The Resort At Port Arrowhead, Lake Ozark

After reading some older reviews I thought I would try to give kudos to this little gem and the staff. My family stayed there in August of 2011 and we loved this place. The main reason I say this it was like taking a trip back in time. The have two beautiful outdoor pools with children's activities during the day and a really cool thing they call the “Dive in Movie” at night. They put up a large video screen next to the pool at night and show kids movies. This was really cool for the kids and my wife and I enjoyed having a couple of cocktails while the kids swam and watched the movie. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. When we checked in we wanted to be in a pool side room and the girl behind the desk had a last minute cancelation and gave us that room which was right next to the pool. The other thing we found surprising was the kids ate free in the restaurant. Normally I don't like eating at hotels but the food and service was outstanding. They had a really nice breakfast buffet in the morning and for about $25.00 the four of us ate there each morning. The other thing that was cool is they have outdoor lake view seating which was a great way to start the day. We had dinner there one night since the kids ate free and that was good too. They also have a small 18 hole miniature golf course which is free. All of the staff was very friendly especially the girl that cleaned our room. Our room was very clean and appeared to have new carpet. The bathroom was a little small but who spends a lot of time in the bathroom when on vacation. Bottom line is after reading some not so favorable reviews I thought I would take time to give kudos where kudos are due. We loved this place and plan on going back again this summer for some rest and relaxation.

After looking at the website I was expecting a 3 or 4 star resort. NOT so. Rooms were dirty with major stains on the carpet and smelly bathrooms. The pools also had debris floating in them and an oily film over the top. We had to take our child inside at one point because the pool was filled with drunks yelling and cussing. Outside of the hotel buildings were dingy and not well kept. A few of the stairs were crumbling and seemed unsafe. All the amenities were outdated and not well kept. The restaurant was VERY slow and slightly overpriced for the quality. It was also full of flies. The poolside bar was not open in the middle of the summer. The vending machines were also filled with expired food and drinks and not all of the ice machines worked. On a more positive note, the staff was very nice. However, they did nothing when I mentioned the problems we had. The resort also failed to respond to 2 emails addressing the issues I had. This is the type of "resort" I would expect to pay $39 a night to stay at, not the over $100 per night we paid. Stay at your own risk!!!

I thought the place was dirty, there were bugs on the carpet. It was more like a motel than a resort, dont let the name fool you like I was fooled. The pools were small and crowded. There was also no fishing allowed off the docks. Waist of money even at a discount. We left and found a condo to rent for the same price with much more ammenities and spotless clean!!!!!

No elevator, but has 2nd and 3rd floor rooms. Reddish brown stains the size of a dinner plate on the ceiling. Cracks in ceiling. Air conditions didn't work. Hairball in shower. Toilet didn't run well. Room felt dirty. Television only blared when turned on. Outside radio at pool made it impossible for children to nap during day as it was causing vibrations of wall. Rude registration staff. Very poor / limited parking. Extremely expensive for what we received. By far - NOT a resort, not even a hotel! This is a filthy motel with a fancy website. Don't let the website fool you or your wallet.

Visited Resort many times over the years and have never been as pleased as this year. The Resort has truly stepped up their maintenance program to once again return this lakeside jewel into top notch condition. The room was clean, well kept and was on-par with a brand new hotel room. Very comfortable beds, clean modern bathroom, new furnishings and bed linens, fridge, m-wave, wi-fi, couldn't ask for more and an incredible value for the money. It was almost like every inch of this resort has had a person assigned to revamping and maintaining it. Service was excellent, the food at the restaurant was on par with the finest in the area, activities abound and my favorite of all, which I'm a stickler for, it was very clean and well maintained. Seek no further. This is as good as it gets and puts any others to shame. Bravo to management; it's about time that the quality has once again been kicked up to top notch at this beautiful place.

I only wish I had read the other reviews before my family stayed at this dump. Don't believe the beautiful pictures you see on the website. The lighted waterfal was green with algae and who knows what else growing on it. The staff was rude and unfriendly. On the last evening of our stay our toilet overflowed. When we called the front desk they said that the maintenance crew was gone. They said our choices were to pack up and move to another room or "we would just have to live with it." DO NOT STAY HERE.

The rooms are a little less than average size for most area hotels/resorts. The bathrooms are unbelievably SMALL! They measure approximately 6'x8'. I couldn't believe it. The air conditioners are very loud inside the room, good luck sleeping. All in all there was absolutley nothing spectacular about this so called "resort". The only thing I really liked was the fact that all the rooms had refrigerators and coffee makers, which is actually becoming standard now days. I would not stay here with the expectation that you are booking a relaxing vacation at a "resort". And definitley not if your accustomed to large bathrooms with space to shower, dress, do your hair etc.

My girls and I spent two nights in early August 2008 at this "resort" - calling it this is being generous, believe me. As a last-minute trip goes, I was happy with how easily I was able to book a room and was even more pleased when they upgraded our room at arrival due to overbooking. That is when things started going downhill. Stained bedspreads, a moldy shower curtain, and a dead fly on the wall greeted us in our poolside room. The outdoor pools were cloudy and the indoor pool was too small. Plus the hot tub was not hot - a pilot light problem. There is almost no parking near the poolside buildings, the equipment for shuffle board and miniature golf needs replacing, and the miniature golf course is set up on a hillside so every other time we played, one of our balls went rolling down the hill to the marina. To be fair, the front desk staff and restaurant staff are great and the maintenance crew makes a big production of cleaning everything in the AM - not that that helped much. This could be such a great property, if only it were cleaner and better maintained. I made my reservation online through their website - which offered a $50 gas card at checkout. Not only did they not provide the gas card, but when I spoke to a "revenue" manager the next day she was very rude to me and would not provide an explanation to any of my questions. She also boldly stated that their hotel would lose money if they did honor the gas card promotion and told me that the general manager would tell me the same thing. Honestly, I probably would have walked away from the experience fairly satisfied (despite everything) because my kids had a good time - and isn't that the point? However, after my phone conversation I have been re-examining the weekend and realizing that I was just too easy-going about the whole thing. Definitely not staying there again.

For adults only do not spend your time there. The pictures of the pools look huge but in real life very small. The kids even take over the hot tub, it would be nice to have an age 16 or 18 before entering the hot tub, the children use it as a swimming pool and the parents do not correct them. The baby pool is empty. The resort is outdated needs a new face lift. If you have kids it would be a great place but very over price for what you get. I was just there July 4th weekend. It is very close to main attractions

the bar area & tiki lounge and pool area was nice. staff was friendly. the room we had was very BAD - i wouldnt go back for that reason. not clean & bugs. this was supposed to be an anniversary get away. we were disappointed that we werent even offered a discount for our trouble.