I was reluctant to book a room at this so-called resort after I read the 2 vastly different reviews that were already on the trip advisor page. One party gave the place 5 stars, the other only 1.

Well, I must vote in the rating 1 category after 2 nights there this past week. Highlights of my stay:

* I was assigned to a nicely laid out Non-Smoking golf suite that blatantly REEKED of cigar smoke. It was hot and muggy, but I was game to open a window to try to reduce the stench. No luck with the windows. I debated whether or not I could hold my breath for 48 hrs, decided against that option, and asked for a room change.

* I was happy to be changed quickly and politely to a NS hotel room, but upon opening the door----the reeking and stench continued! I raced to the sliding door and opened it for ventilation. The sheer curtains and drapes were heavily-laden with cigarette smoke, and my hands smelled foul from just touching them for a minute or so. Then, I sat down at the bedside table to make a phone call. The table was streaked and smelled like puke. The telephone face was FILTHY and had hairs stuck in the goo on it .....not mine. The wall behind the bedside lamp had gobs of God-knows-what stuck to it. So did the other walls in the room.

*In the bathroom, there was dirt and mold both along the sides and in the tub itself, like it hadn't seen a good scrubbing in awhile. The countertops again were streaked and foul-smelling.

It wasn't worth changing rooms again, as I had been travelling for 2 days and was too tired to pursue the situation further. I concluded that if both a NS golf suite and a NS hotel room stunk, it was likely there were many other stinking NS rooms at the place.

What also really intrigued me was why the NS rooms were all directly across the hall from Smoking rooms. It was necessary for me to stuff a towel along the bottom of the door to keep the fumes from wafting into my space.

I didn't even take a chance on the restaurant or spa, based on the comments from the other discontented customer.

Beware, travellers who expect to receive first-class accommodations at a place that calls itself a resort, and is not. Cypress Bend fails to come close to the standard that other resorts maintain.

If I had to offer others a benchmark upon which they might base their consideration of a venture to Cypress Bend, I would tell them that it ranks more than a tad below a 50-year-old unrenovated Holiday Inn.

Thank you Cypress Bend for bringing relaxation and comfort to a stressful time. I was visiting my husband at Fort Polk in the days before he leaves for Iraq, when we took a trip to Cypress Bend in Many, LA. We started our morning there with a delightfully delicious breakfast at their restaurant. We then relaxed for a bit by the fire in the lobby. Both of these moments were accented beautifully with the gorgeous view of the Toledo Bend Lake. Our relaxation continued as we enjoyed outstanding massages at the spa. We decided to continue our peaceful morning with a hike on the resort's trail along the lake - what breathtaking views! Finally, we ended our time with picking up a keepsake from the pro golf shop (a fun Christmas tree ornament.) The resort was fantastic and the staff was professional, helpful, and ever so friendly. When we decorate our future Christams trees with our Cypress Bend keepsake ornament, we will always remember the serenity and joy we experienced at this time. Thank you!!!

My husband and I and another couple stayed at Cypress Bend Resort the first weekend in May 2004. We ate in the restaurant, spent a considerable amount in the gift shop, and spent over seven hours total at the spa so I felt we received the full “Cypress Bend Resort Experience”. What a nightmare. The service received was inexplicably terrible.

The Hotel Itself:
Our room was attractive but stunk so horribly of old ash tray. I do not imagine even a three pack a day smoker would not have noticed the stench. We were supposed to move rooms the following day due to the smoking situation and were assured all of our things would be moved while we were out. That did not happen. Upon our return that evening I went to the front desk and pointed out that our things were not in our new room. After 15 minutes our luggage had not arrived. I would assume that because they had already inconvenienced us they would have sent someone immediately but that did not happen. We were dirty and tired and unable to take a shower without our things so we once again went to the front desk and asked if we could just stay in our old room. My husband expressed our many frustrations to the person at the front desk and was assured that the general manager would call him to discuss the problems. Our stay was a month ago and so far no phone call. Obviously the management does not care about improving any of the numerous flaws.

The Restaurant:
Every experience at the restaurant was terrible, especially for about $100 per couple for dinner. My three companions ordered steaks and they were all COLD. The four of us were the only people in the restaurant so it wasn’t like they were too busy to bring the food out when it was ready. Then we ordered dessert. It was frozen rock hard and completely inedible. We complained to our server and she took them back to the kitchen. She returned shortly with the response “it says on the box to serve it right out of the freezer”. We spoke to the manager and she did reduce our bill. This was the only attempt made to correct any of the problems that we experienced all weekend.

The next morning I called and placed a breakfast order to-go BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE ROOM SERVICE. I did this out of desperation. Any other food options are miles away and I was limited on time. The person took my order and told me it would be about 15 minutes. When I arrived at the restaurant I was told they did not have any to-go containers and that I could eat off the buffet. None of the things I ordered were out on the buffet. I had to wait another 10 minutes. I was charged the buffet price which was higher than what I had ordered originally and at this point I had to rush to make my spa appointment. Oh what a relaxing weekend!

The Spa:
I was not thrilled with any of my spa services. The La Stone Therapy was okay. The “facial” was a few minutes of skin care products being applied and removed from my face. A mask was applied and I was left for 20 minutes. I was so unbelievably bored! My pedicure was cut short so it wouldn’t be fair to comment on that but I will say the same person was doing both services so if the facial was any indication…and I found it unsettling that this person that had been rubbing someone else’s feet immediately before I arrived was then smearing stuff on my face. The person performing the facial and pedicure was extremely nice so I hate say anything negative but I just felt this treatment was not worth $50 and she cut part of my foot during the pedicure.

The Gift Shop:
The only thing I enjoyed. Small but with a cute selection of jewelry, picture frames, etc. The lady that runs it was very personable.