Honey Creek Resort, Moravia IA

The new Honeycreek resort by achieva is terrible. The restaurant service was poor, prices too high and not even open all day and there is a 20 minute drive to any other eatery. Dogs are allowed and not monitored. Small children were in the hot tub with no monitoring. Very dangerous. When I asked about the age limit, there was none. Part of the indoor water park was shut down, the kiddie section. The outdoor inflatable water park was closed for good. Not enough staff to rent out pontoons for fishing so no way to participate. The clientele was poor, the staff was poor, and its location was out in the middle of nowhere, which left us trying to entertain grandchildren with little amenities. The bike rental was not monitored so one family could keep the bikes next to their room all weekend leaving no opportunities for anyone else to check them out. The train ride was dangerous, the driver almost turned it over on its side. The horse for the carriage ride was made ill due to overuse in hot weather. So poorly managed. I will never return. My opinion was shared by many.

BRIDES BEWARE

If you're looking at having your wedding here, PLEASE, do not even contact this company. Go somewhere else.

My fiance and I were going to have our wedding here this October. After this new management company had taken over we have had nothing but troubles. We had issues ranging from new management not honoring things that were set in place by the old owners, crucial information not being available (catering and bar), when options were finally presented to us they constantly changed, massive turn over in staff (we had 3 different wedding coordinators and 2 chefs in our time with them), wedding tastings getting cancelled, emails being ignored, guests being told they could not book rooms with the front desk, front desk booking wrong rooms, ect. I had to email almost every week to try and get information and was either ignored for days or told they would reach out when it was available. They never follow up, if you wanted information to try and finalize your wedding you have to email and do all the follow up. They offered some compensation for our troubles but when issues continued to happen and we were unsure of catering options 3 months before our wedding, we were told theres nothing else that can be done because profit margins are already slim. We never received any real apologizes and once all of our issues were taken to the CEO of Honey Creek, we were greeted with the utmost unprofessionalism. Beth Henderson, the CEO of Honey Creek, ignored our emails for a week, then told us that they are not in a position to lose profit due to PREVIOUS managements lack of professionalism and commitment and she is willing to just release us from our contract. We had zero confidence that Honey Creek would be able to provide us a decent wedding, let alone the wedding of our dreams, so we took the CEOs offer and cancelled our contract with Honey Creek 3 months before we were suppose to get married.

My friend tried to get marry at this venue and it was a DISASTER. My friend, the bride, is incredibly sweet and tried to get the new management to respect her planned wedding that was coming up in the near future. The new management didn’t give any reason for their extreme lack of communication during their transition into this new job. The bride simply needed communication which is KEY in planning anything let alone the most important day in a couples life. Definitely suggest taking your money elsewhere!

Little dated but nice. They didn't have the water activities like the blob or course. Was told they may not be back so that's unfortunate

Our room was less then desirable. The tub was rusting out, the beds were uncomfortable and the pillows were not full sized. The price of the room was outrageous for what you get. Our room faced the parking lot and had lights shining in all night with no curtains to block it out. The thermostat also had a bright light on all night. The rooms were very loud and you can hear everything from neighboring rooms as well as the hallway. However, the grounds are very nice and there is potential here that is not being tapped into. Will not come again. Also the indoor pool does not open till 11 Am and check out is also 11 am does not make a lot of sense. I had heard the RV park does not have bathrooms or showers either.

Just had a good IPA off the tap and enjoyed sitting out on the patio with our fur baby Izzygirl.

EDIT

We came back 1 more time. Be warned, there is a new management company that’s lrettyand the amenities are nonexistent. The great obstacle course in the water at the beach is gone, the nature center is closed for good, the golf is no longer included. That’s pretty much what we come here for. We booked this a year ago, all those things were included. No one bothered to tell us they would not be. We come every year, and book a 4 bedroom cabin for 4-5 nights. We are booking elsewhere next year.

We go every year. It has gotten super run down and not maintained. The cabin we are in has broken HVAC so they installed window units in every room. They have clearly been there a long time. They don't seal very good, so there are hundreds of bugs in the room. Also, they are super loud, so you can’t even have a conversation in the living room without shouting. And forget trying to watch the TV. The porch around the cabin is falling apart, literally there are boards hanging loose all around. The grounds look rough. They are understaffed so amenities are open super short hours.

Our room was outdated and smelled moldy in the bathroom. Charges $10 a day to rent a crib, indoor water smells like dirty lake water, restaurant understaffed and pricy, fireplace didn’t work in room, lightbulbs out in bathroom so dark, had to request extra towels because so thin. These things were empty in our room: toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel because it was out.
Room keys are continually deactivated so several trip to get working with baby in hand.
One elevator so long waits.
Front door doesn’t open when pressing accessible button, so hard to get in and out.
The amenities are actually pretty slim; carriage ride and train rides is scheduled once a day, bikes are all over so not out back, firewood to big is out; indoor water park needs a deep cleaning, beach could use some work.

Expensive for what you get.

Just another point of view after seeing the news segment on Honey Creek Resorts change in management. My son WAS to be marrying on October 7th. After multiple and continual issues with the new mgmt they have now had to postpone their wedding. They booked their October wedding with Honey Creek prior to the change in mgmt. They have had the worst experience with the new mgmt from the get go. They have gone thru 3 different event planners, as 2 of them quit/left/retired for one reason or another. They were promised a menu by mid to late April and as of June the resort still did not have a complete menu nor a full time chef. Items that were discussed at the original booking with the previous mgmt event planner were not honored. They up charged the ballroom as a backup venue (in case of inclement weather) as my son and daughter in law want an outdoor ceremony. That was set with the original planner but new mgmt said it would be an additional $500 to reserve it or they would book a second wedding that day. They were told they could have a plated meal at the pavilion, but then new mgmt said, no it would have to be buffet. Finally had a tasting for the meal and 3 of the chosen options were either not made, changed to a totally different item or replaced with an up charged option. When we went for the tasting we were told that the chef was a temporary and a full time had not been chosen. How were they to make decisions for their dinner if they are not even tasting food prepared by the person working their wedding? Decorating items that were decided on with previous mgmt were no longer options. It just goes on and on. This new management had little to no interest in making any meaningful or monetary compensation to the couple for Honey Creeks inabilities, changes and staffing issues. (The couple was told that 3 wedding guest hotel rooms would be comped, but that isn't saving the couple anything! } The end result is when the resort was contacted about these concerns via phone calls and or emails, responses took days up to a week and usually took a follow-up email to get only half an answer to the concerns brought up. Lots of ignoring and no concern by Honey Creek in making their approaching wedding day anything but unnecessarily and excessively stressful. When the bride to be reached out to the CFO- which she was only given an email, not a phone number- a response was only provided after a second email was sent out after 3 days of hearing nothing. And that response was to say that they could not provide any additional compensation to the couple as the resort would be losing money if they did and they would let them out of their contract, less than 90 days before their wedding! The CFO's said they would need to talk to the planner who retired! I can't even say I could give them any stars in a review. So very and highly disappointed!

Supposedly HC is under new management. While the lake and buildings are lovely, the amenities are HORRIBLE. Restaurant not open during key hours, no coffee in lobby in the morning, fitness room too warm and sad, bartender inexperienced and service was slow. However, the rates were high! I wouldn't stay here again until they get their act together. Very poor value for the money.

I wouldn’t recommend if you actually want to have a good time. There’s nothing to do, and the things there are to do, cost an extreme amount of money. The room had bugs, and the cabins were not stocked with basic essentials. I will hopefully never return

WEDDING LOOKERS BEWARE! Under new management and a total disaster! My brother and his fiancé had been working with previous management to plan their special day. Contracts were signed, deposits made, arrangements were coming together until the management change…. The “CEO” (if you even want to call her that….) Beth Henderson, dropped the ball on EVERYTHING. Meetings, food tastings, and back up plans for the wedding were cancelled or changed last minute. Emails with question and concerns went days and days without a response. Beth continually REFUSED to take ownership in her new found business blaming everything on previous management. She not only made the bride and groom but all family involved feel like baggage being drug over from previous management. She was uncooperative in making sure her paying bride and groom were taken care of, and their big day was going to go smoothly. The utter disrespect and lack of professionalism Beth showed was unreasonable and embarrassing for a new owner.
NOW 3 months before they are due to say “I Do” they are left WITHOUT A WEDDING VENUE, already purchased flowers, dresses, rented tuxedos, sent out invites, wedding registry’s are done, gifts have been purchased, family and friends have made plans to come to town.

Aside from the disastrous “management” and and unruly “CEO” this place has gone down hill and fast! Used to be such a wonderful fun place to enjoy a summer day but since the management change ITS NOT WORTH THE TIME OR MONEY!
DONT LET THE PICTURES FOOL YOU!

My youngest sibling was going to have their wedding here in October, but with the recent change in management, the new management really dropped the ball! Excuses were made, time and time again for not getting the plans laid out; ie.the tasting, the layouts, the backup plans. The new management was contacted politely many times on these topics and would go days even weeks with out a response. I don't know about most companies but generally speaking you should be on top of paying customer's emails and concerns/questions. It shouldn't have to escalate to a strongly worded emails to get a response. Honestly I find it to be highly offensive and rude not to be prompt when dealing with such customers who are getting married at your venue. Shame on you! Valuable time and resources wasted due to your unfortunate management skills. I hope that this is fixed quickly.

A joke of a wedding venue. Brides STEER CLEAR unless you want to deal with considerable amounts of stress. This company's current management is completely fine with taking thousands of your dollars but will refuse to accommodate you and give you what you want. Instead of owning up to their shortcomings like any company with some decency would, they ignore your emails, blame the previous management for their "lack of professionalism, " and to top it all off, inform you that you can just be let out of your contract 3 months before your big day.

This is a remote location. The golf course was great and the walking riding trails were a wonderful bike ride in the mornings.

The staff is trying very hard. They seem understaffed (as many people working were there all day & night). I had no kiddos with me, but I heard great things about the water park and activities.

The food was OK. Again the service staff was kind and very accommodating. Please consider a new coffee. Folgers is garbage.

This place is amazing! The staff is super accommodating and friendly! Great fishing. Nice golf course. Lots of biking and walking trails. Wildlife everywhere!

Restaurant wasn't even open at 8: 30 on a weekend, the pool was closed, there coffee service didn't even start till almost all of the few amount of customers were gone, the beds looked like they haven't been washed in years, and the light above the coffee machine didn't turn on until like 10 minutes after we flipped the switch, definetly would not recommend this place to anyone, the only positive thing about this place was the location, nothing else was even remotely good.