I have 2 main issues with this campground: the first being customer service, the second being the golf cart policy.

My parents booked an extended weekend in October 2023 for fall break and were pulling their camper down to stay. We have stayed at Lakewood multiple times previously, and never had any issues. Unfortunately, my parents’ camper was t-boned in Florence on the way down to the campground, which ended up totaling the camper. This happened around 7:00-7:30pm the day of their arrival. Immediately, I tried to contact the campground to notify them and see if I could move their days to a different time (as they no longer had a camper).

My first problem I encountered was I called and called and called and the phone lines would go straight to an automated message that the office was closed, need I remind you this was around 7:30pm when their offices close at 8:00pm. I assumed their office hours were modified during the off-season and I decided to try to find the guard shack. I tried calling around 10 different numbers and somehow ended up calling the guard shack. They answered and said their offices were still opened and transferred me to talk with someone. A receptionist ended up transferring me to the office manager and I left a message, and was assured I would be given a call the next day. The initial person said there wouldn’t be a problem and they were sorry to hear about the camper. The next day I didn’t hear anything in the morning, so I called at lunch. I spoke with a very nice lady who said she would speak with the manager and give me a call right back. This whole time I was just wanting to reschedule the days, because had went here multiple times a year, I knew we would be back. The receptionist called me back and said that they would not be able to give my parents all the days back because they didn’t call 24-hours in advance before the first day to move the days (now, if I could have seen into the future to know my parents were going to be in an accident that would total their favorite camper, I for sure would have called ahead, unfortunately I can’t do that).

I shared my concerns about there not being an exceptions for extenuating circumstances, such as accident on the way there. I asked the lady if the office manager knew about the situation, to which she replied yes she did know. She then offered to move the days (minus 1 day) or refund the days (minus 1 day). I was surprised that I could get a refund and quickly took that option and we booked our next stay with Oceanlakes and were able to take our own golf cart.

It was super disappointing, but I guess I understand that policy needs to take precedent over everything.