El Campo Lost Lagoon

If you are a drinker who likes to party and pay for over priced, watered down drinks, then this place is right up your alley. The weekends are full of loud, obnoxious people driving around in illuminated golf carts blaring loud, explicit music and screaming to each other across sites. On Sundays, everyone leaves and the place becomes a ghost town with only a few sites occupied the rest of the week. They close everything up early during the week because of it, typically an hour early. We drank one night and was served arguably the worst margaritas we've ever had served in a small, clear plastic cup that was filled to the brim with ice. There are no posted prices anywhere and I found out those horrible drinks cost$10 each. This concept is clearly built into their business model because they have you pay for all the amenities with your wristband that's linked to your credit card so when you buy something, they scan your wristband and don't inherently inform you how much they are pulling. You have to explicitly ask every time. The pool layout is designed with the drinkers in mind with two pool side bars, band stage, and lots of tables and cabanas(additional fees to use of course). It's not conducive for kids playing or anything like that. The lazy river is a terrible design because the ledge is continuous sharp rocks that catch your raft/floatie and sounds like it's going to pop it. It also contains several areas where you have to watch your head from contacting low bridges, rocks, etc., and then at the end, it spits you out into the pool with all the tables and you bump into people eating and drinking. In order to return, you have to paddle your way back to the entrance, through the people and tables, or get off and walk over. The experience is hardly a lazy or relaxing one. Another fundamental complaint about this place is that almost everything costs additional money above your base site fee, including WiFi, RC cars, pool obstacle course, arcade, floaties/rafts, etc. Also, the place claims it's completely cashless, but that's not 100% true. The laundry takes coins and so does the arcade. I wasn't fond of the staff either, because they were rude and snooty. The El Campo and Wharton areas have a lot of nice, down-to-earth people...they just don't work here. The bugs are REALLY bad here too on top of everything else. There is simply WAY too much competition in this areas of Texas to sell yourself short and stay at El Campo Lost Lagoon and get eaten alive by fire ants and flying insects.

My wife posted a review after our stay, and the owner responded to it. The response was later removed, but we captured a screenshot beforehand for documentation. I am adding this review to provide a clear record of our experience and the sequence of events. Prior to arrival, we spoke with a staff member named Barbie, who quoted a monthly rate of$1,300 plus a$200 event fee for the weekend of September 11. During that conversation, we asked whether the initial payment could be applied toward the monthly rate if we chose to extend our stay. We were told this would be possible. After the weekend, I returned to the office to request the monthly rate and apply the amount already paid, but management declined to honor that verbal agreement. The amenities differed from what we expected based on the website and photos. Many features require additional fees, including Wi‑Fi, and several amenities are limited unless those fees are paid. During our stay, the park was significantly busier on weekends than weekdays. We observed approximately five to ten occupied sites out of more than 200 during weekdays. Because of the lower weekday activity, certain facilities—such as the kitchen being closed during the week, pools closing earlier than expected, and hot tub jets not being available—made the experience comparable to a standard RV park rather than a resort. The site length also differed from our expectations. The park advertises 80‑foot sites, but our 40‑foot RV plus 20‑foot trailer left very limited space for our vehicle. At other locations with 80‑foot sites, we can park our vehicle normally and parallel to the RV without issue. At this location, we had to park the vehicle sideways to fit, which suggests the listed site length may not reflect the usable space. We also attempted to use the on‑site propane service. Staff were unable to fill our tank and suggested the issue was with the tank itself. We later had the tank filled at Love’s in Wharton, where it accepted 23 gallons without issue. For visitors primarily interested in weekend recreation, social activities, or events—and who plan to use the paid amenities—this location may be a good fit. Our experience differed due to the length of our stay, the change in the verbal agreement, the limitations of the amenities during weekdays, and the owner’s now‑removed response to my wife’s review.

We stayed at El Campo Lost Lagoon for three weeks, including multiple weekends and Labor Day, so our experience wasn't based on a single busy weekend. There are positives. The property is new, the main pool is nice, and we genuinely enjoyed the live music. Unfortunately, the overall experience—particularly the pricing and handling of a serious incident involving minors—left us unwilling to return. PRICING: We were quoted$1,500 for a month. Because we didn't know how long we'd need to stay due to my husband's job, we specifically asked whether our weekly payments could be rolled into the monthly rate if we stayed longer. We were told YES. We therefore booked at$650/week. We ultimately needed three weeks, but management refused to convert us to the monthly rate. We paid$1,950 for THREE weeks—$450 more than we'd been quoted for FOUR weeks. Different weekly/monthly rates are normal; our issue is that we specifically asked beforehand and were told the payments could roll over. Extended-stay RVers: get your rate arrangement in writing. AMENITIES/INTERNET: We weren't told when booking or checking in that essentially everything except the main pool would be closed. The hot tub required asking an employee to turn on the jets, which didn't always happen, and over Labor Day weekend bar staff told us it wasn't working. There was no included campground Wi-Fi available to us. We purchased the third-party service we were given information for and found it terrible. Bring your own hotspot if reliable internet matters. POOL/WEEKENDS: We enjoyed the live music, but during performances the main pool becomes much more of an event/party area. The stage and reserved tables, combined with people gathering near the stage, substantially reduce swimming space, and the speakers were so loud that normal conversation in the pool area was difficult. Across multiple weekends—not just Labor Day—we observed guests who appeared highly intoxicated, loud golf-cart music, profanity/adult language around children, and groups socializing beyond the resort's 10 p.m. music cutoff. Adults drinking and having fun isn't our complaint. Our concern was the lack of consistent enforcement and balance for a property marketed toward families. OUR BIGGEST CONCERN: During Labor Day weekend, our minor son's property was vandalized by another minor camper. When our son attempted to address it with the child's family, an adult family member became extremely aggressive toward him and appeared highly intoxicated when we arrived. Multiple minors witnessed the incident, including children 13 and younger. Management's immediate focus when we arrived was how quickly my husband had driven through the campground to reach our son. He was pulled aside, leaving me, our minor son, another minor child and the aggressive adult while the underlying situation remained unresolved. We ultimately called law enforcement. Multiple minor witnesses spoke with officers, and one child had recorded the incident and provided the video directly to police. Afterward, that child expressed fear of retaliation. Our son walked him safely back to his campsite, where I instructed my son to remain until I personally picked him up after another camper reported that members of the other family were driving around looking for the boys and asking where they were staying. We cannot speak to anyone's intentions, but given what had just happened, we took it seriously. Despite law enforcement responding to an incident involving multiple minors, we received no follow-up from management asking whether the children were okay or whether there were continuing safety concerns. The matter is currently being investigated by a detective. Because the investigation is active and minors are involved, we aren't publicly posting the video or other evidence at this time.bAfter I posted our experience on Google, the business account initially responded,“Sounds about right….😒” The response was later removed. I’ve included the original screenshot with this review and will allow readers to interpret the response for themselvesOTHER RV NOTES: The property is new, so there are essentially no mature trees or natural shade. We experienced a tremendous number of bugs. We also regularly heard repeated gunfire during the day; there is an outdoor gun/rifle range in the El Campo area, although we cannot say it was the source. You'll also hear nearby cows and roosters. BOTTOM LINE: The pool and live music were enjoyable and the property has potential. But after paying$1,950 for three weeks after being told our weekly payments could roll into a$1,500 monthly rate, unavailable amenities, poor paid internet, the recurring weekend atmosphere, and especially management's handling of the incident involving minors outweighed the positives for our family. We would not stay here again.