Cypress Bend Resort, BW Premier Collection

My husband and I came for our 19 wedding anniversary with friends and our stay was very disappointing to say the least. When we arrived our keys would not work. After three trips to the lobby finally a Maintanence worker opened the door. Room was very dated and bathroom was not very clean. Bed and pillows were comfy. Our dinner at the bar took forever to come out and not all of our food was delivered. During the evening my husband went back to the room to get something and could not get in the room due to our key not working AGAIN. Maintenance came and replaced the entire lock system on our door. Next day we went to the pool that was absolutely disgusting and full of bugs. We called but nobody came to clean it so we cleaned the pool ourselves. Our dinner was horrible. They were out of quite a few items and my chicken was completely over cooked. A few of the other meals ordered at our table were overcooked or undercooked. Sunday we went to the cafe at the golf pro shop. Hamburgers were ok. My husband ordered a grilled chicken wrap but they were out of chicken. It really is a beautiful piece of property that management has completely let go. I was expecting so much more from the pictures but were very disappointed. The staff I spoke to were very nice and apologetic but it was the same thing over and over. less

Unclean pool (Our group cleaned the pool ourselves after we called and no one ever showed up to clean.) Dinner at restaurant was awful. They were out of many items and our food was either under cooked or overcooked. Lounge food was better, but at least 2 of our dinners were never served. less

Growing up in a nearby city my family and friends have visited CB often and it has always been top notch and very enjoyable. I moved away and then returned to North Louisiana 5 years ago and since my husband is an avid golfer and had never been we planned a weekend couples trip with 4 couples. The disappointment started as soon as we entered the building. The keys didn’t work to the room and we had to walk back and forth 4 times and then finally a maintenance man came to fix it. Then 4 hours later they didn’t work again and we had to wait for the lock to be replaced. There was trash in our trash can, no shower curtain, the roomed smelled musty, the carpet was peeling up and there was blood stains on the door frame in the bathroom. The bar and dining room staff was friendly but the issues come from the kitchen. We ordered food from the Sabine room the first night and everyone’s food came out a different times, orders were wrong and then 2 people out of our group never even got their meal so when we were ready to leave (3 hours later) she wanted to bring us the chicken sandwich and quesadillas saying that they just finished making them. At the dining room the next night, they were out of cheese on the salad bar and the waitress told us that they were running low and so the kitchen was keeping it to make entrees and sides; they were out of broccoli salad and we were told they only made a little bit, they only had 1 baked potato left and the crackers were stale and had to have been 10+ years old. The chicken entree tasted like jerk chicken it was so over cooked, the steaks that were ordered medium rare came out well done and again orders were mixed up and came out at different times. My husband and the guys with us played in the Zwolle tamale golf tournament and had to pay for their beer and then when they got done went to eat and they were out of tamales. The greens were shabby and unkept. The girls went to the pool and it was covered with nats so we called the front desk to send someone to come clean it. We were there from 10:30 until 5:00 and no one ever came so we ended up skimming the pool ourselves while we should have been relaxing. On the way to the resort Friday I told my husband “you are going to love this place and want to come here once a month.” Needless to say this was the most disgusting, unkept resort we have ever been to and will not be returning. It’s such a shame-as I remember coming here often 10+ years ago and it was so enjoyable. My friends were married here 10+ years ago too and boy is a different place. Good thing they live in Florida and won’t be returning for any anniversaries. It is such a beautiful place and for management to let this place get to this point is just sad. less

If you intend to visit this property, and you have an understanding of what the standard is for a BW Premier Property normally is, I highly suggest that you lower your expectations. This resort fails miserably even though there is so much potential. This property is lackluster at best. It is nestled in a wonderful area on Toledo Bend and the grounds are beautiful. The golf course is well kept and the view driving up to the property is amazing. The issues surround the the hotel and the staff. Originally, I stayed here a year ago for my first time and I was so excited but there were so many issues during that stay and I left extremely disappointed. I filled out the survey that was emailed to me by Best Western and voiced the issues that I encountered. I was contacted by management and offered a complementary stay in the same type of suite that I had booked for my first stay at Cypress Bend. At first, I declined the offer. However, the manager was very compelling and explained that many things had fallen through the cracks because a management employee had been off for several months due to an illness. I decided to accept the offer and basically “redo” my stay so that I could try and give an honest opinion of the property to fellow travelers. I actually waited until the complementary stay almost expired to allow them time to rectify any issues caused by the leadership being out due to the illness. In July 2019 I checked in for my complementary stay. Upon arrival, the main entrance doors were filthy just did this they had been the year before. As I approach the front counter, I noticed that the spiderwebs were still hanging over the clerks head in the corner. I decided to start taking photos to document the problems at this property in hopes that management actually did want to do something to correct it. The front desk clerk was extremely polite and very kind and she handed us our cards to our room and I was very excited to see that it was the exact same room as the year before as it would make it very easy to compare. As we approached our room the hallway was at least 90°. There was a Nother traveler who was having trouble using her key to enter her room. She was very friendly and told us that they had been back to the desk three times and none of the keys were working. We tried our key and it did not work either. We went back to the front desk and got another key which did not work as well. The front desk told us that someone from maintenance Was on their way to assist us. We waited in that sweltering hallway for over 20 minutes and when we called back to the front desk we were given nothing but attitude. Finally, a very helpful maintenance employee gave us entrance to our room to cool off while he continue to work on the issue and he resolved it within 15 minutes. We were very hot and frustrated but excited to get into the room with AC. Things just deteriorated from there as we noticed there was trash left in the trash cans, several of the lightbulbs did not work, the sheets appeared dirty, the carpet was filthy, the patio was infested with spiders and an ashtray that was overfilling with cigarette butts. It was at this point that I decided to give an honest review of the property and everything I encountered. It was a complementary stay to try to make up for the issues of the year before but I looked at it as an opportunity for management to see their property through the eyes of their guests. My viewpoint seemed to have been received and I was given a cookie cutter response so I don’t believe anything will change. Why would I? Nothing has changed in the year between the 2 stays. Rather than complain I just documented the issues with this property for the remainder of my stay. Another huge issue that they have is inattentive staff in their bar. We walked in and there were two staff members in the corner discussing the events of a personal nature from the night before and did not greet us and did not stop their conversation. Once they were finished with their discussion we were barely acknowledged and offered a menu. After we received our wine, both staff members disappeared and we had to search for someone to pay our tab so that we could leave. It is a tarnish on the name BW Premier to even associate Cypress Bend with that collection of high-end properties. I have attached several photos that I took of issues with the property is cleanliness. I will not be going back. less

Great location and very responsive staff from check-in to maintenance, housekeeping to checkout. The restaurant had a delicious Sunday breakfast for the early risers and a Sunday brunch for everyone else. Can’t wait to return. less