Great Wolf Lodge

My family loves Great Wolf Lodge, and we've gone every year for the last five years. However, I would skip this location and go back to the Massachusetts resort instead. -Our problems started before we even arrived at the hotel. I received a text letting me know that I needed the original credit card used to book the reservation in order to check in. While I understand the policy, my card had been compromised two months earlier. I immediately called to try to resolve the issue. I was disconnected twice while on the phone and then disconnected a third time while using the text support feature. When I finally reached someone, I explained that I had been trying to get help for over three hours. Their response was essentially, "We're busy today." I was told that as long as I could show my bank statement, everything would be fine. Unfortunately, that wasn't true. Instead, they wanted to refund the original payment and charge my new card, making the check-in process take much longer than necessary. The communication between the staff and guests was extremely poor. - Upon arrival, we were greeted with, "Give me your ID," rather than a simple, "Hello, how are you?" It wasn't a welcoming first impression. - Once we were finally checked in, we asked to be placed near the family we were traveling with. That's when we were informed that because we had different room types, there was no way to put us near each other. Had someone mentioned this when I called two months earlier, we could have changed our reservation and avoided the problem altogether. Thankfully, after speaking with a manager, they were able to accommodate our request. - Unfortunately, the communication issues continued throughout our stay. When we arrived at the hotel, we were told it opened at 10:00 a.m. What they failed to mention was that only the outdoor water park opened at 10:00—the indoor water park actually opened at 9:00 a.m. -- Later, after climbing all the way to the top of one of the water slides, we were finally told that our children first needed to have their heights measured and receive wristbands before they could ride. We had to walk all the way back down, get measured, and then climb back up. --- The same thing happened to my husband. He waited in line and made it all the way to the top of a slide before being told he couldn't wear his Apple Watch. There was no signage or communication beforehand, so he had to leave the watch, ride the slide, and then climb back up again to retrieve it. - Another frustrating experience involved purchasing food at the pool. We wanted to buy a kids' meal, but we were told we first had to go to the front desk to purchase a kids' meal voucher before returning to the pool area to order. Why should I have to leave the pool while trying to feed my child? There was no sign explaining this process—only that kids' meals were available. - We may also be spoiled by the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Great Wolf Lodge, but it offers so much more for children to do outside of the pools. They have a large climbing and play structure that keeps kids entertained, and when we were last there, they were renovating the suspended ropes attraction. Those extra activities give families something to do when the water park is closed. The confusing rules, poor communication, and repeated inconveniences are enough to keep us from returning to this Great Wolf Lodge. That said, there were a few positives during our stay in Niagara: 1) Parking was free, which was greatly appreciated. 2) The renovated rooms were beautiful. They were spacious, modern, and very comfortable, although our room was located at the end of an extremely long hallway. We also would have appreciated daily trash removal and fresh towels. 3) The layout of the resort was excellent because you didn't have to walk through the arcade to get to the water park. 4) Food and drinks were much more reasonably priced than at the Massachusetts location. In fact, this was the first time we actually chose to eat our meals at a Great Wolf Lodge because the prices were so much more affordable. Overall, we won't be returning because of the poor customer service, lack of communication, and numerous frustrations we experienced throughout our stay. That said, if you live nearby and become familiar with their policies and procedures, you may still enjoy the pools and amenities.

Although the hotel has many amenities, found there were still several not included. Also though the hotel rooms (bathrooms) could use a little updating. Also recommend for younger aged children. Just wasn’t our ja’ with teenagers and a list of other things to check out in the area.

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