White's City Resort & Water Park, Carlsbad

Visited a few years back and kind of enjoyed it. Stayed in the RV park, which is right out of the 1960's. Very old school , rustic and,yes,pretty run down. the bath house was old and patched up-definately short on privacy- but the water and lights worked so they were usable. Similar to what we are used to finding at older state parks.We are sort of adventurous campers with a pop up camper so the lack of swag was no huge deal. Not crowded when we were there and we enjoyed the space and quiet. We were able to hike out into the desert right out of camp. Lots o wildlife and what a sky of stars. Cant comment on the motel or restaurant-looked sort of "roadside tourist" in nature -we cooked in camp under the stars. Super close to Carlsbad Caverns. Water park was a small affair with some tube slides - overpriced but the kids enjoyed it. As I said, it has been a few years since we were there but it didnt seem to be a place that changes much. Wanted to add a review that wasnt so biased either pro or con. In summary, if you like nice, new facilities that are spotless and manicured, this aint your place. If you like to camp in places with a bit of character,like being close to nature, you arent picky and a bit of roughing it is no problem then this place will probably be OK for you-and you cant beat it for location if the Caverns are your destination.

My first night, I saw over 20 deer, a raccoon, and bats on the camp ground, some within 15ft of me. It was beautiful. But then I saw 3 vans full of college students drive up. I thought, wow, people coming to watch the show of animals, till I saw one pick up a rock and throw it at the deer. I sat irritated at the cruelty as they set up tents. It seems that only a few of these students were disrespectful enough to disregard the camp's rules and abuse the privledges, including doing things that left the facilities in worse shape for wear requiring at one point a plummer to come in and try to fix it. I had asked about things and found out that this happens more often than it should, and thus why rates are more than the owner would like to charge. I also found out that the owner bought the place 2 years ago and has been doing renovations ever since, because it was supposedly in very bad shape. I personally didn't find any problem with the place other than what people brought in with them, and found it peaceful and beautiful, an oasis in the dessert. The people were friendly and sometimes very knowledgable about everything in the area. This is what I know from personal experience. It does confuse me that people write reviews to something they haven't been to. This is what I found out from listening to others. -- The electrical thing, I don't know about, but I do know that the upper rv area plugs are 50amp plugs and if you try to use the wrong plug it might screw up your electrical system, since alot of these places are only 30amp. In fact, the lower rv camp is only 30amp. And the pool thing? Well, I asked and the person I asked said there is no charge for it, but they only have it operating in the summer months, and they did fire a guy last year for taking money in ways he shouldn't when they found out. Me? I'd go back any time I wanted to go to caverns, or even if passing through. After all, with the current owner, it is only getting better from one year to the next as the owner has money to fix things up. Of course, this part is just my opinion, which is still better than someone who hasn't actually been there. And perhaps, if people stop abusing the property, then maybe the prices will drop.. One can hope and pray.

If you are thinking about staying here... read ALL the reviews. Obviously somone on the staff has been putting information in to counter the bad reviews. Read what people write in the bad reviews and then read the reviews of the good ones. the good ones sound almost argumentative, The typing and context is impeccable. Noone writes that well, unless it was writtten previously. One comment " its under new management" was over two years ago and several bad reviews since then. and then "i don't know what people are talking about..." first rule of debate: never counter-argue it looks like you have no point and it re-itterates the opponents point. My score has been set at the middle as I have no interest in finding out how bad this place can be. nor do I wish to put a possitive spin on it.

Plugged in and their pole cooked our new RV electric. Now the owner will not return our calls. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS RV PLACE TO ANYONE.

We stayed in a 41' Class A. Good place to stay for the Caverns though don't expect to swim. Cost is $30.04 for a site but you are expected to pay another $50 per day to use the pool for the 5 of us! Luckily we didn't need to use the ammenities - disgusting.

We liked the friendly service and the real nice people there! We stayed in the RV park and it was nice, clean and taken care of by a new guy who keeps an eye on everything. We stayed in our 40ft Diesel Pusher and had a blast. The resturant was a suprise. Great food and service. They told us that the place was under new ownership and some things looked run down and others looked brand new. The water park was small but the pool was clean and nice, the kids injoyed the two water tubular slides. It was a great place to stay close to the caverns.

We found this place on line and it looked great. Made a reservation for 1 night stay on our way to San Diego. It is true that whites resort is a great location when visiting the caverns. That's the only positive! Driving up I felt like we were In an episode of twilight zone or maybe the movie Psycho was filmed here. Room filthy- hair on the bedsheets, very dirty bathroom , room Very messy. You could tell no housekeeping has happened since last occupant had been there. Water park- there was no way I was letting my son step foot in that run down facility. Was the water truly up to standards? I wasn't going to wait & find out. We went back to office to see about another room. They seemed clueless and the more we looked around only to see boarded up windows, closed restuarant, etc. I decided we were cancelling our reservation. They argued somewhat but then gave me a refund. As we were leaving we saw an advertisement stating the place was up for auction the following Tuesday. We were there on the Thursday before that auction. Then it all made sense to us. We proceeded to drive into Carlsbad and stayed at holiday inn express. Bottom line- if you are looking for a "My Name is Earl" kind of experience (the tv show)then whites city resort is the perfect place for you. Happy travels!

it seems very strange to me that MOST of the reviews for this place are VERY bad and that EVERY positive review is wriiten anywhere from 15-30 days after the bad review and is by a "yahoo contributor" that you can't check up on.... hmmmmm..... I was going to stay here but I don't think I'll chance it

We had made reservations weeks in advance for 2 nights. We missed the turnoff because there were no lit signs and it was dark. After checking in, we went to the room and it had not been cleaned and the beds were as if the previous occupant had just stepped out. We went to front desk and the clerk informed us that the owner ohas contracted for maid service only every other day, and that no other clean rooms were available, even though the parking lot was virtually empty. I asked for a price reduction and said I'd clean the room myself if she could give me clean sheets and towels. It was late and we did not want to drive into Carlsbad. She phoned the owner and tried to convince him to do something. He told her he'd clean the room and have it ready in 30 minutes. So, we went to the Velvet Garter (the only restaurant open). The waitstaff was friendly but the wait was long. The food was miserable and the meat undercooked but scorched. Nobody ate we were too grossed out. After paying $75 for the worst meal I'd seen in years we checked the room again. No one had done anything. by this time we'd also noticed that many of the (previous versions of the motel?) were boarded up and in disrepair, and the gas station was crumbling. We returned the room keys and canceled the reservation, and drove into Carlsbad, tired kids and all. It gave me the creepin' willies; this place is out of the twilight zone. I surmise that the owner has a lock on the real estate in the area and can sustain this nightmare by exclusion of competitors.

White’s City is a great location to reach both National Parks Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains. We stayed in Walnut Inn. The room was spacious and absolutely quiet and clean. The staff of the motel was very friendly. The restaurant (JJ’s) was very good and the staff was very friendly as well. We did not have any of the following problems in the room neither burning holes in the carpet nor non-working lamps nor locks who don't lock properly as mentioned in previous reviews. Be honest, these problems occur in other hotels and motels as well. That’s because the housekeepers (maids) are not very reliable – all over the states. Those things are no reason not to stay in White’s City. There’s no better place to stay for those parks. By the way motels and hotels in Carlsbad don’t have good reviews. White’s City is the foundation place of Carlsbad Caverns. This place has deserved to survive. But all of you travelers have to do your part. Walnut Inn is a motel as good as others in the US. We were very happy that we stayed in White’s City and we would definitively return.