Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg

The water park is fun, but we couldn't get over how dirty the rooms were. There was black hair on the shower walls, shower curtains, and towels. I tried calling the front desk 3 times, only to have the phone either ring off the hook, or finally have someone answer, transfer me to a manager, and have that phone ring off the hook. Frustrated, we decided it wasn't worth the time and money to stay another night. When checking out, the customer care rep, asked if I had told anyone of my plans to check out early. I told him, I would have, if someone bothered to answer the phones. At this point, I was prepared for a confrontation about their service, or lack there of. Instead, nothing happened. What a mess!!!!

We had a few days off, so took the kids to nearby Great Wolf Lodge Feb 18-20,2011. It was pricey, but we were anticipating a great trip, so we booked a Kids Cabin room at almost $400/night. My wife was working so she didn't go. When she mentioned our trip to a colleague, he said "I've heard they have a bed bug problem there". Now at these rates, we were expecting a first class experience, and (my mistake) I didn't research this issue. We arrived, checked in seamlessly and began to enjoy the facilities. The room was large and as described (we stayed in room 1050), just a little dark. There was a fairly loud humidifier in the room, which we turned off. the Waterpark was nice, but colder than the reported "84 degrees". Kids and I enjoyed the waterslides, especially the "Howlin' Tornado". Dinner choices were sparse. For room service you only have 4 options which are some combination of pizza or chicken tenders--that's it. Well, Pizza was fine so we went with it. My kids had a "scoops" spa package which was nice. We played Magiquest, did putt-putt golf, ate at the restaruant, had Starbucks, ice cream, and generally a good.Well, we were greeted with a rude surprise when we got home. My son and I that slept in the same bed woke up covered in itchy red bites. As a physician, I immediately knew these were Bed Bug bites. None of my other kids (thankfully) had bites, as they were in other beds. I know the problem is not in my home as my wife or I or any of my kids have never had this happen before. The bites are so bad that a full week had gone by and we are still putting steroid cream on and taking Benadryl.Of course I called the hotel and spoke to [...]. He seemed concerned and gave me the impression that this has never happened before. he said he would check the room and call me back. several hours later, he called back and said the room appeared "fine". In the meanwhile I checked on-line and this is far from an isolated incident. If you can't believe this, just google bed bugs at great wolf lodge and you'll see posts going back several years. No offer of compensation, no apology, nothing was made. I spent almost $2000 in 3 days and ended up coming home with Bug bites. My wife is on the one hand thankful she didn't go, and on the other disgusted about the bites. So, avoid room 1050 at all costs, and frankly, I won't ever go back to this particular Great Wolf Lodge. I am planning on calling the Health Inspector tomorrow, since they obviously don't want to admit a problem. I'm also going to post my experience on multiple sites so they get the message.

Staff was very friendly - they get 5 stars. Rooms were OK 3 stars is appropriate. The only problem (and this is personal preference) was we got water logged. A weekend was great. Food was OK but they cater to what the kids will eat. A little over priced I think for what you get. But again it is vacation. Kids Kamp room was great for our kids. They loved the bunk beds and gave us some privacy.

Check-in took longer than expected. There were only a couple of people in line ahead of me and unfortunately only 3 staff members working check-in. After the long walk to the room, the key didn't work. Walked back to the front desk and the staff remedied the situation within 20 minutes and gave us 100 free game room tokens as compensation for the inconvenience, but we ended up having no time/energy to use them. The water park was okay, but limited in the variety of things to do for our kids (6 and 8 yrs old) and the lines were long (up to 30 minutes) for a couple of the better rides (Howling Tornado and Wolf Rider Wipeout) and not worth the wait. We also weren't prepared for the almost overwhelming chlorine fumes resulting from the highly chlorinated water used throughout the park. After a couple of hours we felt completely sterilized inside and out and our eyes burned for hours after leaving the park. We would've been better off saving the $250+ we spent on the room and going to Water County USA during the summer. There was a sexual assault incident in the hotel the week before our visit, but there was no apparent increase in hotel security.

This was our first trip to Great Wolf. We have been to places like this before but wanted to give it a try. [...] was the first to greet us with such enthusiasm! We arrived around 10:00 and when we reached the desk, [...] seemed and behaved less than happy that we were early (and stated such.) She matter of factly told us our room was not ready (which we already knew.) Just a bad way to enter the main hall. But, there was [...] again smiling trying to make it all right. You need to have the front desk people QUITE enthusiastic because after such a long drive (and the prices we are paying) that would be so nice to see.

This was my first time staying at Great Wolf Lodge and was not too impressed with the room with the money I spent for one nite. Check in was a disaster. There was a line almost out the door. There was a line for "pre-registered guest", so i thought since i already booked my room with [...] and Amex card already charged, this was the right line to be in, WRONG! The clerk did take me only because I played the "i didn't know" act, w/c clearly, i didn't..lol. [...] stated on my reservation that check in time was at 3 pm and check out is noon, but GREAT WOLF said check in is at 4 pm and check out is at 11 am! So i arrived 2 hours 2 early. Anyways, I checked with the front desk on 3 occassions starting from 2 pm all the way to 5 pm, and room was still not ready! I asked to speak to a manager, and finally they found me a room that was ready. I was under the assumption that if Great Wolf was happy to take my $450 for one night, then why wasn't my room ready? Other people who were just arriving and paying for the room as they got there were given a room, and here, I paid upfront, and still no room ready. So to me, that was totally unacceptable especially when I had 2 small children with me. Just make sure when you check in that you know that the time is really 4 pm, not 3 pm per Great Wolf. [...] has the times listed incorrectly. Overall, the kids had a ball, just not sure if i would pay that much money again especially in this economy. Just my opinion, that's all, thanks!

We got the jacuzzi room which was nothing special for the price we paid. It had an over-sized bathtub with jets, king sized bed and a fireplace. Overall, room was nice. Staff was very friendly and helpful. There's a TON of stuff for kids of all ages. Atmosphere feels very safe. There were a ton of kids running around with no parents. Several waterslides (amusement park quality) and a couple of places for the smaller kids. My kids loved the boogie board pool. *Cons: TOO MANY PEOPLE!!!! If you don't like crowds, this is NOT the place for you. I went on Saturday, but I heard the weekdays are less busy. * Pricey - For all that is included, I can understand it being a little pricey, but overall, I thought a bit too much for the room you get. My neighbors in the hotel had to call maintenance to get their door area taped because the carpet was peeling away exposing sharp metal. My room's carpet was freying and all stained. You would think that for the prices they charge, they could afford to replace their carpet. *Very noisy - Kids running around all hours. We had a ground floor room, and you could hear footsteps all hours. Don't get a room down here if you need sleep.

Fine, but not worth the price!

Because of the party size, I booked two rooms. We arrived early so, our rooms weren't ready however, the kids were still able to enjoy the water park while we were waiting, which was good. The on-line check-in offer is ONLY good if you book through Great Wolf site, not a 3rd party . The rooms were a good size and appeared to be sufficiently cleaned however, one of the rooms had a SERIOUS ANT problem as the kids were killing the ants climbing up the bunk beds, and the counter top was crawling with them! Not acceptable at all. The Guest services staff offered a 25% off the next booking (not all that satisfying, in my opinion) and mentioned again that it would have been better if we booked directly through the Lodge because then they would have been able to comp that one room. Sounds like there are definite benefits to booking through them. There were no unwelcomed creatures of any type in the other room.

We took our 3 yr old daughter for her birthday. She really enjoyed the indoor water park and the arcade. Great place for a weekend getaway were everything is right there without having to leave the property.