Timber Ridge Lodge and Waterpark

The staff were always friendly, and we liked the little shop, main restaurant, and snack bar. Food was a bit costly, but that’s what you’d expect on the property. The waterpark was fun for our kids, ages 5 and 2. On Saturday it was so crowded that getting a tube for the lazy river was lucky. Lots of people went through without one, which was fine, though supposedly against the rules. The rooms were clean and arranged well, with a separate bedroom so the kids could sleep in the living room and turn in earlier than us. We were short on utensils, though, and the soap dispenser was empty. Our main issue was the Black Friday booking. We didn’t know the waterpark would close for a private event on Monday at noon, after opening at ten. I called to ask if we could check in early because of the closure, but they said no, they were booked up, and the earliest waterpark access with check-in was 1:30. We missed a fair amount of waterpark time that day. They said the information had been on a website banner in October, but I don’t remember seeing it. Maybe it conflicted with the Black Friday deal banner, so only that one showed. We’ll come back with the little ones, but we’ll check carefully so we don’t overlap with that yearly week-long private event.

After a horrible stay at the Sky Lodge, I booked the Holiday Inn Express and Suites the next day. What a difference. The whole hotel was beautiful, the rooms were spotless and spectacular, and the service was nice. It was quiet, well located, and the breakfast buffet was beautiful and amazing. The price was right too, just $110 for a king-size bed. If you’re staying around Elkhorn or the wall County area and want something affordable, this place is beautiful and worth it. They have a pool but no hot tub, which was a bit of a downside. Otherwise, everything was great.

We’d had great visits here before, but this most recent one was only okay, with several big problems. Entrance 5 was missing its outside door handle, so you couldn’t pull the door open to get back in. It was freezing outside, and luckily someone came out within a few minutes and let me in. The room fireplace was broken, with pieces falling off. The pullout beds were absolutely horrible to sleep on and should be banned and burned. Food at the waterpark was very expensive, and most of the inflatable tubes were nearly flat. When I asked someone to pump them up, she looked annoyed that I’d spoken up. The waterpark was dirty too. It seemed like regular cleaning only caught the obvious mess, and there was dust and dirt if you looked closely. I’m not sure I’ll bring my family back. It’s a shame, because it’s not what it used to be.

The pool area was okay, but the room wasn’t. The heat was loud and didn’t work well, and the beds were horrible. The place was expensive, which made those problems harder to overlook. They charged us $20 to extend checkout by an hour on daylight savings, when we’d already lost an hour. I extend checkout at hotels all the time and have never been charged, especially not somewhere this expensive. Maybe I’ll come back one day, but I think it’ll be more affordable to stay at a nicer Lake Geneva hotel with a simple indoor pool.