We had reservations for a cottage for 2 nights at Indiana Beach Resort on June 27-29th, 2005. We ended up leaving after the first night. When we arrived at the gate, we were directed to the main office to check in. There was no available parking spaces as they only had about 4 - 5 spots in front which were all filled. Within the resort, there aren't official streets, so the "street" we were waiting in had no lane markings, had stacked trash dumpsters in the middle of the road, maintainance vehicles, and to top it off, while the rest of us were waiting in the car during the check in process, a big school bus tried to get through all this chaos, and ended up backing out. After much back and forth turning around, we were able to squeeze out.

The Cottage
When we arrived at the cottage, (#301) 2 of the bedrooms with a full size bed in them could not fit much else. In both bedrooms, there was about 12 inches between the bed and the wall on the foot side of the bed and the wall opposite the door. The door side of the bed had about 20 inches and the head of the bed was against the wall. There was a small mirror on the wall with a small shelf underneath it, enough room to hold a brush, comb, and deoderant. There was also a kitchen-type chair, but we had to move it to make the bed. That's it for furniture in those bedrooms. There was one dresser in the kitchen for people to put clothes in, and one small closet on the closed-in back porch. Also on the back porch was a single bed. The master bedroom had a full size bed and a single bed in it.

None of the cottages provide any sheets, towels, toilet paper, microwave oven, toaster, kitchen sponge, kitchen towel, or any cleaning products. They say they provide a broom/dustpan, mop/bucket, dishes, cookware, and utensils, but in the utensil drawer there was only a knife, large spoon, and a floppy pancake turner. Our letter said they would provide a grill, so we brought charcoal, but when we got there, there wasn't a grill and we had to argue to get one by showing them their own letter they sent to us saying we'd have a grill. Of course then they said they sent the wrong letter. They finally relented and brought us a grill.

We went into Monticello and there is a Kroger there. We spent about $30 on some utensils, toilet paper, paper towels, kitchen sponge, dish soap, dis-infectant cleaner for the bathroom, mopping liquid and heavy-duty foil (the grill they brought was all rusty). When we returned, I went to make some koolaid for the kids and found there was no pitcher or container. I ended up making it in the coffee pot.

The Park
This is much smaller than the big parks like Great America, but it has the big park prices. $27 to ride all day. Water park is a separate $20. The Water Park/Beach closes at 6 PM every day. The amusement park stayed open till about midnight.

The Pool
This was awful. The worst pool I have ever been to. Hardly anyone was there and I found out why. It says to shower first but there were no showers in sight. It was in the 90's and I think the pool water was much hotter. Not refreshing at all. In addition I felt something warm touch my leg and it was a phlem-looking glob of goo and hair about the size and shape of a hot dog bun. I was so grossed out. We got out of the pool quick. So much for the "free pool pass" with the use of a cottage.

Conclusion
The best part of this getaway was playing dominos (we brought them, they don't supply any games) in our cabin in the evening. We couldn't see spending another 2 days at this place so we packed up and went. But not so fast... There is a full page list of clean up chores to do in order to get your deposit back. In addition to dishes washed and put away, we had to clean the bathroom, the shower and toilet, wash the kitchen counter and table, sweep and mop every room in the cabin. We waited in our car while the staff decided whether the clean up met with their approval before we could check out and get our deposit back.