The Lodge at Wakulla Springs

Accommodation Quality: Rooms feature comfortable beds with high-quality linens, and some mention spacious walk-in closets. The property is described as well-maintained, with a classic, stylish design and a sense of historical significance.

This was not our first trip to Wakulla Springs, but it was just as fun as in the past. The water is beautiful and refreshing on a hot summer day. Our trip down the Wakulla River was the best one yet. We saw lots of manatees, alligators, and birds. We didn't stay at the Lodge, but we did check out the beautiful lobby and gift shop. If you haven't visited Wakulla Springs, I would suggest this trip! It is great fun in the outdoors for the entire family!

We stayed for 4 nights at the lodge while visiting family in Tallahassee. It is a beautiful old lodge, filled with antique furniture and details from the past. Admittedly, we don’t stay at hotels much with our 2 children, so I was surprised and disappointed that the lodge doesn’t make much of an effort to make it more family friendly, considering the main attraction is swimming at the springs. First, I was surprised by the additional fees added for amenities that are typically included in other hotels, like the $15 charge for the opportunity to pull the couch out for sleeping, or the $20 a night charge to have a mini fridge in the room. I was then reprimanded by the front desk staff for requesting the fridge when we checked in at 7pm, because she complained that she then had to carry it up the stairs to our room after the maintenance staff left for the day. With children who wake up early, we needed to have snacks in the room in order to wait until 7:30am when breakfast service starts. Even a single $30 microwave available in a shared space for the entire lodge of guests would have added convenience and saved us from having to eat out for every meal. The room was beautiful, and yet had a single towel rack. Why not have extra hooks, knowing that people will spend the days swimming and needing extra places to hang suits and towels? Additionally, it would have been nice for the hotel to have additional towels for guests to use for swimming, rather than having to pack your own beach towels. I’ve never been to a hotel that has a pool that didn’t have additional towels. It felt like management made decisions about what other hotels were doing 20 years ago, and never updated their offerings. Having coffee and espresso drinks available in the soda shop would be an easy way for the lodge to make more income. Showing “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” on repeat every single day in the lobby is cute but why not rotate family friendly movies that are shown in the evenings for guests? The rooms are beautiful and yet could stand to be updated. The closets are enormous and could fit an entire bunk bed for children and then they could charge for a 2 bedroom room. Just has a lot of wasted space that could be better utilized now that it’s not the 1930s when the lodge was built. The food at the lodge could also stand to be updated. It would be nice if there were more vegetarian options rather than mostly/all meat or fish- based meals. We never ate at the restaurant for dinner since our family told us they waited 1 hour for food without any updates from the staff about the wait. The voucher system for breakfast was also a bit confusing and would have been nice if everyone could just order off the same menu rather than a very limited “voucher menu”. Finally, while the lobby is beautiful and feels complete, the rest of the lodge grounds have limited to no seating. The sunroom area outside the lobby feels like wasted space, and could have comfortable seating