Great Wolf Lodge
Reviews and Complaints

On 8/28/2022 I had reservations for two deluxe bunk bed rooms and was informed I could check in at 4 pm. I got there a little before 4 pm to ensure I was on time and that we could enjoy the waterpark and event I had planned for my daughter’s eighth birthday. My second room was not cleaned. It took almost an hour before I was notified that it was cleaned. In the the meantime my guest were crammed in one room and we couldn’t even set up our decorations etc that I had planned for my second room. I went to speak to the manager Megan at the front desk but the receptionist told me that Megan the manager said she was too busy to speak to me and she just gave me a dinner voucher for 2 adults and four kids. Although my reservations were for 8! I felt very discriminated against as I am a women of color and as a manager the right thing to do is to have the courtesy to see what at least was going on or apologize for the inconvenience. Megan did neither and she did not even show her face! I was highly disappointed. I plan on taking this incident a lot further as my money or time was not valued as a frequent customer. I had guest that were unable to come due to us getting in the water park late because of the inconvenience of our room not being ready. Then later that evening once I went to use the voucher for dinner on the second floor the cashier was unsure of the amount that could be utilized. Then he came up with a random amount of $55.00, until the food manager came and said no her entire tab is on the hotel which was was $92.00. I was really frustrated at how the customer service had been for my daughters over night stay. The next morning when I get home I noticed that I begin to itch all over my body with welts that not only itched like crazy but we’re oozing. My bed had bed bugs and I have photos of my body to confirm. This was a horrible experience. I have never ever felt so discriminated against, disrespectful and treated so poorly. I will be taking my complaint further.

I’m writing to provide feedback on the worse experience my family has had attending one of your locations (Concord. NC). I’m completely disappointed by our experience at Great Wolf Lodge and I have no desire to return for our yearly trip. Now we usually go to the Virginia location once a year but decided to go closer which was a big mistake. I honestly feel ripped off by the whole experience especially for the cost of staying two nights plus passes. Where do I start?

-Arrived on 8/24 around 3pm. Waited for the room to be ready and it wasn’t ready until 5pm. We got ready and only spent maybe 2 hours in the water park. Note - We came from the Drive thru zoo nearby so we wanted to take another shower to feel comfortable.

-Most of the activities seemed to have been closed like golf, bowling, theatre and rope course to name a few.

-I purchased 2 wolf passes ($90 each) and a paw pass ($60) only to learn that there wasn’t any way to actually use all the things listed on the passes since most things were closed. Why not share that with your guest so they don’t waste any money getting it. For example, my two oldest were trying to use the first item listed on the pass which is a wand or topper only to discover after the employee checked off the pass that they didn’t have any toppers available except for a pink one. I felt like someone stole the money right out of my pocket. There were at least 4 things that you couldn’t use listed on the pass. Not to mention when we attempted to claim the ice cream they were sold out. Finally, got some on the way out today but very limited flavors.

-To think it was the 25 anniversary but this place needs a really good cleaning because it was so dirty and old. For example, the children’s pool floor was black in many areas. Needs a really good draining with scrubbing. Another example, the toilet in the room felt like it was going to fall right out. It was extremely wobbly and needs to be caulked. The kids shower floor was also dirty which I cleaned myself.

-I was also surprised to learn that the housecleaning staff entered my room the first night which I was so taken back by that because I understood that wouldn’t happen.

-We ordered the family meal only for the chicken wings to be flavorless. No BBQ, seasoning or hot sauce provided to give it some flavor. I asked for a souvenir cup so I can get refills but they told me it isn’t available. They seem to be short handed but they had quiet a few employees that just didn’t want to work. A simple question doesn’t warrant eye rolling or attitude.

-Why was the food spot inside the park closed on Wednesday? It finally was opened on Thursday when we spent another 2.5 hours in the water park but I couldn’t take any more time watching the kids pick their nose and put their hands in the pool. It completely grossed me out. Not to mention the fact that they allowed a big kid (16-17) to go into the toddler area, slide down the small slide and he took my 2 year old toy and throw it over to the area with no access.

-Last but not least, you would think grown adults would know better than to be smoking marijuana inside the hotel. I woke up to the room smelling so bad that it gave me the worse headache. I personally don’t want to be inhaling or have my children inhaling that crap. Again in came through the vents into our room (grizzly suit). This is beyond that my children and I got exposed to inhaling this drug when I have never even smoked cigarettes in my life. To add to injury, one of my children suffer from Asthma and I recently got treated for Asthma about 3 weeks ago in Urgent Care. All this smoke from this drug caused my oldest and I to be coughing for the next two days.

-Trip was from 8/24-8/26 but we only spent 5 hours in the water park due to a number of issues. The boys found it to be too crowded to even play the wand game so I really found the pass to be a complete waste and would really like a refund.

From the whole experience the one place we did enjoy was the arcade which we spent at least $245 if memory serves me correctly.

Thank you for your time in reading this and I request that you make it right for the sake of my children by providing us a refund.

I can't even begin to express what a disappointment this ordeal has been. I booked a 4 day, 3 night reservation for my Son's 2nd Birthday. First of all, they were doing renovations and the place just looked like a mess. The Cabin we stayed in was never cleaned. My 2 years old kept picking things up off the floor that the house keeping never vacuumed from the previous guest stay. We bought a package for breakfast, lunch & dinner for 8 people. Big mistake. The buffet is not even mediocre. It is not a buffet. They offered the same food every single day. The indoor pool area was disgusting. The bottom of the floors were dirty and you can feel sand/rocks under. To top it off, on our last night there they had a brown out. What place has a brown out in 2022. What happened to your generators?! I mean the water park completely went dark and water flow just stopped. At that point it was chaos. People started to panic and I rushed to get my 2 year out of of the pool area. This was around 6pm on 8/04/2022. I tried to stay and wait but after an hour, the place was extremely hot and humid. My son was uncomfortable and non stop crying. The restaurants were down and people were jammed in the waiting area. I politely asked for a refund. They said they will take care of it & I left. Weeks later I am still waiting for my refund. This is unacceptable. NEVER WOULD I EVER RECCOMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE. NOT EVEN IF IT WENT ONSALE FOR $1 A DAY.

This was on of my emails to GWL:

This is in regards to confirmation #[protected]

I just spoke with one of your great wolf lodge representatives. I was requesting the status of the refund since it's been a couple days now. As per Shanielle she states that she did not see a refund started. She opened up a case (#[protected]) so that someone can reach out to me via email. Can someone please look into this? I have pain in advance $2,952.42 via AFFIRM. We had to leave early because there was no Generator working and the brownout lasted for hours. No water park was available and the facility at that moment was chaotic and filled with very angry guests. It was very hot, humid and a lot of toddler/babies crying including my own. Please see the following refund that I am expecting to get and please let me know if there is any reason I will not be getting a specific refund.

8/04 - Thursday we left as soon as the electricity went out.

8/04 - RESORT FEE $39.99

- recovery - guest room - left early $479.99

- late check out (suppose to be used for the next day) - $74.99

- loose moose dinner voucher for 8 people - $112.08

- loose moose breakfast - 4 did not eat - $ 52.04

- room occupancy taxes - $45

- pup pass was not used due to early evacuation -$59.99

My refund should be around $860

Please have someone reach out to me as soon as possible.

I had a great stay at Great Wolf Lodge. I checked out as instructed by texting the word “out” to the front desk. I was told that I would receive my itemized bill once I checked out. It is now been over a week and have still not received my bill. I’ve called customer service, I chatted with customer service, and still no one will send me my bill. I can’t get the front desk at the Concord location to answer the phone.

At this point I feel that I can never go back to great Wolf Lodge simply because of this.

Leaves a bad taste after a great visit. Quite unfortunate.

We were at story time and we are a family of 5 my daughter wanted to take separate pictures with the bear then when it was my husband turn we wanted to take a picture together, we had asked another employee prior and she had told us it was ok , but the employee that was taking the picture told us we couldn’t do that it was wrong but the family that was infront of us In the line did the samething , my husband got really upset because we felt like why didn’t she say anything to the other family that was infront of us but wanted to embarrass us and say that . It was very uncomfortable situation.

I called and filed a case with customer service about 10am 08/16/22 and was told I would receive a phone call to discuss. I received an email from GWL around 10pm that night instead. I responded to it immediately with the info above and have yet to receive any other correspondence other than an automated survey request email where I copy/pasted the same info. This has also been forwarded to [protected]@greatwolf.com today 08/19/22

Genny wrote that we had stayed the week before, not the day before. Further indication of GWL's incompetency.

Events from 08/15/22

Copy/pasted GWL email thread:

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Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 10:09 PM

Genny Duer

Howls!

I have been made aware that your stay did not go as planned while you were with us last week. Is there a good time and a good phone number so that I can call you to discuss the matter or briefly describe what happened?

Thank you and I look forward to your response.

Genny Duer

Guest Services Supervisor | Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine

100 Great Wolf Drive, Grapevine, TX 76051

817.488.6510 ext. 0

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Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 11:28 PM

Hello Genny,

I will be available for a phone call tomorrow afternoon around 2 pm.

In the meantime, here’s a run down of the issues from yesterday 8/15:

I checked in early and was told I would receive a text when my room was ready, no later than 4 pm. I never received a text. I returned around 5 pm and was told “it’s almost ready”. As a result of the stress and chaos, I left my wallet on the counter. I came back about 45 mins later to find the police were involved with my wallet and learned that somehow my room number was provided to the stranger who found it. I never knew I had a room, but to know a strange man was provided that info is unacceptable. I had no intention of staying any longer knowing that someone who has my details from my wallet also knows where my family would be staying. The safety of my family is paramount.

After checking in, I never received any correspondence from GWL regarding my room for the entirety of my reserved stay time.

Service was terrible all over. Valet was shut down when we arrived, the computer systems were having issues at check-in, and the front desk didn’t help get me oriented. They only checked my ID and credit card, then handed me wristbands. I felt as if I was being pushed out. The majority of the employees were either lazily inattentive or outright goofing off. Trying to get basic information was like pulling teeth. The facility did not feel very clean. Just from looking at the chronic buildup of dust on the trees at check-in (which everyone was staring at while waiting in line), I had a bad feeling the rest of our experience was going to be unpleasant. The water felt slimy in the wave pool and the slides outside were closed. When I asked a lifeguard about it, she said “I don’t know” and walked off. I asked another lifeguard regarding hours, and he wandered away mumbling that he didn’t know either; that it “might be 7, or 8, or something like that”. And to top it all off, the front desk attendant lied to me when I came back looking for my wallet saying “no, I don’t know anything about it” while it all happened directly in front of them.

Everything was a disaster and great disappointment as soon as we entered the property.

I am requesting a full refund for the room and the $44.75 parking charge. If you’re feeling exceptionally generous, I’d also appreciate a refund of $19.00 for a medium-sized locker as we used it only for about an hour.

I have attached screenshots of the error that continued throughout the night. Note the time of 9:03 pm. I checked out of curiosity if issues were ever resolved to find they had not.

The parking “Terms and Conditions” is missing property info (and who knows what else) regarding refunds. Looks like it’s been that way for a while (since September 1, 2020).

To be forthright, it seems that GWL could use some help with its technical difficulties. It just so happens that I’m an IT professional who lives in Grapevine and would welcome a conversation with the head of your IT department. Perhaps there are opportunities where I could assist GWL to avoid some of these issues in the future.

I appreciate your help and understanding regarding my concerns. Please feel free to contact me via email if you need anything before tomorrow afternoon’s phone call.

Kind regards,

Andrew Dickey

I checked out and left the hotel on their app around 7 am yesterday August 18th 2022. Left the parking structure right after that. Got conformation at that time. The hotel charged my credit card 92.40 after that at their buffet loose moose. I did not eat there. When I called this morning they said it would take 24 to 72 hours to look into this. This is so wrong that someone can go around the hotel charging things after someone leaves. Shame because I’ve loved going there. This was the 3 rd time, and on the drive home I actually was looking at dates for This coming Nov. now I’m not sure I can trust having a credit card on file with them. Now I wait to see if they are going to fix this issue. Not a happy visitor this time.

I am disputing the additional charges that were made on my debit card due to an incorrect billing error made by a Great Wolf Lodge employee. In May 2022 I made an over the phone reservation to book a two night stay and I agreed to have my debit card charged for the agreed amount for those dates. When I arrived to the Grapevine, TX location I was told I had booked a reservation that was different from what was discussed over the phone with the representative. I was told by the Manager (possibly Jennifer) that the reservation was for a one night stay, therefore an additional night would incur additional charges. I explained that the representative made an error and that was not the reservation that I had booked. The front desk Manager indicated that they would add an additional night, however upon check out they would escalate this and request the phone call recording and if they could verify what I was saying was accurate they would honor the initial fee that I was charged and refund the additional stay. I have had to contact Great Wolf Lodge customer service every two weeks since May to get this issue resolved. I continued to get the run around and no one was able to help me. I have a long list of Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine, TX employees who are unprofessional in customer service. The Managers/Supervisors are never available as they are in “stand ups” or in meetings and some staff at the front desk, just flat out hang up on the phone call. On August 4, 2022 I spent an hour and a half on the phone waiting to get help from someone and I was told this issue was escalated to Elva Canti, Supervisor. On August 5, 2022 Ms. Canti indicated she forwarded the call to the Finance department so they could review it and she would follow up with me. I never heard back from Ms. Canti again. On August 17, 2022 after three days of unsuccessfully reaching someone who could help me, I was able to speak with Shawna, Reservation Supervisor who reported she would send Ms. Canti a message. Ms. Canti contacted me on August 18, 2022 and she was unhelpful. Ms. Canti indicated the phone recording was obtained; however she would not issue a refund. Ms. Canti refused to admit that the phone recording proved that I was saying the truth. Ms. Canti initially stated she could only offer a complimentary free breakfast at my next stay to which I indicated I did not plan on taking my family there ever again. Ms. Canti then completely ignored my concerns and attempted to book a complimentary one-night stay. When I requested to get this resolved immediately without any further delays and requested to be transferred to someone higher than her she explained she did not have ANY other contact numbers for Great Wolf Lodge staff in addition to she WAS UNABLE transfer calls. Eventually, she placed me on hold and reached out to the Grapevine location staff. She reached someone who reportedly reviewed the phone recording while she was on the phone with them and they decided they would not issue a refund. No one wants to be lied to and Ms. Canti’s actions demonstrated this. If the phone recording proved otherwise and I was lying, then why would she offer to issue a one-night stay for free? The phone recording proves I am being truthful so then why is she unable to issue my money back to me? Each time I called customer services I was told once the phone recording was reviewed it would be determined if the refund could be issued, but this has not happened yet. I am disputing the fact that I booked a two-night reservation, and I was told the final amount that was due. Great Wolf Resorts must honor what I was told regardless if it was lack of proper training or an unintentional/intentional error made by an employee. This must be resolved as I have tried many times to reach someone to get my money back. I left Rene Costello, Director (Grapevine, TX) a message and have not heard from him. I left Great Wolf Resorts Headquarters a message and have not heard from them either. I found this website for addressing complaints and I hope someone reaches out to me soon.

We stayed at PA location for a few days. Have not slept. Had upstairs people jumping on beds and stomping and running all night. Also at 6am. We felt disappointed that we were not notified outdoor pool and activities were not present due to construction. It limited our stay. Linens had holes but room was clean. I bring sanitizing liquids and sprays and wipe down rooms and check for bedbugs. Room was pretty clean and no sign of bedbugs. We purchased the meal tickets. Unfortunately we found dirty encrusted utensils multiple times and roach legs and food on”clean” plates. We stopped eating there and turning in meal tickets. So disappointed. We stayed here before and loved it. We will never ever come back. Was horrible experience.

On August 9th, my family and I checked into the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. Upon our arrival, we were shocked that the entire resort is under construction. Okay fine, we get it you are doing updates, however when we got to our room, we noticed several things. 1. We couldn't use our balcony because of the construction. Yes we were told about it, but we never expected the construction workers to literally be on the balcony. We had to keep our current closed the entire time- which also looked like it had been shredded by a cat. 2. We had walls that needed to be repainted and holes in the floor. 3. There were holes in the ceiling. At the rate that you charge, you should not be charging full price for these rooms or even renting them out. If my child needed a nap during our stay, she wouldn't have been able to have one because of the noise from the construction. We also played for the meal plan for our stay. Boy were we highly disappointed and feel like the amount you charge for the same food everyday is ridiculous. The Loose Moose restaurant served the same food for breakfast 3 days in a row and the same thing for dinner each night. We didn't even eat on the resort our last night because the food was disgusting. How can you charge full price for a resort that is only half open. Though the waterpark was nice it does need updating and because of all the construction no one could utilize any of the outdoor activities. I think my family should receive a refund for our stay. To charge full price for a resort in this much disarray is ridiculous- and I will never stay at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos again.

Aug 4yh during CPR training at great wolf of the Pocono my 16 yr old daughter was touched in appropriately by another student she went and told management what happened. My daughter reported to work the Tues following the incident at 830 am for her scheduled shift and 1130 I got a phone call from HR stating that I had to pick her up that she was suspended both parties until further notice until they do a investigation. I explained that this dissident happened days ago and why wasn't it settled yet. She said she had payroll and a film shooting on Monday. That next day Tues my daughter got a phone call from HR asking where she was and what time did the incident occur so they could review the video again and that she HR felt that it was mutual. My daughter said how and why would it be mutual if she reported the situation. As of today 8/15 I haven't heard from HR if my daughter still has her job. I spoke to HR and asked that I be called after there investigation. My daughter was so excited for her first job she was so happy and talked all about her day prior to this incident. . she loved the staff and everything. She even asked me if I loved my job because she loves hers.

Stayed at GWL Manteca for one night in March . My credit card has been being charged a “fee” every month on the 3rd of the month since our stay. I have called multiple times to customer service to corporate and front desk managers, each time I am told someone will definitely call me back and they have no idea what the charge is and how it’s happening. Meanwhile no refund of the charges and they keep stealing money from my credit card every month like clockwork.

the three deposits taken out of my checking and causing it to be negative for the weekend. Have not been able to do anything all weekend due to manager not giving me my credit last week.

I paid 224.[protected]

and 67.[protected]

162.00 towel charge that was called in the very next day and I still do not have this credit.

272.00 08/08/2021 Deposit taken out of my checking again the day I checked in.

The clerk swiped my card twice and caused it to take the 272.00 out. I had already paid my deposit

manager made a small adjustment the day I called about towels.

She changed a 770.00 receipt I received to 500.00.

But that does not change my checking account. I want to report her for changing receipts and giving me the business.

Its the first one I noticed out of my checking account. Also causing my checking account to go negative and still in negative status!

On 8/4/22 I tried several times to get through the website for the 84 degrees sales to make reservations. I kept getting you are in the waiting room then it would lock up and could not get through again.

My family and I have stayed quite a few times at the Poconos location and love everything about it. I do not think it is fair that since your website failed and could not handle the volume that we lose out on the discount now.

Tambra Di Iorio

[protected]

[protected]@gmail.com

This was our first time visiting GWL. We visited the Williamsburg, VA location. Upon arrival (8/8), the customer service rep to check us in did a good job. Once our rooms were finally ready, one of the rooms smelled like mildew. I had to contact Willow several times and it was the next night (8/9) after 6p before anyone brought a deodorizer which had to stay in the room all night, it was loud, and only helped while it was on. If any time it turned off the mildew smell immediately overwhelmed the room. My asthma still acting up behind that room. There were no other room offered to switch us out because we had deluxe suite (2 adjoining rooms). Also, while booking the reservations, we were only offered an outdoor cabana. There was no difference in indoor or out door, primeum or otherwise. Our canana had a wasp nest inside. I reported it several times and noone responded. We sis not get to actually enjoy the cabana because of the wasps. I also purchased the birthday package which was suppose to be arranged to which door/room affix decorations however staff already decorated the door/room of thier choosing which was not the room the birthday boy was in. A lot of online information did not match what was actually provided at GWL. The workers in Buckets were sweating profusely because of the heat and wiping their face with their clothes and hands them went back to fixing food. I cancelled my food order when I saw that. That's disgusting. Also, there was a lot of running, jumping, and screaming from floor above our suite and I had to contact WILLOW several times to dispatch security That did not work. The noise kept going until 1 am. I let my kid get enough sleep and we left the resort. Dis not stay to even think about using the waterpark the remainder of the day. This was the worst 1st impression I've ever had with a waterpark and we had high expectations. Turns out GWL is overpriced and overrated. We will not recommend to others to visit, especially if the Williamsburg location.

We checked into Great Wolfe Lodge Anaheim on August 3rd for 3 nights. Upon check in we inquired about adding a 4th night which the guy could care less about even looking into at that point it was more or less come back tomorrow when I don’t have to do it attitude.

We were booked into the Grand Bear Suite - 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms so a big suite. We had no problem moving our 4th night but the only solution they gave us was the smallest room possible at 3x the price per night as the biggest suite in the resort (which is what we were in) how is that even possible! Or feasible or even realistic. They seem to just randomly make up $ based on the person at the front desk. We just assumed being our 3rd visit to the resort there would be some compassion and consideration for returning guests and actually want them to continue coming back. There was such disregard by the staff it’s astonishing we would even think at the possibility of returning. In a family resort as such you would think there mission was to satisfy each and every guest and at least try to have a compromise both parties agree on. Such a shame.

My family and I went to the great wolf lodge on july 31st, 2022 for my daughters 9th birthday. When we got there we checked in and went to our rooms. On August 1st, 2022 my family and I was in the water park area when hotel staff locked our room doors with all our stuff still inside and told us that we had to leave. I then told them I will not leave until I get my stuff out the room and I will need a refund because we are getting forced to leave when we didn't cause any problems. They canceled my reservation for that day of august 1st, 2022 without me requesting it to be canceled.The manager called the police and starter saying "you people" towards us and made up a lie when other hotel guests was walkin passed. She said "you people stole a lamp." Then i asked how did we steal a lamp and we where all in the water park area and how would we steal a lamp without any of the staff seeing us walk out the front door with it. The manager continued to go on in a very unprofessional manner and told me that i will not be getting any money back and that they were going to charge me a extra 500 and didnt say why.

We do have video proof of the incident aslo that I can send in.

Now today August 3, 2022 as my family continue to reach out the the company by phone they are now saying we violated the terms and conditions witch I have fully read threw and my family and myself did not violate any terms or the conditions or any of the rulse.

Although we greatly enjoyed the waterpark we cannot say the same for the room(4007). The uncleanliness of the room was not suitable for ANY guests. The pull out sofa bed was unfit for anyone to sleep on it. The carpet was so dirty, the microwave and the fridge did not work as well. Our stay was very disappointing, Definitely not worth the expensive price.