Castaway Bay, Sandusky

Just returned from a nice couple days at Castaway Bay. Do not believe what people have written-it is a nice place for younger kids. My 14 year old was a little bored, but all in all a great weekend. They do have Nick in the guest rooms, but the TV sets could use an update. The staff were polite and the rooms were clean. Do not hesitate to plan a trip!

Traveled all the way from Atlanta, Ga with my husband and three girls. Due to the fact that I am originally from Cleveland, OH, I was really excited to visit Sandusky to relive my Cedar Point days and share the experince with my family. All three of my girls birthdays are in June so I decided to book a party. Signed up for the birthday club about 6 months before we were scheduled to stay there to ensure that my girls would recieve what was promised which was 10 tokens a peice a birthday shirt and a personal pan pizza. Being that i am the type of person who likes to have my ducks in a row i called several times prior to my arrival to ensure that the birthday party arrangements were a go and inquired when I would be emailed the birthday coupon. i was assured that the email would be available for print the first day or two of the birthday month. My reservation was on June 3 and the party was scheduled the same day. Of course no email and when i explained that to the check-in reservationist she gave me a blank stare and would not give me the promised items even though i had a party booked for over 20 people($$$$$). I asked to talk to her manager in which i waited over 30 minutes only for female who looked to be a teenager who also gave the same blank stare after my explination. I then asked for the corporate office and told them how awful their customer service was and that i would never return. i also stated that they could have at the very least offered an apology for the inconvenience i was experiencing. same blank stare. It was like they were in some sort of trance really eerie. The water park experience was great and the resort was beautiful. Everyone that attended the party had a blast although the Snoopy character assigned didn't want the kids to hug him. The last day of the stay the email finally arrived thanks to the fact i brought my laptop so that i could check. When I went to the check-in desk to present it and get the girls items i explained everything that happened to a current reservationist. she was shocked and appalled to say the least. She gave me some extra tokens and apologized for the unprofessionalism i experienced. She shold've been the manager although she looked to be a teenager as well. I immediately went to the Pizza Hut to get the pizza's and the staff looked disgusted and said they were closing in 30 minutes and coulld not make the pizza's. i went back to the desk and told the young lady. She angrily escorted me back to the Pizza Hut and insisted that they make the pizza's which they did. As much as we enjoyed the ambiance I would never return. My husband and I spent a ton of money and felt so cheated and disppionted because of how I was treated. I still managed to keep a smile on my face so the girls could enjoy themselves.

Nice waterpark for families with children. Staff was friendly and accomodating. We called housekeeping twice for cleanups and they could not have been nicer or friendlier. Room was decent. Felt safe letting the kids go off by themselves...lifeguards were continuously watching. Food was a little pricey but your were close enough to restaurants you could leave and come back. Would definitely go back.

Im not sure what room we stayed in but it was by the water and we had all sorts of water bugs and spiders on the deck area and the sliding door they also were in the room. the waterpark wasnt bad one of the slides hurt our backs super bad. they had a nice gift shop. probably the worst part about the entire stay was right in the middle of the night about 230 am the fire alarms started to go off and went off and on for a little while!! but i would give them a second chance and go back but also would like to check out others in the area

We took a group of kids ages 9-11 to the park this weekend and they had a blast. The park is a smaller than other nearby water parks, but we felt safe leaving the kids go off on their own to do what they wanted. We could easily find them all in minutes. I would not recommend the park to an older teenager or adults though. The wave pool was fun for the kids, but with it being less than 4' deep, it was not great for adults. The tube slides grew uncomfortable to ride in as I felt the joints all the way down and my heels hurt from hitting them. The kids did not notice this at all! When we arrived at 1:00 we were able to check into our room, which was a Tarpon Suite. Room was clean and spacious - the kids loved their own room! We were a little disappointed that their was a huge open window between the rooms, with only a roll down blind to separate us. With t.v.'s on in both rooms it got quite noisy. Everyone thought the beds were comfortable except my husband who said it was too hard. We were mainly there for the kids and the kids loved it.

Read a lot of reviews and was expecting the worst. Went there on New Years Day, Friday and stayed till Sunday. Check in took long because room wasnt ready but it WAS a holiday. Hotel was beautiful. Room was very nice and tropical looking, and was very clean. Loved the balcony although it was to cold to sit outside, about 20 degrees out. We had 4 adults and one child who was 12 in our party. Water park was so nice. One thing though was chlorine smell while in the water but at least you know that the water was clean. Loved the water coaster, loved the wave pool. My 12 year old even met a friend to hang out with. Very huge game room. Nice shop for beach wear and gifts. Also a store for snacks and necessities like when my camera died and needed new batteries. We didnt eat at the two restaraunts in the hotel. They were a little pricey but most hotels are. We did have dinner at TGI Fridays and it was great and a very classy restaraunt. The fireplace in the lobby was so nice and we got a lot of great pictures in the lobby. Most of the employees were very friendly and helpful. Ordered a pizza from room service on Friday night and it was huge for a medium and delicous but costed about 26$. Ordered a movie on Saturday nite and it is not even out on DVD yet. The whole experience was enjoyable and could have spent another day or two there. Would definately return. Dont know why there was so many bad reviews. They must of just been picky people because we were very impressed. We even left the hotel and took a ride to see the Lake Erie coastline. Love Castaway Bay......

After reading the reviews by the previous visitors, I was hesitant about visiting. What I found was alittle of the bad reiews were right and alittle of the good reviews were right. First the workers: We found one person there that was courteous. She was a manager at the front desk. Just about everyone else either ignored you completely or put on the facade that they didn't want to be there, couldn't wait to punch out. Maybe working with thousands of wet splashing people makes you this way. I did see one man there monitoring the accomodations. He would check on the washrooms and the swimming areas and did tell the lifeguards to check on a tiny girl, maybe 4, that was alone in the wave, hanging on the wall to get out. It turns out the parents were outside with a camera taking pictures. Yes the waves were over her head and the lifeguards didn't make a move to help her until the one manager mentioned above whistled and pointed at them to help her. The food: The snack shop in the water park area didn't have subs or pizza. The worker told me that she had only six subs at the beginning of the day. She also said the pizzas were frozen. Why she didn't thaw the pizzas? The restaurant outside the park was closed after the morning buffet. The deli had mostly bakery and desert items. The water and attractions: All of the water attractions were fun and worth the price of admission. The biggest problem though was the water was too cold. It should be a few degrees warmer. It was like jumping into an unheated pool in the beginning of summer. The water was crisp and refreshing and was chlorinated properly. There was no moldy or mildewy smell anywhere. Showers were available for people before getting in the pools or for afterward to get the excess chlorine smell off. The green slide directly under the large tipping bucket was alittle rough on the back. The edges where the pipes attached were sharper than they should be. The boat ride for two was fun but you are in the dark for a long part of the ride. You would think that the owners of Cedar Point could decorate and light the tubes. If you are over 250 pounds you will feel the bottoms of the hills on your tailbone. My son pointed out to the attendant that the pillows between the riders were deflated, but he didn't do anything to refill the pillows. The tall tubes: The three tall tubes are made for light weight people. The entire ride is in unlighted and undecorated tubes. I am 270 pounds and when I hit the splash pool at the end of the tube I hit the bottom. The splash pool is 4 feet deep. The pool needs to be deeper, at least under 1 of the tubes. The heated spa: This was the best part of the attractions. It is exceptionally hot. The spa has a waterfall and many forced jets under the surface. The only problem with it is the chlorine level was much too high. The mist or evaporate coming off the water was irritating my eyes after just a few minutes in the water. It was a nice one day trip. I wouldn't stay more than 1 day.

the water park was small but very enjoyable for my grandkids. the rooms were very bad. dirty.!sheets were not changed from previous guest! complained to "mamager"she said we were telling wrong person , we should tell afternoon "manager" food at breakfest bar overprice and under cooked!would not stay again.what a shame to plan abig weekend with grandkids and be so let down

We went on the 4th of July weekend. Expecting a nuthouse! I am glad that I ignored the bad reviews because I have nothing but good things to day. The staff was so friendly at check-in and check-out. Making reservations was a breeze! I had an issue trying to make it online, so I had to call and they still gave me the internet only price! Housekeeping gave us extra laundry bags when we were leaving to put our wet clothes in "didn't think of that!) the man at the entry into the waterpark was so nice! The room was clean, sheets smelled nice. I decided that some people must be a little BOOJIE if they thought the place was filthy. Its not a 5 star hotel and being that a lot of little wet kids and adults trample through the place I thought they kept it very clean! Its SO close to cedar point, and the waterpark itself was perfect for my kids (4 and 6) they didn't want to leave! I say see for yourself, if you are a family with little kids looking for a nice place to lay your head after a long day, this is the place for you!!!!

You cannot imagine how dirty our room was. We got the tarpon suite that has a King bed in the main room and two sets of bunkbeds in another room. We found so much garbage around the beds we had to call to get our room recleaned (first time ever). It took 2 maids 20 minutes just to clean one small room. They kept coming out with handfuls of garbage and left items. Tons of empty bottles and candy wrappers under the beds, crushed crackers all over the partial wall ledge that was between the two rooms. There was mold on the shower curtain as well. The waterpark was ok. Nothing compared to Kalahari but still not bad. The hot tub was nice and they do have some smaller waterslides for younger kids. Bigger then the toddler area yet not as large as the bigger ones. Their wave pool was a lot of fun and the waterpark itself seemed cleaned and organized. Our service was not bad. The receptionist that checked us in was very friendly and the maids that came back to clean the room were nice as well. In my opinion, if you are going to spend your money on a waterpark hotel, just go to Kalahari or Great Wolf Lodge. The only way I would go back to Castaway Bay is if someone else paid for it.