Maricopa Riverside Lodge

First off, let me say I’ve stayed at my fair share of budget motels. My problem with the Maricopa Riverside Lodge is it’s a budget motel priced like a premium property.
The king room was $ 178/​night (incl. taxes). For comparison, on South Padre Island I’ve stayed at a similar budget motel (comparable in construction, tourist location, amenities, furnishings), and paid $ 49-​$ 89 depending on the season.
If you were bringing your family here to float the river or go fishing, this place is probably a great value. But for a couple who came for a weekend to see a show at Whitewater Amphitheater just down the road, it wasn’t a good choice. There are no quality restaurants/​bars close to the property, no local attractions (other than the river), just nothing to do unless you drive somewhere else.
If you want anything to eat other than after-​all-​day-​on-​the-​river greasy/​fried stuff, you’ll need to drive closer to Canyon Lake (7 miles) or to New Braunfels (15 miles). If you’re not into floating the river (or if the river is closed due to dangerous conditions) and looking for other entertainment, you’re driving to New Braunfels or to Austin or San Antonio (both 50 – 60 miles).
Also, be aware of the property’s cancellation policy. Not beware, just be aware. There have been substantial rains and flooding in central/​south Texas recently. So much rain that for the weekend of our stay, the Guadalupe River was closed to recreation due to dangerous conditions. But just looking up river flow/​cfs can’t tell you about flooding conditions, so I called the MRL on the Wednesday before our weekend reservations. My call was answered by an answering machine so I left a message asking for a call back to let me know about local conditions so I could make a decision about whether or not to make the trip. No one ever bothered to call me back. And why should they? MRL has got my money whether I show up or not, or whether or not I could even get to the property because of flooded roadways. Per the cancellation policy on their website (edited for space):
«If you must cancel your confirmed reservation regardless of reason (including bad weather, illness, death…), you will be charged 30% of the deposit. The deposit will be refunded less the 30% if notice to cancel is received by no less than 14 days prior to the scheduled arrival time. Cancellations made less than 14 days will forfeit the full deposit entirely. There will be no refunds for inclement weather, including hurricanes, mandatory evacuations, or states of emergency.»
I decided to take the chance and we made the trip. Luckily, it only rained overnight and was clear during the days and for the concert. Still, I would have appreciated a return call regarding local conditions.
There’s also no on-​site management to speak of which could be an issue if something was wrong with your room.
Well, something was wrong with the room the next day. The toilet backed up. Yuck. Fortunately, when my husband went to the front office, someone was there and brought a plunger to the room a few minutes later and left it for us to use. So now I’m in an over-​priced budget motel where you get to perform maintenance on your own room. Sigh.
The negatives of this property grossly outweighed the positives for me. I’ve already investigated camping down the road and closer to Whitewater Amphitheater for our next concert trip. Yes, I would rather camp than pay premium prices at this property again.
GOOD THINGS
* On the Guadalupe River; walking distance to tube rental companies
* Nice property with deck, grills, pool (except when invaded by loud, local kids late at night), playground
* Very basic amenities: coffee maker with coffee, microwave, refrigerator with freezer, alarm clock, hair dryer, cable TV (but no premium movie channels like HBO, etc.), table with two chairs, bath soap, shampoo/​conditioner combo
* All non-​smoking rooms
BAD THINGS
* The room was clean enough, but just clean enough. Brown tile floors disguise a lot of dirt.
* No housekeeping while you are checked into your room. If you want new towels, you have to exchange your towels at the front office. (Ironically, there is an envelope to leave a tip for the housekeeper. For what? I expect the room to be clean when I check in.)
* Lots of road noise from FM 306, noisy window A/​C unit, and guests in other rooms («thin walls»). It sounded like someone was moving furniture all night above us.
* Room towels can’t be taken to the pool, but nothing I saw on their website alerted me to the fact that I needed to bring my own pool towels from home.
* The loudest window A/​C unit ever. Louder than the overnight rain.
* Very uncomfortable mattress and pillows
* Everything just done on the cheap: outdated décor and furniture; Family Dollar liquid soap in dispensers; styrofoam cups for coffee; polyester resin wallboard.
* Free wifi didn’t work with provided password.

Stayed here again in March 2016. Kathy, the owner LJ and office staff were friendly as ever. Always welcoming to my service dog Roscoe with a treat. The updated rooms are beautiful new flat screen TVs. As one review said if you’re looking for the Ritz Carlton this ain’t it however it is a great value it’s right on the river you can fish from your back door or float down the river from any of the places around. It’s within walking distance to a nice little outdoor amphitheater where the beer is cold and the entertainment is always good. This is the only place that I will stay and recommend in the Canyon Lake area

very nice place to stay for a few days along the Guadalupe. Tubing is easy access and the rooms are just fine for what you need to spend a day on the river and rest in a nice AC afterwards.

If you expect the Ritz-​Carlton, you’ll be disappointed. If you are looking for a nice, family run motel/​lodge right on the Guadalupe, you should give these guys a look. The people have always been very warm and friendly and the rooms are clean and comfortable. We stay here on fishing trips and have not been disappointed.

We enjoyed our stay with friendly staff, clean and well maintained rooms. Beautiful view of river upstream of the horseshoe section.

Urgh! do I have to give this dump and its slum lord a star?
Awful AWFUL awful, service, rooms and prices. we paid $ 120.00 for a 1 bed room, now this should be comparable to a 5 star hotel in the city. NOPE! it was a dump. Dirty floors, water wouldn’t work, bugs in the room & bathroom, doors wouldn’t shut «lady says you need to slam it», HORRIBLE service. The manager, I believe her name was Cindy was one of the worst nasty faced human beings I’ve ever come into contact with.
Everyone that over-​flowed from the wedding venue down the street was stuck at this &$*# hole. Lucky we got out before check out time on saturday so we ended up going down the street to The cabins at Jacob’s creek, got a 1 bedroom log cabin with a view of the lake for $ 125. The Maricopa Riverside Lodge was a let down, it and the manager really put a negative experience down in our memories for what should have been a great relaxing time at a friends wedding, a once in a lifetime event.
Maricopa Riverside Lodge is awful– mainly the management, second the rooms condition, prices and lack of respect for peoples money, time & life experiences. I will be contacting the owners and BBB.