*You should not go to Split Rock before reading this review!!!*
My husband & I belong to a timeshare community. We got 7 nights at Split Rock for $299. Compared to other "similar" (or so we thought!) other rustic-type lodges in the area (Camelback, GWL, Kalahari, etc.), this is a great price! GWL is over $450 a night! Taking the other reviews on Yelp with a grain of salt, we decided to check it out for ourselves! So, unknowingly, we booked a week in mid-August.
I'm going to start this review out with the positives. Split Rock has a nice water park! It's almost like a mini Great Wolf Lodge. About 1/3 of the size, has 3 water slides (big ones), a wave pool, a surfing ride, a "tree-house" type thing like at GWL, and more. Nothing as extreme as the other water parks. Also, the staff here was pretty good. Not exceptional, but they were helpful when it came to issues. The decor in the common areas wasn't too dated, although it could've been updated. My kids got ice cream which they really enjoyed, and there was a nice bar. We liked all of the activities SR had to offer. Free indoor and outdoor pools, Bingo, movies, scavenger hunts, a beach, live music, and more. Split Rock also has a lot of amenities. There is a fitness center (Free), a bowling alley (pay), an arcade (pay), pools (Free), a movie theater (pay), a spa (pay), tennis courts (pay), basketball courts (Free) and a hair salon (pay.) There's probably some I'm forgetting!
Now for the not-so-fabulous parts of our stay. Unfortunately, these were more impactful than the positive experiences. I'm just going to begin by talking about the elephant in the room- the rooms are seriously outdated. Like, seriously. From the 70s or the 80s. They are in need of a makeover!!!! Very peach and green, as you can see from my photos. All of the rooms in the Galleria were equipped with a small kitchen, although that was sort of dirty. SR has many places to stay, with the main ones being the Galleria (the main lodge), the Lodge (near the beach), Willowbrook (far away), and the cabins. We stayed in the Galleria, which is probably the best place for a young family. That is where all of the activities are hosted. Willowbrook is nicer, however the rooms cost upwards of $250 a night. It is also about a mile and a half away from the Galleria. The Lodge is absolutely disgusting. I'm honestly hoping no one is staying there. It's completely decorated in tans and wood, and during our short visit there, I saw several holes- either gun shots or mouse holes. Both are gross! It was very creepy, too. We felt like we were in an 80s cheap horror movie. I don't know much about the cabins, but they can't be worse than the Lodge! One very big con of here are the food options. There are about 5 places to eat around here. The Pizzeria in SR (very tasty! Not too expensive, I recommend!), the Split Rock Grill, the SR bar, Shenanigans, Nick's, Louie's, and not too many other options. We ended up eating at Shenanigans the first night (3/5, meh), the Pizzeria, and bought stuff from Walmart to heat up the other nights. Split Rock is also not really near anything. The town consists of about 8 places- mostly restaurants, a creepy motel, and a general store. Not really near anything! The outlet malls are like 40 minutes away, but they're worth a trip! Walmart is like 30 minutes away. We went White Water Rafting, which was really fun. SR does have some great brochures at the front with awesome activities and coupons. We enjoyed those! The indoor pool here was absolutely disgusting. It reeked of chlorine and the floor was covered in wet hair and crumbs. My family did not enjoy that. Unfortunately, we had to switch rooms twice while we were here. The first time was because they placed us at a room on ground level which we didn't like, and the second time was because the air conditioner broke. It was such an inconvenience to move all of our stuff to a new room (4 people!) at 10:00 at night. So, we had 3 rooms during our stay at Split Rock. Additionally, all of the rooms has a smell of Indian food. That wasn't the most fun thing to come back to after a day at the water park. My whole family thought that the beds were very uncomfortable and had a hard time falling asleep. After our stay here, I had terrible back pains that lasted for several days after.
To wrap up this review, if you can get a stay for cheap here, it may worth it. While it's not the most updated facilities, make the most out of it, and you'll at least end up with some great stories for the dinner table! Needless to say, we cut our stay short from 7 days to 4, however this is one trip we'll never forget! read more