A minimum three night stay is required. We contemplated leaving after our first night, and ended up leaving a night early.
I've lived in the south central Texas hill country my entire life. I killed one of the biggest, angriest scorpions I've ever seen in the shower of cabin 8, just hours after killing the largest spider I've ever seen not-on-the-Discovery-channel but before I killed the cockroach and after I squashed the entourage of strange worm caterpillar things (... all in the same bathroom). This also happened the same day we encountered two water moccasins on the bank of the Frio. Frankly that's just a lot of wildlife for one day, but I'm not blaming Neal's for the local snake population.
The cabin doors barely lock, the street lights around the cabins at Neal's are kept off at night, the full size mattresses are terrible (the box springs on one bed of cabin 8 are currently destroyed), claiming to sleep 6 people with 2 full size mattresses (again, one being busted) and 2 outdoor twins seems a bit optimistic, interior lighting is too miserably dark to handle a board game or reading at night, the shower is full of mold, diesel trucks can be heard powering up the hill outside cabin 8 all day, the window unit A/C is quite loud versus normal conversation, Jimmy Whatever's Canteen (the onsite bar / music venue) advertises to be open "every night", except when the owner doesn't feel like opening it, which the staff admits includes most Sundays, and the "arcade" is mostly a large empty space nowadays.
On the upside, every cabin has a refrigerator, freezer and grill so you can cook for yourself instead of eating every meal across the street. Take advantage of that.
$508 for three nights? How about no.
Just came back from Neals and had an amazing time. We only stayed one night and after weeks of flack from my husband for booking CABIN 12 wothout reading the reviews first I'm happy to say the shower is fully tiled now and looks great. It is a very modest cabin but clean and close to river. I fully recommend renting a golf cart for $50. We didn't find out about them until late in the afternoon but kids still had a great time riding around. My biggest complaint wad no coffee in the cabin so be sure to pack some. Water is too low to tube, but you can find other places with more water to tube. Kids had fun at the arcade and dance.
Review Source:This may be the go-to resort if you are living in Houston (as they advertise), but this Texas visitor expected way better for the price. Sure, that is the prettiest part of the Hill Country, and the Frio Bat Flight is an awesome experience, but Neal's is a dump. We stayed in unit 37, a so-called two bedroom unit. One bedroom did not have a window. It was a cave with no reading light. You have to make your own bed--with worn out sheets and no fitted sheet for the mattress. The quilts were just as worn and threadbare. There were insects in the shower stall. The kitchen was equipped with one spoon. A handle fell off the water tap for the kitchen sink. The front porch had not been swept and the two plastic chairs on it were filthy. You would not have wanted to sit on them. The grounds around the building were littered with trash. This was not just worn. It was a dump. This place has got to be living on its yester-year reputation. I found it insulting to be charged $139 per night for this. I would never recommend this place to any other traveling birders. There simply have to be motels around there that are cleaner and offer a more reasonable price. That said, it is probably an acceptable place for tent and RV camping (assuming the restrooms are cleaner than the lodging units).
Review Source:I don't know what year they took the photos for the website but they need to be updated. Â Better yet, they can update/clean the cabin. Â What they don't show are pictures of the bathroom. Â This place is disgusting. Â I appreciate that they are cabins and rustic but come on. Â Black mold, peeling paint, filth everywhere. Â YUCK! Â Cabin 12 was so disgusting and they told us that was an upgrade from Cabin 4 which we had originally booked. Â Are you kidding me? Â That's an upgrade?!? Â UGH, I can't even imagine how disgusting cabin 4 is if cabin 12 has black mold and peeling paint and filth everywhere. Â We went out one night to the park and laid in the grass to look at the stars and the ground was so much softer than the beds in that room. Â I was in the worst pain and couldn't sleep at night because the beds were so hard. Â We should have just saved our money and thrown blankets on the ground and slept, it would have been softer and cleaner.
Review Source:We rented one of the smaller cabins. The property map online gives the impression that the cabins are far away from the highway, but they are not. Our cabin is almost right on the highway. The rooms are filthy, beds are horrible and make a lot of noise when you move, not to mention uncomfortable, Our room has no heating, no light by the BBQ grill and so on, would not recommend it. This place is not as advertised
Review Source:I absolutely love this place! Yes, some of the cabins are old. The place has been around since the '20s. The furniture is functional, not fabulous, but if you want fabulous, go stay somewhere that charges twice as much and doesn't have the BEST SWIMMING HOLE EVER! Neal's always has a place to swim, even after a year long drought, when the rest of the river is down to rocks. The new owners have added live music several nights a week, a dance floor, and a family friendly "icehouse" and snack counter. Lots of kids running around while parents enjoyed a cold beer before the short walk back to the cabin. Each cabin has a kitchenette and a bath, plenty of privacy, ice cold AC, coffee maker, utensils, fridge, microwave, etc. Everything you need, and none of the stuff you can't live without. No phone, limited internet access, but this is standard for this part of rural Texas.
The cafe has typical diner food, it's hot, it's good, and there is plenty of it. The dinner rolls are amazing, order extra. The back porch has a beautiful view, best place to have coffee in the morning. The store has fresh produce, meat, milk, eggs, groceries, and all the other stuff you forgot to pack.
So what else can you do here? Birdwatching, bat flights just down the road, Garner State Park down the road with a nightly dance during the summer, plus mini golf. Hiking, great motorcycle rides through Leakey on the Twisted Sisters, just sitting around doing nothing, board games with the kids, ice cream from the store / office, meeting people from all over, not listening to the phone ring, cooking out on the grill, seeing stars at night, spending time being a family. Going for a drive that turns into an adventure and ending up in Utopia at the Lost Maples Cafe. Scenery. Did I mention the great people that live and work here? I can't wait to go back....
Ive been going to Neal's for almost 20 years now, so obviously I love the place.
Cabins are rustic and basic - but you don't go to Neal's for luxury. Â I love that every cabin has a firepit - we always use ours - and I think they are now stocking each cabin w/ firewood when you arrive - score!
This was the first time for me to take my son and it was great - swimming hole was perfect as usual - even in this drought.
Online booking will be great when its up and running. Â Wasn't able to make it to the new bar area, but hope to next year. Â There have been some other little changes - including a check in drink - this was awesome - Neal's is the kind of place where you hate to see change, but these are for the better.
Really like the parking changes down by the river and the staff that was down there to make sure things stayed family friendly.
Can't wait to go back.
Spent 4 nights at cabin CH, this place rocks!
Overall, from start to finish, all my dealing with Neal's were great.
They were very helpful in answering my questions before registering, and then when I finally got a reservation I was pleased to hear I could upgrade up to a bigger cabin if available and desired. Â Nice to have to option to recruit a bigger party.
Pricing was also very nice, I got in the week before Memorial Day so I got 20% off. Â They also don't have other random fees, no cleaning junk, etc. Â I didn't even pay a deposit.
Check in was a breeze. Â Show up, give them car info and waivers and got keys, directions, and river parking passes for our cars, no problemo!
The cabin itself was wonderful, ours was more out of the way and secluded, but was nice and close to the river. Â For 4-6 people, CH may be the perfect cabin I think. Â It has 3 doubles and one single bed. Â The windy staircase to the loft with beds is a bit treacherous :)
Everything was clean, the shower was nice, kitchen well equipped (there was much more supplies in it than I expected) with fridge, microwave, oven, double sink, etc.
The beds were very comfortable, I slept quite well. Â In fact, I just laid a sheet down and used the comforter as a blanket, it appeared to be freshly washed.
The path down to the river was nice and connected to a Neal's road that lead up to their riverfront cabins and right by the swimmin' hole. Â We went over there a lot!
Also, up the road is cabin EH, which wasn't being used, but was quite nice looking from what we saw. Â And it has a viewing deck that we sat on a couple nights to stargaze and such, very nice!
All in all this was a great trip. Â Neal's is doing a lot of improvements, etc from the looks of it, so I look forward to seeing how they develop. Â Their little store was also handily stocked, we were able to get eggs, milk, coal, syrup, batter mix, etc that we didn't bring. Â They had plenty of grocery stuff!
Definitely want to come back next year!
Great location for outdoor activities (we're bird watchers; feeders on property attract many species) but cabins (large) are old, with furnishings that were modest from the beginning and now very shabby. Ants in room. Amenities sparse. Wireless only available at central building. Place now has brand-new owners, so perhaps things will improve. Two stars is being generous right now.
Review Source:What a fantastic time we all had there. Looks like this is going to become an annual pilgrimage. Â The Frio River was awesome. Unlike at Garner, the river is crystal clear. You could see that bottom at the swimming hole. It gets about 8-10 feet deep in some spots.
This is one of those places where you get to experience the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country. This place really reminds you that Texas does indeed have a lot to offer when it comes to scenery.
I also suggest checking out the bat flight not too far from the cabins. I was a little skeptical, but I ended up really enjoying the spectacle. We only stayed for about an hour. We were told that it would continue for another couple of hours. It was an amazing amount of bats that came out of that cave,
I was recommended the Lodge while going through Texas on a road trip by a colleague - and couldn't have come across a better place. Â While I wasn't there to float, I was able to enjoy some of the natural areas around the Lodge as well as the massive cabin I was given last second with no reservation. Â Not only that but I was given a great price by some of the friendliest staff I've ever met. Â Thank you to the women who work in the office, and I hope to return some day soon!
Review Source:My friends and I have been going out to Neal's Lodges twice a year for about 9 years now and we always have a great time there. The owners are awesome, the cabins are nice, and the scenery is beautiful.
We've never floated before, but Neal's has a hefty number of tubes for rent. The front office has a general store that stocks an impressive selection of essentials. They have everything from milk and eggs, to dish sponges and firewood.
Neal's is on the Frio River, and many of the cabins are situated along the canyon heading down, so the views are spectacular. Massive old trees canopy the area, and huge boulders (great for sunbathing) line the water. This place is pure Texas at its finest. The time we spend there is lazy and relaxing.
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