Our cap'n Mark O. Was fantastic! He knew where the manatees were and put us right on them. He was knowledgeable and funny too. There wasn't a question that he could not answer. Every time I come to Crystal River I'm going to ask for Captain Mark O again! read more

**Disappointing stay -- left a day early** We booked the Paddletail Inn based on positive reviews and want to share our experience so others can make an informed decision. Our trip was scheduled for four nights; we left after three. **What went well:** - The front desk staff, restaurant hostess, and maintenance person were all helpful - Great waterfront location **What didn't go well:** Our first room was extremely bare -- two beds on metal frames with no bedspread, one nightstand, one dresser. Despite calling ahead to request a quiet room away from light, we were placed next to the pool, facing the stairwell. We upgraded to a suite, but found ongoing cleanliness issues: floors that weren't properly mopped despite two separate requests, no toiletries provided, a few dead roaches near the sliding door, and a mold smell from the kitchen cabinets. We had to go to housekeeping ourselves (2nd day) to get clean linens and toiletries that should have been there from the start. The room also showed clear wear -- peeling paint, broken tiles, doors that didn't seal -- and the bathroom was very tight on space. We raised the cleanliness issues daily, including at checkout, but didn't see much urgency or follow-through in addressing them. It felt like a disconnect between front desk and the teams actually responsible for housekeeping and maintenance. The pool is quite small for a property this size, and was crowded with kids throughout our stay. Overall, the staff were pleasant, but the experience suggested some gaps in management and coordination. We won't be returning. read more

Great location. Lot's of amenities, clean rooms, nice pool and friendly helpful people.

We had a blast on our pontoon rental with Paddletail Waterfront Adventures. We rented for a half day from 12:30-4:30pm and soaked up the beautiful views with the star of the sea, manatees! Great customer service, kind people, very clean accommodations, and fun family outdoor adventure. read more

See all

The room was clean and the sataff was very friendly. Nice breakfast Buffett that was included. The jacuzzi was hot and the pool was fine. They have a tiki bar that was enjoyable also. We did the snorkel with the manatees tour and it was fun to swim at 3 sisters spring also. read more

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge - Strawberry Daquari - Hotels Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

This hotel was adequate but we wouldn't stay here again. Upon check in, the rate quoted was over $30 more than the confirmed reservation rate. The front desk staff could not explain why nor make any effort to find out. Finally, we were ready to walk away and the manager in the back took our rate down $25, why not honor the reservation rate that we had a provided a printed copy to verify? We had a family suite which oddly was the building the furthest distance from the pool and the water. The room was large, had a nice patio and the pull out sofa bed was surprisingly comfortable. The bathroom was very very tiny. Breakfast buffet was very good and plentiful choices. We ate at the on site restaurant, Crackers, in the evening. The food was fair, the service chaotic (we had to ask for the side salad four times, soup came after entree was served, and so on). Another oddity: the child's menu portions were actually larger than we received in the adult entrees. Even the table next to us commented that next time, they'd order from the children's menu. read more

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge - Nice dock and outdoor seating area. - Hotels Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

We took the Manatee Cruise. Captain Phil was entertaining as well as information. The bay was beautiful the boat was clean and comfortable. It was definitely a great experience for the price. Tickets were inexpensive in the staff knew exactly where to go to see manatees in this beautiful Bay. read more

Outstanding service, outstanding vibe at the waterfront tiki lounge. Highly recommend whether local or traveling!

Paddle tail is one of the few options for hotels in CR. Good pool, hot tub, and outside water lounge area! The room could use some curtains to help block the 7am sun (photo provided), and a hook on the bathroom door for towels or hanging clothes since counter space is limited. We found a roach in the room which the front desk sent someone with spray out and offered a room swap, but sealing the crack on floor and wall with caulk would help roaches not get in.... Hole in wall behind phone for chords, could have a cover? Takeaway breakfast was good, location was good Summary: needs curtains, bathroom hook, and caulk and a wall hole cover read more

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge - 7am sun coming through the windows with no curtains - Hotels Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

This review is for the tiki. We went for lunch and enjoyed. The service was great. I had the salad and added blackened shrimp & my friend had the salad as well with Nashville hot chicken. Very flavorful and hearty portions. The view of course is spectacular. Nice addition to the area. read more

See all

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge is an outstanding place to stay. It is a very modern lodge, with update and clean rooms. The staff is very professional and friendly. It is close to the water, a Tiki bar, and an wonderful adventure store that offers snorkling with manatees, kayak rentals, and more. A great place to spend your vacation! read more

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge - The lobby has a great manatee theme. - Hotels Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

See all

Get rid of the BED BUGS!! These are just a few of the (confirmed by a dermatologist) bites. Awful housekeeping not to notice these. Oh and we're given a room directly outside of construction that no in management knows about....wait the employee responsible for overseeing this facet is out on sick leave and apparently fails to let anyone know. Stay here at your own risk!! Terrible experience! read more

Paddletail Waterfront Lodge - Bed bug bites - Hotels Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

See all

Honor your check-in time. Pretty sad that check-in was indicated to be 430 and is now almost 6 o'clock and I've been sitting outside waiting for them to get a room cleaned. I'm not the only one either. If you plan on staying at this hotel, make sure you at least get their four hours before check-in in time so that way you at least have a chance of getting your room at a reasonable time so you can enjoy your evening and the amenities that you paid for. Absolutely ridiculous. I understand that the cleaning person is going as fast as they can, but perhaps considering hiring more so you're not inconveniencing every single patron due to your lack of ability to organize and schedule accordingly. They should seriously offer some kind of refund or additional stay for the inconvenience that this has been imposing. It's pretty sad that there is handicap individuals sitting out in the parking lot in their wheelchair in the sun because the waiting room is so packed full of people waiting for rooms. May consider updating my review after I actually get to see the room and the amenities. Update: so once I finally go into the room, I was able to enjoy the amenities for but maybe two hours. They close everything down at 9. What a total shame. Wouldn't have been so bad if I stayed more than one night, but really wasn't worth it after there administrative failure of getting people into rooms at a reasonable time. There way of rectifying is basically saying we could've still gone to the pool. and what? Not carry any of our stuff into the room or know where we will be parked? Not to mention I also requested ground level and they put me on the second floor. Really a cute place. Best part of it for me was the AC. Just really too bad it couldn't have been a better experience to actually enjoy the resort instead of sitting in my car waiting for them to call me for my room after 2 hours. read more

Fantastic stay at this lodge on my manatee trip! The staff were very friendly and the breakfasts were delicious.

Heck no. Sorry but the worst place we've stayed in a very long time. Fridge doesn't work, lamp between beds doesn't work, back door (ground level) won't lock. They provide a stick to bar it. Maintenance lady was wonderful but she wasn't provided ways to help. read more

When I booked my room months ago, I called and asked if I can get a 1st floor room due to my inability to walk stairs. There is no elevator here. I was told to call the day before or early the day of my reservation. With traveling, I completely forgot to do this! When we got there, I asked, and admitted it was my fault for not calling when I was advised to do so. I was told they only had a second floor room for us... I said ok, my fault and explained to hubby was was going to happen. Hubby and I are standing there quietly discussing how much we are going to take to the room, how I'm going to have to repack bags in the car, and how I'm going to have to be slow and careful on how to get to the room, when the ladies inform us when they are giving us the keys that they were able to figure it out and get us a room on the first floor! I almost started crying I was so thankful! The only downside is that this place is old, and therefore you can hear the restaurant/bar next door when they have live music. Bonus for us was, we were so exhausted, we passed right out, so it didn't bother us too much. We were woken up by an unusual alarm clock about 5am (which was fine, we were actually awake and getting ready for our day LOL). This alarm? It was a cat meowing at our door!! He wanted to come inside, or food or something. We told him we didn't have anything for him, sorry bud... he seemed to understand and left!! LOL read more

Pro: customer service is awesome. You can rent water play kayaks etc onsite. Great location to everything. Coffee and hot water in lobby afternoons. They provide lists of things to do and places to eat. Place where you rent water gear has a cute gift shop. You can get pool towels at front desk. I wish I could give this 5 stars but the sofa bed in our particular suite was too uncomfortable for our teen to sleep on so both of them shared the double bed. It would be nice to have a screen door on their nice sliders. Bathrooms are small but functional but without a fan- so it's nice that we can keep the small window open, but it has no screen in it. I'm not sure why, but the jacuzzi was not heated when we visited . You can see they are improving the landscaping, which is nice. I'd love if they succeed and create a great little local place for crystal river. read more

We are a family of 6, 2 adults and 4 smaller kids who just had a very disappointing experience at this hotel. We chose this property over others because of the Wyndham affiliation and decent reviews for the area.We arrived just before the designated check-in time, only to be told our room was not ready. Unfortunately, the delay wasn't minor--we were left waiting for over 2.5 hours with little to no communication from staff, just that " they were trying their best". We understand that weather may have been a factor in the delays, so there fore little things could have made the wait way more acceptable. My first suggestion would be better communication enabling us leave to explore the area or go shopping or grab a bite to eat. Another option would be inviting us into their banquet room and providing a small snack and putting on the large TV for some sort of entertainment. We repeatedly had to ask for information, and each time we were given vague or inconsistent answers. There was no sense of urgency or effort to accommodate us after such a long wait. When we were finally able to access the room, it was missing the "crib," which was just a pack and play, but we requested weeks earlier when booking our reservation. At this point we just wanted to let our baby nap and yet again we were inconvenienced and left waiting. This was completely unacceptable, especially considering the extended delay. The ambience and charm of location of the property deserves to be mentioned. It does offer a lot, and we do have no complaints in regards to the staff we saw around property, the service at the tiki bar, and the heated pool and docks. Overall, the experience showed a serious lack in customer service, and basic hospitality standards. Our room was only serviced 1 out of 5 days. The GM would not return our calls and we continued to get "surprised" responses from other staff member that we were still experiencing problems. I would not recommend staying here and would not return. Visit it for the day for the tiki bar or water activities but that's it! read more

The staff were friendly and very knowledgeable about activities in the area! The room was clean and the bed was very comfortable. We slept really good! read more

This place ended up being a real disappointment. We were in Crystal River to visit family and hoped this place would be alright. I know the buildings near the water are old, but they have been updated. We booked a basic room, we don't expect much, it was not what I expected. They are building a new building next to the water for their excursion business, we were not advised of that before arriving and did not expect to be placed in a room behind a dumpster and next to their laundry. Construction crews start early, but if you're in room #1109 you will already be awakened by the laundry that starts at 6:30 and runs all day (at least you know they clean the sheets). The laundry also uses all the hot water. The internet in building #1 only worked minutes of the first couple of days we were there. Cable TV was out the first day as well. The room was surprisingly clean but had a wooden rack for our clothes and plastic stools for nightstands (reminding me of a college apartment). After complaining about the lack of internet a couple times, they moved us to the building across the parking lot. This room actually had the proper furniture. I later found out that was because we had been moved into a deluxe room. This place advertises free coffee (not in your room), they just don't tell you it is not until their coffee shop closes in the afternoon, otherwise they expect you to buy it from there. The also advertise a free breakfast, instead you can get a "Grab & Go" (a lunch bag containing a small bottle of water, a piece of fruit, a granola bar and a small or mini muffin) available from the front desk. I wish they would give you a soda and a bag of chips and then they could advertise they have an all-inclusive resort. The nice part about this resort is the location you are right on the bay; we were allowed to launch our kayaks from there. The staff was friendly and did what they were allowed to for you. The rooms we were in had had the carpeting removed and vinyl plank flooring installed (no more gross musty carpet and it was easily cleaned). I did see some of their competition and yes, this place could have been worse. If you decide to stay here, expect the worse and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised. I just hope the owners will change their deceitful ways and give you what you deserve. If I owned the place, I would level everything by the water and build a resort this town so desperately needs. read more

See all