food until the morning. Having two kids with us, we weren't too fond of that idea or we could leave the food in the fridge in the room next store. I asked if we could just move and she replied "no because then our cleaners will have to clean that room" After explaining to her that was not really our fault, she called and got the ok from her manager. I believe the girls name was Lacey, and she was great! The second issue was the gnats. I'm not talking about a few little gnats flying around, this was thousands of them. They covered the walls, counter-spaces, and the floor. We couldn't even eat inside because they were so bad. They were in the bathroom, in our food, and even in the bed. When I informed them of the problem, they were very nonchalant about it and said it was always that way. When we checked out, the kids were swimming at the lake. A gentleman came up to us and said that we had to leave the property if we were checking out that day. Checkout is at 11 and this was around noon. I have stayed at many hotels and they've always allowed us to use the amenities as long as we were checked out of the room. All the other resorts in Chelan allow you to stay beyond check out and swim. If they were busy I could understand but there were two other people at the beach. It was sad to have to go to tell my kids they couldn't swim anymore, and they felt like they had done something wrong. I would turn around and take the 3 hour drive home over staying here ever again. I've been the front desk manager at a hotel and I know problems arise, but I also know that guest satisfaction is achieved in the way the staff handles the situation. This staff needs to be reminded that the biggest part of hospitality is serving the guests needs. Darnell's has been around for a long time, but I'm afraid they won't be around much longer if they don't make some changes. Having a good staff is key to having a good hotel, and everybody has off days but the guest should never pay the price. read more

Darnell's Lake Resort - Having fun at my favorite place...Lake Chelan - Hotels Near Me - Chelan, Washington

The resort is amazing ! Loved the cabana and food on site.. yummy and reasonable priced ! beach .. pool ..empty and not an issue during Covid .. for this I recommend ! I would to stay but not with anyone who needs accommodations or is disabled I will say not accommodating to people with disabilities .I booked and mentioned friends service animal and I asked did they need the number or registration and what do I need? ‍was told nothing was needed and was told okay . I was also reminded that they can't ask specifics .. EVERY DAY an issue 2-3 xs a day .. why are there no notes ? did you check him in ? Yes! And every morning I called saying don't do room service we will do . Every time walking dog we had maintenance .. front desk .. and grounds an issue they kept saying there are no notes .. I'm like .. talk to your staff .. I called 4 xs and every day we are harassed and not my issue your staff does not document . And your staff can't tell guests an exception. It does nothing for people's anxiety or PTSD Great resort but DO NOT be disabled . If you are check daily . or be like me after 4 times explaining and they still couldn't make notes and I stopped maids from coming in. I Loved the beach .. resort and pool .. but I will not come Again if I have my friend or his service animal . I specifically asked at least 5 staff if any complaints about service animal and there were none ..‍ read more

This place hasn't been updated in 30 years. Furniture, beds, ac units, kitchens are horrible. And they charge 250-350 a night??? Ridiculous! There are many places to stay in Chelan for a similar price that are clean and well maintained. Don't waste your money:( read more

I went to Darnell's for a school trip. We had 4 girls in one room with lots of need for showering after swimming. We asked for more towels to have one for hair and body or just an extra in case one got sandy and etc. A very rude lady came to our door with towels, said she could only trade towels, grabbed the 3 dirty ones out of my room, and refused to give us an extra. She proceeded to reminded me 3 times that maids count the number of towels the rooms have and suggested that because I was a younger customer I would be trying to steal towels. Horrible customer service. The front desk lady continued to be rude towards their younger clients even though we approached her with maturity and manners. I would suggest another location for your trip to Chelan. Not a fan. read more

This place helped to save our trip. The woman I spoke with on Saturday (can't remember her name) was so helpful. The rooms are nice and spacious. A little outdated, but very comfortable. The views and location were terrific. Everything was very clean and the staff was friendly and helpful. The coffee is a bit rough, but other than that a great place to stay. read more

would've had a fine stay if i wasn't nagged by an old lady at least twice a day. immediately upon arriving the woman was up our ass about where our parking pass was when we already had gotten it literally as fast as possible. our dad brought it out as soon as we pulled up so when she asked where our pass was she looked like a fool. she had nothing to press about. i think she should learn to leave her customers alone and be a bit more lax. people are trying to have a good time and the old lady kept ruining the mood of our stay. pretty disappointed. we felt like more of a nuisance than paying goddamn customers. we were also pressed about my plastic smoothie cup sitting in the hot tub area while drunk adults were sipping out of glass and had white claws in the tub which i'd been witnessing my entire stay. just seems unnecessary to come at me so rudely and tell me to get out of the hot tub area. she told me feel free to leave the cup outside the gate and go back and forth. WTF ruined my afternoon. also not that the resort can really help this without it costing a lot for remodeling or extermination or something but the gnats are bad at night. they were in our kitchen at night we could see them swarming under the light and they were all over the kitchen wall. and as well as above the bathroom sink. ewwwww. won't be returning here. only good thing was the smoothies read more

Another great stay at Darnell's . We really love this place ,it is SOOO much better than Campbell's snootyness. The view is the same , and the service is personal and friendly! The rooms are older ,but impeccably clean with kitchenettes and fabulous lake views. They give you FREE charcoal to use at their ( many) barbecues. The swimming pool and hot tub are immaculately clean and large sized. Free pool towels and several lawn and board games are available in the office. They have a large dock area where you could tie up a boat or PWC if you had one ( u think that's free too!!) We have seen the management here constantly maintaining the property - cutting the grass , cleaning, changing garages. You can tell they take pride in their property. Good job guys! Off season prices are so crazy good too ;-) read more

Really . . . Really . . . Really . . . Love this place. Old school operation in my opinion. Meaning they really care about their customers. Older rooms but are very clean, & lots of room. Full kitchens with utensils & pots & pans. BBQ'S with briquettes on property . Pool, Hot Tub & Sandy beach on the lake. We will be back !! read more

Worst hotel ever! I'm giving 1 star bc I can't give a zero. Stayed here in the past and begrudgingly returned to visit with friends. (Rooms are old, ugly and dingy). Check in time is 4pm. At 4:45 room still was not ready for us. We had to wait on asphalt outside in 97 degree heat while the extremely rude staff attempted to summons more people to clean the rooms (why was that not done at 11am when everyone checked out?). We left and never stayed there. The hotel is an absolute dump and the rude, unhelpful staff make it even worse. We had driven 3 hours to get there that day and happily turned around and drove 3 hours back to Seattle to get away. read more

My family stayed at Darnell's this past weekend. We were very disappointed in the room. We were supposed to have 2 beds (not 1 with a sleeper sofa) which is what we got. And the sleeper sofa was like 50 years old with no cushion in the mattress and it creaked with every move. The TV on the wall was hung crooked and the couches were not even in a good spot to watch TV without cranking your neck or moving the couch to the other side of the room. The room was very out dated. The window in the bedroom was right above the bed and anyone could look in on you while sleeping. The front door had about a half inch space on the bottom of it so no wonder we had spiders and flies. I woke up to a spider on my face in the middle of the night and the people upstairs were loud and noisy until after 11pm. So much for a noise ordinance of 8pm. When I told the front desk we were checking out early; we did not stay the 2nd night it was so bad. She didn't even offer us a refund or anything. All she said was "yeah we are an older hotel and we have a lot of repeat families". The grounds were nice but the room was horrible. The price for the hotel is not worth it at all. read more

This place was horrid. I agree with Amanda J. We came in a group to celebrate a friends birthday and enjoy a day at the lake. We were harrassed by the front desk staff, from the first night we arrived. The next day we were woken up by a riding lawnmower 5 feet from our door. The room was not as big as presented online. The decor is outdated. The day clerk decided to keep up the harrassment the night clerk had started. Do not stay at this motel, the little beach by the cabana was covered in goose droppings. If they spent as much time maintaining the quality of their establishment instead of harassing younger patrons, the may have got a 2 star rating instead of a 1. The unwelcome treatment of the staff alone though is worth no more than 1 star. We attempted to speak with the staff regarding the issue of them constantly coming to our room. Believe me when I say, we were not being loud, doing anything other than hanging out in the room for lunch after a day on the lake. The staff gave us non commiting answers or ignored the question entirely. This is not a place of integrity, I would suggest finding another place to stay. A place that knows how to treat its customers, and respect their privacy. If I wanted to be constantly bugged and harrassed I would have stayed at my parents house... Edit 7:00PM 8/25/2012 Manager showed up at our door again. This time they proceeded to argue with us,while we tried to explain our concerns. It ended with the manager telling us to shut up. Currently a friend is still talking with the manager. I really can't believe this place... read more

We have had family reunions at Darnell's for years and I don't understand the negative review below. We've always had a great time, been served well and appreciate all the amenities for both kids and adults. read more

This is my first Yelp review. I decided I wanted to rate Darnell's because we had such a great experience there this past weekend. First of all, Darnell's was the only hotel in Chelan that allowed a one-night reservation on a weekend in June, which was our families only option. Our room included a king size bed in a separate bedroom area, plus two sofas with pull-out sleepers-- PERFECT for us with two tweens, and a toddler who don't always want to share sleeping quarters! The room included a kitchenette with a small fridge, dishwasher, microwave, saving us a lot of money by eating in. The beach access area was small, but my kids had a lot of fun. The grounds have a lot of activities such as volleyball and tennis, and it is located just next to a community park and close to town. My only 'complaints' would be that the bathroom doesn't have a fan or window, and the bedroom didn't have an AC or TV (both are located in the living room area with the sleeper sofas). The bed was comfortable, and the room was clean, although a little outdated. And the rates were very reasonable! We will definitely stay here again if we visit Chelan. read more

Worst hotel my family and I ever stayed in! Are hotel room was like a dungeon. The night we stayed at the hotel, there was no one staying there. So when morning came, around 11 am when we were at the empty beach one of the workers said we had togo! so they just kicked us out. Not going there again. read more

I agree with the previous review. We had to ask for our floor to be vacuumed upon check-in because the dirt and crumbs were visible and all over the room. I also asked for the outside deck table ( we would be eating upon), to be cleaned and was told that the old crusted bird droppings were "hard water stains." Finally a cleaning person came to bleach the table but not without a gruff attitude from the ofiice representative. The front desk was continually rude and the overall feeling of staying at this establishment was that we were unwelcomed intruders. The room was not cheap in cost but definitely below par. The dishwahser and door of the frig were broken. One couch with the fold out bed gave my two children who slept on it one night large welts all over their bodies. No one else in the family had these welts and no more occurred after keeping off this piece of furniture. We tried to leave to another establishment but everything was booked. The property is nice but the qulaity of the room and the unfriendliness of the front desk staff would make me stay elsewhere. The cabana woman was kind and lent us the dvd player. She always had a smile. read more