Rancho Monticello Resort, Calistoga

The good: big sites on the water, make it convenient if you have a boat. The BAD: Very little security... I think the security guards are teenages? They drive by in a jeep very quickly.... They allow dogs to run around without leashes. Campers are allowed to come in and set camp after 10pm all the while blasting their stereo's. During the day, some campers play their music so loud you cannot hear each other talk. The toilet facailities are disgusting and the campsite is really EXPENSIVE !!!!! There need sto be noise control, no admittance after 9pm and dog control. Also would be better if the bathrooms are better.

We were kept awake all night long with loud music and profanities. The campsites are dirty and not at all worth the money. Not a family friendly campground. Only good thing is the closeness of the lake to the campsite. I will never go back

On June 30, 2007, we contacted Rancho Monticello Resort to inquire about renting a cabin for the night. The young gentleman that answered the phone indicated they had three cabins available and that we were welcome to come up for the night. When we asked if we needed to give him our name or credit card information over the phone in order to hold the reservation, he said �no�, to which we responded by saying �at least put our name down on a cabin� and proceeded to give him our name. We immediately left and made the 3� hour drive, with boat in tow, to the Lake Berryessa area. Upon our arrival to the resort, we were greeted by a teenager, who told us we did not have a reservation. We explaining how we had called earlier that afternoon, had provided them with our name at that time and were told to come up. A second kid, who identified himself as being �Joshua Lewis Ray�, approached us and asked if we had given them our credit card information over the phone. We said �no as the person who took our reservation indicated it was not needed until our arrival�. To which Joshua said, �then you don�t actually have a reservation.� When asked if they were sold out, he said �no, but that he would need to check with his supervisor to see if they were accepting stays less than their 3-night minimum, due to the holiday weekend� and off he went. Which holiday weekend, we thought�as 4th of July weekend isn�t until next weekend?! He returned to tell us that his supervisor would not accept an overnight stay, even though we were told over the phone that we could and they had cabins available. We asked to speak to his supervisor, so off he went again, returning to tell us that his supervisor, �Shawn�, was �off the clock and not coming out to speak with us.� When we asked to speak with the owner of the resort, with sunglasses on, arms crossed and a smirk smile on his face, Joshua said that her name was �Cassandra White and that she too was not on the clock or available�. He said there was �no management on the clock and that he was in charge� and asked us to leave. Our thought was, if the resort felt this was such �a busy holiday weekend�, why would only kids, who couldn�t even answer simple questions on their own, be the only staff available to assist with arriving guests with no management �on the clock or available�? In our opinion, the Rancho Monticello Resort at Lake Berryessa gives the impression it is being run by young, inexperienced, disorganized kids with no sense of value to customer service. Following our experience at the Rancho Monticello Resort, we left and checked in to another nearby resort with no issues or hassles�even without a reservation! During our overnight stay, I heard from other locals and guests staying at other resorts that Rancho Monticello Resort is THE WORST PLACE TO STAY ON LAKE BERRYESSA. With this, I HIGHLY recommend potential visitors do not bother. There are PLENTY of other fine resorts and places to stay in the Lake Berryessa area. The Rancho Monticello Resort is a definite �NO!�.

Nice campsites in a nice clean area. But on the weekend (Fri nite) the resort allows people to come in all nite and set up their camps. Very disturbing. Don't expect to get any sleep. Would never go there again.

I love this place soooo much that I bought a trailer so that I could go there year round. Summertime is awesome, the launch is very accessible. Winter time is very quiet and relaxing.