The atmosphere is polite & friendly, but communication is not their forte, and a number of our…read morepre-arrival questions were not answered accurately. The lake is lovely and the fireworks were stunning! The Bluegrass Concert was quite good.
However, make sure you get an exact quote of everything you will be paying for! The advertised all inclusive $579 "4th of July Package" with many events, attractions and free meals actually cost over $1100! The ad was opaque enough as to seem, in hindsight, deceptive. We did not add anything extra, but the undeclared hidden costs included: occupancy tax, room tax, food tax, ticket tax and daily 18% service fee for the FREE breakfast buffet. Whether the opaqueness was intentional or a major oversight, I cannot say, but buyer beware!
FYI: Our room was fine, but was never cleaned in our 4-day stay, which did not bother us, but you may feel otherwise).
I inquired ahead of time as to GF options and was assured that the kitchen is sensitive to food issues and offers plenty of GF options. Not true. The free hot breakfast was fine, but had no variety day to day. They ran out of coffee repeatedly (long wait for more), the baked goods looked yummy, but no GF options. The young people working the buffet were the only exception to the otherwise very pleasant staff. They appeared to hate their job.
The "Southern B-B-Q" dinner featured hamburgers and limited uninspired sides (no GF). The "picnic lunch" was mediocre, with a very long wait to get a hamburger.
A few more bits of info: Parking near the Terrace hotel was woefully inadequate. The elevators broke down at least 3 different times due to "over heating", so climbing stairs to the 6th floor was an issue. The ice machine on our floor remained broken for our entire stay. The weather was beastly hot (obviously not their fault). The extra activites (kayaks, paddle boards, Swan boats) were all for an unadvertized fee. The swimming pool had an occupancy limit and was at capacity, so you had to wait until people left to be able to enter the fenced pool area. The mini golf was free - and was also tiny and in the worst condition of any I have ever seen. The wooden sides of the boxes were literally crumbling apart, and the "green" had large wrinkles and ridges creating an extra challenge. Not surpirsingly, there was no waiting line to play.
BTW, our non-lake-view room faced a mass of unkempt bushes and weeds. The "lake view", for which we could have paid extra, had an expansive view of the black flat roof of the level below with the lake in the distance. (Save your money - you can sit in the comfortable lounge and view the lake).
Lastly, our 7.5 hour drive took 11 hours both ways (trying each of the only 2 options we had). Few routes will take you to the lake, and damage from Hurricane Helene has significantly impacted travel in that area, so depending on where you live, you may be in for a rough time reaching your destination.
If you don't mind the drive, don't care much about food options and quality, and are content to simply sit outside and admire the lake, this may be a good place for you. We will not be back.
