Could I put the room on my credit card, I asked upon checking in. Ignoring me, the clerk said she could charge my credit card for incidentals. Huh? There is no TV is the rustic cabin so no Lodge Net charges, etc. She then realized her mistake but instead of crediting my friend's card, she charged him twice! Huh? Could we upgrade to a larger cabin. No, we are sold out, she replied (They were not.) Could we have the AAA rate?, I asked. We don't offer it, she replied. (They do.) Other than that, great surroundings, fun area. Recommended.But check your bill. They charge the full amount upon making the reservation which is not made clear.
Review Source:The Inn is a nice place to stay. Â It's not the Hilton w/granite sinks and plush beds but after all it's an Indiana park facility. Â I agree w/one yelper about the food here. Â It's very generic & bland. Â Go in town to eat. Â It's nice that they offer an assortment of overnight places--the inn, family cabins, & rustic cabins. Â
If I was rating the 'family cabins' I would give 5stars. Â They are so cool & spacious. Â I love hearing the roar of the rain on the tin roof, Â the feeling of the heat from the wood stove on a chilly day, or sitting on the big deck and reading a good book among the trees that go on forever! Â Too bad that you have to make reservations 2yrs in advance to get in now.
The area surrounding the lodge is beautiful, but the rooms are a bit dated and in need of some refurbishment. Still we had a very peaceful night there on a weekend. The water park has a nice hot tub which we enjoyed.
The one star is mainly because of the food in the Little Gem Restaurant, which is unfortunately the only dining choice there. Â We had dinner and the menu consisted of high-fat fried entrees with heavy gravy. We opted for the buffet, which at least had a salad bar of sorts. Â It could have used more vegetables and less mayo salads, but at least there were some fresh veggies. The rest of the dinner line included canned veggies, instant mashed potatoes, a comfort casserole, greasy fried chicken and some stuff with lots of white sauce on it. Â They really need some healthy options here.
The service was also horrible. Our plates were never cleared, and it took forever for our drinks and the check. It's not like a buffet waitress has to do much, but she didn't even do the minimum.
They do have microwaves in the public areas of the hotel, and my room had a fridge.  If I had it to do over again, I'd just bring a  healthier frozen meal. The food was also overpriced for what it was. It reminded me of a school cafeteria.
Again, the park is beautiful, but plan ahead for your food!
i rented a "rustic" family cabin for father's day weekend. Â it was a room with a twin bed and a queen size bed in the room. Â never having been to brown county before, i had no idea what to expect. Â the room description alerted us that there would be no television, and that was fine. Â there was, however, a microwave, small fridge, and coffeemaker in the room. Â this made life super easy, as we got into our cabin later than we expected and it was about 95 degrees outside. Â the cookout we planned seemed like a lot of hot work.... hot, hot, uncomfortable work. Â we just heated up our planned cookout food in the microwave instead and ate in our room. Â
there is no maid service in the cabins, but it's not a big deal. Â you can get clean towels at the front desk of the lodge, and you wouldn't change your sheets every night at home.... so that's not a big deal either. Â
the room itself was clean and cool. Â there is a wall unit air conditioner which at first i was afraid would not adequately cool the room, but it did so well, we had to put an extra blanket on our bed. Â
the main lodge has a great swim center with a slide, a kids shallow play area, a lazy river type area, and a side of the pool for water volleyball. Â if you stay in any of the cabins or in the lodge you get passes into the pool. Â we had fun playing in there with our three year old, and found there was virtually no one in there at the regular dinner hours between 5-7pm. Â it started getting full after that, though. Â the nice thing about the indoor pool is that they provide life jackets for kids. Â
the hiking trails are gorgeous and coming from flatter than flat illinois the scenery of the park is really pretty. Â if you are a trail runner, this park would certainly give you a challenge. Â i wished i'd packed my running shoes to see how long i could hang. Â the hills are something else. Â
all in all, a great stay.
The inn seems more commercial than some of the other inns we have visited. Our double queen room had a refrigerator and a door to the outdoor patio. There were quite a few lamps - one incredibly ugly. It looked like a giant owl. Â The rest were kind of birch-barkdy and a bit worn. Despite the quantity of lamps, the quality was marginal and the room was dark. The beds were okay and the bathroom could use updating.
We did visit the pool and went down the slid a bit buzzed. I sucked in a bunch of water and the lifeguards were concerned. The whirlpool was scalding but once you got used to it, was pleasant.
We didn't eat at the lodge (no alcohol) but did find all the staff friendly.
AVOID THIS PARK IN THE FALL! It is obvious that Nashville/Brown County is a zoo in the fall. January, while much was closed, was a great time to visit. Â And you can't beat the 2-for-1 room rate in January.
First of all it's a State Park Inn, in short it's run by a government system so It's defiantly not the Hilton, but If you want to stay in a Hilton why come here? The word Lodge should clue the average bear onto that. It's a gorgeous relic of the depression work years, and has been kept up very well, again considering it's a government program.
With that said my family and I had a wonderful time here the night after my wedding. I have grown kids and AARP parents and all were happy with the amenities to be found. The "kids" grooved on the water park, while the grown ups loved the many lounge areas complete with fireplaces to hang out and catch up in, also the outside lodge fire pit was wonderful with the star filled October sky above (and yes you can see stars here). Other than maybe Valentines weekend this is defiantly not top of the list for romantic getaways, but if it's a family you have to entertain you won't be disappointed.
As far as the food goes, all Indiana State Park lodges have very below average fair, and with Nashville at your back door, there are many stellar alternatives to be found in town.
Stay here - yes
Eat here - NO!!
We stayed in one of the rustic cabins on the outskirts of the lodge. Boyfriend was not a fan of the wood paneling, but other than the shower being reminiscent of a college dorm stall and the TV not surviving the switch to digital, "rustic" was quite comfortable. Our cabin was located behind the lodge, down a little path with sober-favoring stairs on the edge of the woods, at the intersection of two hiking trails. It was definitely not a 5 star luxury experience, but it was a nice way to experience nature without the hassle of camping. Â There is maid service, ice buckets, a front desk to call, a dresser and hangers... balanced by bugs, critters running around on your roof, a campfire pit, hiking, and a view of the forest out of every window. Â There are several lodging options from a fully private cabin with several bedrooms and a kitchen, to tent or RV camping, or even a simple hotel room within the main lodge.
The "water park" has a big hot tub that can be quite soothing after a long day of hiking, but if you have even the tiniest aversion to children - steer clear. Â Kids rule here. We stopped in a few times since it was included in our stay, but the militia of wild youth definitely held court. The water slide was fun to try again, however we quickly realized that our water slide days were most definitely over. There was an outdoor pool near the entrance of the park that may be more adult-friendly, we never checked it out so I can't say for certain.
The horse ride left us with a similar feeling as the water slide. That was fun, haven't done it in a while, I'm ok with not doing it again. I think our "trail guide" was the main source of our discontentment. He spent the entire hour haggling about the sale of a horse on his cell phone. He didn't care, didn't want to be there and seemed to be inconvenienced with our presence. The horses were pleasant and somewhat amusing. The state park was picturesque. We enjoyed ourselves despite our leader's attitude. If you're curious about riding a horse give it a try. If you want to roam free enjoying the majesty of nature on horseback this isn't for you.
This seems like an ideal place to vacation with a family. The park is enormous and there is a multitude of nature-related activities. Not to mention it is only a five minute drive to downtown Nashville. We were definitely in the minority (if not completely alone) as a 20/30 something couple with no kids. But we had a great time just the same. I would definitely stay here again and again...
As a restaurant Abe Martin Lodge is a dismal disaster! Avoid eating here at all costs. Â I would joyously welcome Denny's or IHOP as an alternative. They go for sort of an American home-cooking menu, but it tastes bad, it is poorly prepared and just isn't appealing in any way. Â The staff is super friendly and welcoming, and if you can sit by the window its a pretty view. Â But who goes to a restaurant with terrible food just for its atmosphere?
5 stars if it weren't for the food.
My recommendation? Do not get married here. Even though this seems to be an extremely popular spot for weddings (there were like four or five going on when I was here), the one I played did not go very well. The wedding itself was in a courtyard on the upper level of the building, and there was a restaurant behind us. The restaurant was discourteous enough to have hired a solo singer and guitar player while the wedding was going on, so our quartet music was drowned out by him, and the guests could hardly hear the bride and groom saying the vows. Not cool.
While rustic decor can have its charm, when it's bad, it's really bad. And this was bad. There was something about it that seemed musty to me, like it was trapped in some kind of 60s Americana movie. No thank you.
Maybe the hotel part is nicer. The pool sure does look awesome! It's a got a big slide and water channels and everything. But the main building of the lodge, I just wasn't feeling it at all.
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