wilstem guest ranch

When I first wrote my review, I gave a rating of "Poor". However, the issue we had during our stay was well handled and I've upgraded my rating.We stayed at the Lodge at Wilstem for a weekend long family Christmas gathering. The lodge has several bedrooms and baths, a large great room and a dining room that seats about 10. This was a nice location for our large family to be together for games, food, singing and good old fashion family time. The property is beautiful and I hope to go back in the Spring or Summer when the weather will give us the chance to do more outdoor activity.The issue we had was with the plumbing at the Lodge and it was largely due to the four days of rain that they had prior to our arrival. The basement of the building flooded which caused the water heater to go out so we consequently had no hot water in the main part of the Lodge for two days. The annex (second story) did have hot water and our family was also staying up there so we could share their shower when needed. However, the kitchen and bathrooms on the main floor had no hot water. Also, one of the toilets on the main floor backed up and it seemed to be due to the heavy rain and back up into the septic. This was an inconvenience and my first reaction was negative as I would expect the problem to be addressed prior to the arrival of a large group. While the hot water did not get fixed while we were there, the management did give us a refund on our bill and their maintenance staff was working to get it fixed, it was just hard to do on a weekend.Other than the hot water problem, I would rate our stay there as Excellent as I greatly enjoyed the surroundings and rural feel of the place. While the horse back riding and zip lines weren't available due to the rain, I was able to get out for two long hikes and really enjoy the woods. Lots of deer and other wildlife to see there. The staff there was very friendly too. At one point I took my 8 year old daughter down to the stables to see the horses and goats. One of the ranch hands took the time to show us around and talked to my daughter a lot about the animals. They also let her feed them and even gave us a ride back to the Lodge. I appreciated the personal attention that they gave her and she wants to go back in the Spring to see the new baby goats they're expecting.

We held a family gathering for Thanksgiving/Christmas here this year! It is an area back in the woods and is perfect for a little get-away! The weather was not the best, but the cabin we stayed in had a hot tube and fire pit! The cabin itself was very nice and clean and spacious! It served it purpose very well and accommodated everyone with ease! It is also right down the street from stores and such if you need to do any shopping! One last note is that once we were in the house, nobody had a cell signal, but you could get one once outside. This was a nice break from that type of technology!!!

Stayed here recently for two nights in the annex. People very friendly and helpful. Lots of "waivers" to sign for any activity. Even required minors to sign. Rather than give them free legal advice about the effectiveness of a waiver by an 8 year old we just signed everything and I figured I could always litigate it later. Zip lines were nice but a little short. Staff professional and safe. Our groupon included 3 zip lines. They have nine so the others might be longer. Our package included 4 passes to local indoor waterpark which the kids loved. Lots of hiking available. Gave us both a regular and a topo map. Topo was very helpful as there are a lot of trails but the are not well marked. Easy to get turned around. 4 wheel ATV tour was awesome but pricey. $250 for two drivers and 3 kids. Guide friendly and tried to impart some local lore at various stops. Terrain was steep and muddy. In other words, perfect. My wife had never been off reading before but she did great. Lots of deer ( no hunting allowed). Accommodations were ok. Fairly strong cleaning odor that never entirely went away. No screens in windows so couldn't open them. A gravel mining operation is about a mile away across the road and it has a constant hum all day and night. You get used to it but it's always there. The annex is above the lodge. At night you could hear the folks below walking around ( muffled) and I'm sure we were noisy to them. We only used the kitchen for cereal and snacks. We only had two bowls for cereal so we rinsed them out and shared. (I'm sure they would have brought more had we complained but we were in a hurry to start the day and I didn't want to wait) All in all we had a nice time. Absent the groupon rate I probably wouldn't repeat however.

My daughter and I just visited Wilstem Ranch as part of a groupon deal. This deal included 2 nights at a cabin, 4 passes to Big Splash Adventure, a local pumpkin patch, Shotz, and the haunted mansion. We decided to extend our stay to three nights to take in other area attractions. Our cabin was cute and just the right size for the two of us. The kitchen was stocked fairly well but could have used a pan to use in the oven. The cabin was clean but could definitely use a deep cleaning. I mentioned that before I checked out and was assured they would take care of that asap. The grounds are gorgeous and nice and secluded. Perfect time of the year to go and even though it rained the majority of our stay, we had a blast. Our favorite part of the Ranch was our trail ride we took on horseback. It was both my daughter and my first time and our tour guide (David?) was the absolute best! He was patient, funny, and helped keep me at ease. We had the best time. The office is stocked with movies and balls to use in the recreation area but no one in the office let us know about that. Luckily I had read about it on this website. It was nice that the owner of all of these places put together this package to give us a flu trip of opportunities. The only suggestion I would have for this package is to consider splitting up the tickets into 2's instead of 4's. That way a family of 2 like us could fully utilize the 4 package. The only place willing to give us the option to split the tickets up was the Haunted Mansion. We had a great stay and plan to return in the future!

Was with a group of 12 persons who had a lot of fun and laughter on the Zip Line which had 9 lines and the longest line was 35 mph. Good horses for riding on the scenic ranch/farm trails. Some cabins if you want to stay on the ranch.

Starting from my first contact with Shelly... till us saying thank you and goodbye to her after checking out (and we meant our thank you. . She was so accommodating, she made us feel right at home. . GOLD STAR FOR SHELLY!!!!) .. we had the BEST time :) the cabin was very well stocked (except a strainer for pasta, which I brought along anyway... but I totally over packed. ..because they had EVERYTHING else!! EVERYTHING! It was like being home without the clutter :) !!) The staff... David our horse back instructor. .. my 14 yr old daughter just fell in love with him. .. so funny. . So kind. . Made us so comfortable... we liked him so much, we asked for him to take us zip lining. .. which was just as awesome! ! His partner (I can't remember his name because we were having too much fun laughing) was so personable. . We couldn't wait to show our appreciation! ! The cute lil lady that took us for our arena ride was so kind. .. telling us cute stories and jokes to get us comfortable. .. (she said she normally did house keeping. .. but it goes to show she's a pivotal point in the process because she stepped in to make my daughter giggle and NOT be afraid of Satin... a beautiful but large horse to us non country folk lol. ... I rode Blessing... such a fancy graceful horse. .. with a super hippie attitude. . Doing her own thing just enough to stand out from the rest. .... I could go on and on. .. it was spectacular. ... I wrote them an email when we got home. .. and my daughter and I both wrote. ... "we love you" ... they treated us like family. .. we will go back ABSOLUTELY! ! Thank you! ! * I've never had such a great experience. ... NEVER! !

I was looking at different places to go to over the Labor Day weekend and I can across Wilstem Ranch. I had looked at other hotels in nearby French Lick, but they were very expensive. I happened to get a groupon email for the Wilstem Ranch. Included in the package was a free round of mini golf and passes to the nearby Big Splash Waterpark for up to 4 people. The package also included a horse ride for children under a certain age. Since I didn't have children, they allowed me to have credit towards another activity. I also got to pick from an ATV ride or a 3 line zip line course ride. I called the ranch to make sure I could use the groupon over the holiday weekend and they said yes. In fact, they gave me the deal directly without me having to go back to groupon and buy the deal. All of the staff were so helpful and friendly. It makes all the difference in the world to have people who really try to make your stay as fun and nice as possible. All of what I just mentioned cost me $320 for a two night stay. This included tax. I found this very reasonableconsidering all of the extras that were included. I was greater warmly upon my arrival. The lady at the front desk even remembered me from speaking on the phone. I stayed in what they called a carriage room b. it was a neat looking barn from the outside with two separate apartment like places. I was in the bottom part. The room was very clean - had a big bed, nice kitchen, and small but clean shower and bathroom area. I appreciated the ceiling fan and also air conditioning. I ventured out to nearby French lick to eat and also do some activities there, but the highlight of my trip was the different activities I did on the ranch. I had signed up for the zip line option and when I went to the office to check in for this they offered an upgrade to do the entire 9 line course. They knew I was by myself and by doing the 9 line course I was able to go with some other groups. I was definitely glad I did that. The zip lining was awesome. Blake and Steven could not have been better guides. They make you feel comfortable on the lines and breaking on them before taking you out to the big course. As a first time zip liner , I was scared but excited. They encouraged me as I went and by the end I was really relaxed and having fun on the zip lines. I ended up purchasing another zip line course for the day I was leaving because of how much fun I had on my first outing. I was a little better my second time out but definitely more relaxed. I can't say thanks enough to blake and Steven for the encouragement along the way and for putting up with me two days in a row on the zip line. The horse back riding was also. Abby was very helpful and patient with me since I hadn't been on a horse in at least 10 days. We got a great view of the ranch on the ride. I cannot say enough good things about all of the staff at Wilstem. The best compliment I can think to say is I just got home today and am ready to go back already. Great activities, wonderful staff and beautiful location makes this and a go to place if you are looking for fun in Paoli IN!

The staff spared us a nightmare zipline adventure at another near by zipline. We enjoyed the Wilstem's Zipline with platforms, brakes & certified guides. Horseback riding was enjoyable- just what i wnted. Abby is a great asset & everyone at Wilstem is frendly & very kind. It feels like home and they treat you like one of the family~ Great Job Team!!

We went for the ziplines and it was an awesome time. We were greeted by the lady (the Dale Jr. fan!) at the front desk immediately and we were impressed with how courteous everyone was. The guides, Stephen and Blake were great, they explained everything to us and kept us safe. The lines themselves were awesome and very well taken care of.Two things though that I would consider to improve on would be signs to the ranch. It is kind of confusing to someone who has never been to the area. Maybe put some signs in the "town square" of Paoli pointing to the ranch. We got lost and went about 7 miles the wrong direction until we had to stop and ask someone. By the way, the GPS will not find the place, so you have to use a map. The other thing that I would suggest would be to give out some water during the tour. Maybe at the end of the tour, the guides have water in the truck. The drinks in the office were kind of expensive at $2.50 a bottle.My best advice would be to use the DealChicken coupon to go here. I was able to get the tour for basically a 2 for 1 deal. Great deal and was not that expensive ($59 I believe for both, regular $118).We had a great time and would definitely go back and possibly stay in a cabin for a night and do horseback riding as well!

Staff was courteous, friendly, knowable and fun. The zip lines were fun and not too scary even for my 10 and 12 year old. If you don't mind paying $235 (plus tip for 2 guides) this is the place for you.

I had a wonderful time today riding horseback for the first time. The guy at the office was very friendly and helpful in giving us information about the property. The young lady that lead us on the trail was understanding about my husband and I riding the horses for the first time and she took the time to make sure we understood how to work with the horses. The horses were great; they were very calm. That, combined with our very good teacher, made for a calm and enjoyable riding experience.

My husband and I decided to try Wilstem for our first ziplining experience after having read scary reviews of Lark Valley. So glad we went here. Awesome guides, completely safe, fun, laid back, and minimal chance of injury. Met another couple today who said they went to Lark Valley last year and the experience was scary and unsafe. No brakes, no platform landings, and guides who laughed as guests came in too quickly or dragged on the ground as they came in for landing. No thank you! This was a blast and I will not hesitate to come back here wth my 3 children in the near future. Also, minimal wait which was great!

I took my teen age daughter zip lining for the first time and she loved it. She had such a good time. I had been zip lining one other time on a course in Ohio. It was a blast both times. Wilstem guest ranch zip lining offers a great course and great guides. Our guides, Blake and Steve were great. Don't hesitate to go zip lining at Wilstem. It's great fun!!Greg from Fort Wayne, Indiana

If you are planning to go to Big Splash Adventure, I'd suggest you stay at Wilson Ranch. You receive half off of day passes for Big Splash. There is Ziplining, Trail Rides, Pool, and plenty of the great outdoors. I traveled with 5 teenagers and it was very convenient to have a whole cabin to ourselves where we could get rest at the end of the day. We stayed in the Bunkhouse at Wilstem Ranch. It was a 2 brdm with King beds, a sleeper sofa, 2 twin size roll cots, fully furnished kitchen w/table and chairs, 1 full bath, medium size flat screen TV with dvd/very combo, fireplace in the living room, swing on the porch, jacuzzi on side of the front porch, picnic table, outdoor grill(like at the park), and a small firepit. The only thing that sucked about our stay were the ladybugs. It seems they were hibernating there over the winter and started to emerge when the weather changed. They were in the kitchen and bathroom mostly. If you plan on cooking make sure you have aluminum foil to cover your food. One thing I wish I'd known was there are DVDs you can "loan" in the office. I rented from the Redbox while in town.Overall, the kids and I had a nice stay and would go back.

It was our first time zip lining and it was awesome! It was conveniently located near West Baden, where we were staying. The zip line course was through the woods with varying lengths and speeds and was beautiful. Our guides, Blake and Steven, were great. They made sure we understood proper technique and safety. There was just two of us, so we had no waiting during the course. I recommend going in a small group, if possible, to minimize wait times. It was a fantastic outdoor activity in a picturesque setting. We hope to go back to do the zip line and horseback riding.