We've been to Great Wolf Lodge 4 times in the past 7 years since GWL opened here in Williamsburg, VA. Every trip was great, except for this past weekend.
I'll start with some Good points - The kids had a great time in the Arcade.
more +The older boys did complain that some of the games that cost $25 (1 token) elsewhere, cost $1.00 here to play. Besides for the towels, everyone did have a good time in the water park. It is starting to show some age (even though its only 7 yrs old).
First issue - Bring your own towels. In the years past GWL has always provided the towels for its guest in the water park. They still do this but the towels they were providing had stains on them and some had holes. One of the pool attendees told us more towels would be coming out soon. It was an hour later before we were able to get new towels. Not a huge deal - but rememeber how much you are paying to be "guests" here.
2nd Issue. At 4:00pm (checkin is 4pm) we went to the front desk to see if our room was ready. We were told that our room wouldn't be ready until 5:00pm. No big deal we could wait another hour. At 5:00pm the kids were getting restless and we were ready to take a break before heading out to dinner. We went back to the front desk and were told again that our room wasn't ready. We were told that it may be as late as 6:00pm. It was frustrating to know that Checkout at this hotel is at 11:00am. And this is not a new hotel - a hotel like this should be experts at turning rooms especially within a 7 hour window. This is not by any means a cheap hotel.
3rd Issue. So at 5:30pm we complained once more to the front desk staff. At this point we couldn't get into our rooms to take showers, change our clothes and attempt to go out to eat. The front desk did apologize and gave us $50.00 to use at the Restaurant within GWL. Well the restaurant in GWL lodge is buffet only at $20 per adult and $10 per child. This was not our first choice is selecting a restaurant we honestly felt at this point we had no choice. The buffet was an absolute mistake. The food was horrible. The food at the Chinese bar was cold. The hamburger station was so bad the kids wouldn't even eat it. Both the 9 year old and the 10year old both stated that lunch at the elementary school was better than this. I will say all the kids did enjoy the frozen yogurt station.
4th Issue. We finally got notified that our room was ready at 6:30pm. Not a big deal for folks with older kids. But little kids especially the 2yr old needed a break before dinner. and we should have all been able to get cleaned up before dinner. After Dinner we finally got into our room. We were on the 3rd floor. (Tip: Request another floor) The 3rd Floor is where most of the MagiQuest stations are at. Most of the night there was running up and down the halls with kids playing MagiQuest. Our room was one of the worst rooms we have ever seen any where. There were holes in the wall. I realize that this is a kid hotel but there were marking made into the headboard, scuffs on the walls, cracks in the ceiling. The room was also extremely loud with the humidifier on and the ac/heater going. (Yes, there was a humidifier in the room as well.).
And how did GWL end our trip? Well at 8:00am the next morning they wanted to know if we would be willing to checkout of our room by 9:00am for $25.00 credit to our stay. Yep, they gave us our room at 6:30pm and then wanted to know if we wanted to checkout early. Customer Service here is unbelievable.
We thought that maybe they just had a bad day but after reading some reviews here and on yelp, this seems to be the norm for the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. Not sure what happened but we won't be back. We are willing to spend the money for our family to have a good time but we expect the accommodations to match the expense. Save yourself a weekend of disappointments. We will be trying Massanutten Resort (Water Park) next year instead of GWL.
Date of Stay: 01/29/2012
Children in Party: 3
Tots (0-2) Kids (7-9) Tweens (10-12) Accommodations Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Pool & Water Fun Staff
We stayed one night at the Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg. Overall, a great time.
It was short wait to register, very nice folks at the registration desk. I do remember that the party in front of us took quite some time and I thought
more +perhaps there was a manager or somebody who could help guest that need those extra questions answered, or some or issues resolved...
But anyway, got to our room. Nice- looking over the parking lot (rather than the pool, or woods). But it was the least expensive room. There was a balcony- but not much view. Got ready to hit the Water Park. Mid-afternoon was tough to find a place to park our bags and towels- but we looked til we found something.
We loved the rides and pools. The boys had a blast! For dinner that night we went to the restaurant in front of the lodge- Jungle Jim's. Food was decent and affordable. As a local, I don't feel the need to go back, but it was a good alternative to the pricey buffet being offer at the Lodge. Beds were comfy enough. The rooms was a bit loud. I understand that there are LOTS of kids running in the hallways, so maybe better insulated doors would be a good investment, cause you can hear a bit or noise.
So, we had breakfast at the Lodge buffet- it was pretty good. Good choices, including made to order omelets. We had gotten these great wolf lodge plastic mugs that can be re-used for inexpensive fill-ups including juice- that was a good deal. You can stay til park closing after check-out. We decided to stay til about 6. Being in the Lodge when the water park opens means you get you choice of places to set you stuff and sit. I recommend a table near the door to the outside pool (in the summer). The water park is very warm- high humidity- so being near the door means some fresh air and a break from the humidity.
All in all a good time and would go again- especially to another Lodge.
Date of Stay: 07/23/2009
Children in Party: 2
Kids (7-9) Tweens (10-12) Accommodations Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Pool & Water Fun Staff
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Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg
