Hotwire Hotel: 4* Osage Beach - Lake Ozark (Village of Four Seasons) Camden on The Lake

[AaronJB]

This is going to be a long-ish discussion because while I think it was one of the nicest properties I've ever stayed at, if you asked me if I would stay here again/would I recommend it to others, the answer would be an enthusiastic yes, but with some caveats. I think this property offers an exceptional experience, but I think it depends significantly on what you are looking for. 

 

Some backstory: This property had been discussed, but had thought about ending the trip with a drive through Iowa (Field of Dreams, etc) until late in the planning process when we came back to the idea of this place (and a HOTWIRE deal appeared that made it less expensive than some of the other options we had been looking at.)

 

 During the first part of the trip, it became clear that it was going to be rainy on the second part of the trip, so I figured I'd try writing the hotel to lock in a lake view, figuring that if it was rainy the idea of sitting outside to get lake views in the middle of storms wouldn't work that well. We were told $40 for an upgrade to a lake view suite. Thought that wasn't cheap but acceptable as upgrades go. 

 

Get to the property and it becomes very clear that the suites (upgrades) view the lake and regular rooms do not. Some rooms on the side may get a slight view of the lake, but the majority of them are going to be viewing the parking lot or road in front of the property. If you are coming here and you are going to spend most of your time out on the water (you can rent boats, jet skis, whatever here), an upgrade is not a necessity. However, the website did not really sell the suites and the result was, quite frankly, rather stunning: walk in to find the first part of the room consisted of an enormous living room area with fully stocked kitchen, leather couch, 50 inch flatscreen TV and surround sound system, complete with Yamaha receiver. Very, very tall ceilings. Fireplace. Giant bathroom with separate, tall shower that had shower head in front and back, TV and jetted tub. Open what appeared to be a closet and find an LG washer/dryer (doing all of your trip laundry before you get home = priceless.) Lastly, large bedroom (sliding door separating it) with balcony that offered a mostly gorgeous view of the lake and far off into the distance. 

 

So, room is amazing. Lobby, public areas, all lovely. Gorgeous view from the lobby. Movie theater that can be reserved. Place has pretty much everything you can ask for and prices for this, that and the other are surprisingly not outrageous given that it's a bit of a drive back to more in the way of restaurants and other options.

 

The odd thing with this property is that it does have two different personalities. You have elegant public areas and rooms that are very modern and pretty much have everything that one could want. I'd be very, very happy to live in that suite. I saw the smaller regular rooms and they were perfectly nice, too.

 

This could really be a very pricey, romantic getaway-style resort. This is a 4* property on HOTWIRE but I think 4.5* is really much more accurate.

 

However, walking around the property it quickly became clear that this is a very much a party resort and I simply was there before party season. This was made clear when we encountered a very nice employee while taking the elevator who talked about what insanity/a mob scene the upcoming weekend would be. The restaurant complex is H. Toad's (you know you're in a party resort when the restaurant is called H. Toad's.) Food was fine and was able to get a window seat because, well, there wasn't anyone else around. After a very exhausting first part of the trip and storms earlier in the day, we decided to extend the stay as driving several hours again the next day wasn't going to happen, so we extended a day.  The bar and restaurant are fine, but have a wildly different feel than the rest of the property. Also, there is a swim-up bar in the pool, which is right by the lake. It became clear that the restaurant was popular with boaters, as the docks outside the property essentially were like watching the runways at an airport: various boats would come by, refuel, people would stop in and then head out again. Across the way/next to the hotel was "Shady Gators", a bar/restaurant that was a fine enough place but from across the way looked like it was out of an 80's comedy.

 

That said, given that this was before the Memorial Day holiday, it was quiet. Well, aside from the restaurant playing music from its outdoor speakers early in the morning. This actually didn't bother me until the second morning, when at 7am the speakers began blaring Lou Bega's "Mambo Number 5" and I figured at that point that perhaps it was time to get going.

 

Overall though, in all seriousness, $99 - a $15 coupon + $40 upgrade = $124. For that room and the experience overall, well worth it. 

 

Overall:

Want a beautiful resort with a party scene? Have I got the place for you: come here during the on season.

Want a beautiful resort in a peaceful setting? Have I got the place for you: come here during off season.

Want a lake view? Be sure to try and upgrade, as you almost certainly won't get it via HOTWIRE. This was an instance where I thought $40 was well worth it.

Going to be out most of the day? Upgrade may not be necessary and this is just a very nice option, especially if you get it around $100.

 

Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Free Internet, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry, Spa, Free Parking, Blind Accessible, Deaf Accessible, Travel Accessible, Room Accessible, Bathroom Accessible, Wheelchair Accessible, Handicapped Parking, Roll-in Shower, Pet Friendly

 

Used HOTWIRE link. Will have to put up a few pictures after sorting through everything from the trip.

 

 

 

 

[thereuare]

Sounds like you score a great deal with this one and glad to hear you enjoyed your stay and the upraded room!

Thanks for the detailed review and addition to the Hotwire Hotel List.

Enjoy your stay.