Pampered Wilderness

Stayed here last night with another couple. It was so much more than what he had imagined. Hayley was very accommodating and super sweet! We would love to stay here again in the future, super fun getaway even if it was for just one night. Loved that they had everything we could need from shampoo to pans & a spatula! Loved cooking on the grill and sitting by the fire. It was a hot weekend and the shade from the trees was super nice. We rode the bikes they provide around the camping area and down to the lake a couple of times. Brought bocci ball and played in the grass area near the bathrooms! We really had a great time, I would recommend to anyone looking for a fun relaxing getaway :)

This would have had one more star if I was rating the cabin and campsite alone. However, we never got a confirmation email (even after I called to give my updated email and an additional email) and instead was told to text the main line upon arrival. We did so and it took almost 2 hours waiting in the cold to get our code from the owners. Luckily, a nearby campsite told us their code and we just started trying and luckily figured it out. Not a great way to start this trip. All of that being said, the cabin/​tent was lovely and the camp site was very well-​manicured and easy to find. We stayed during the week and it was pretty quiet. The tent stayed warm even during the night when it dropped to high 30’s in temp. Plenty of room inside to eat at the small table if needed. Having the grill made things very easy and gave us the best of both worlds without having to «rough it.» Heads up that in the Rustic Retreat tent, the bed is super squeaky, which is probably ok for anyone else who doesn’t have a baby. All in all, a lovely week and would recommend the experience as long as there are no customer service snafus. I will mention that up until we arrived they had been very responsive.

Our stay in Modern Wilderness was great. It was easy to find, and we enjoyed the park. The tent itself was beautiful, and we had everything we needed. The bed was a little lower than I would prefer, but very comfortable. There was a tv with a dvd player, the movie selection wasn’t great but we just redboxed it. Unfortunately there was no hot water in either of the showers I tried, which meant 3 days without a shower. We never could find a ranger or «camp host» while we were there so we had to buy wood a few miles away, not a problem, just an observation based on what their check in procedures say. This was definitely worth the LivingSocial price, but there is no way a stay here is worth $ 245 a night as their website says is full price.

The pampered wilderness tents are absolute perfection. If you enjoy nature but not the discomforts of camping, this is the perfect trip for you. The tents are adorable and have every comfort you could want. Cold? Turn on the little fake fireplace heater — it actually warms up the whole tent. Plus, the comforter is some kind of magical down wonderfulness. Hungry? Grill something on the impeccably clean gas grill, toast s’mores from your welcome basket, or be real lazy and microwave a burrito in your tent-​cabin. The park is pretty small, but has really cool microclimates, the little lake is good for swimming or casual rowing, and the bikes included with your stay do fine on the trails.
Everything is spot on, just go! You won’t regret it!

It’s a cute idea but it is within a state park, a lot of kids and noise. You have to pay for a parking pass etc. If your thinking this is at all «glamour» camping you’ll be very disappointed. The tent is open to the outside in many ways, especially through the floor. Each tent is on a deck that isn’t sealed so it’s free for spiders and other insects to come on in and cuddle up with you at night. I woke up with a huge black, fat bellied spider on my forehead. The next night there was a huge spider on the ceiling, there were many behind the bed and many in the tent throughout the day (with the tent door/​screen closed at all times. They have a little heater in the tent but it seamed impossible to warm the place up. I was told there would be a bottle of wine waiting for us and their wasn’t. I walked to three restrooms close by to use the shower and none of them worked so I had to walk pretty far to find one that worked, it was either really hot or really cold, no in-​between. Oh, and don’t forget your quarters! Even though you spent more then a hotel cost for your stay! Not worth the money in my opinion. And the first person I spoke to when we got there to ask about a parking pass and a question about our tent (we noticed it had come apart on top and were wondering if they could come take a look at it) was very rude, all he had to say was that’s how the tints were made and that he wouldn’t come and look at it for us. When we were looking at all the other tents and they were not coming apart like ours. I bought this two night stay for my boyfriends birthday, I was SO disappointed, with the stay and the service. I will never stay here again, I would highly recommended finding a different glamping resort, not on a state park possibly. Even when I called to share my experience they didn’t have much to say and didn’t do anything about it. Good luck!

Showed up for camping on the rainiest day of summer, didn’t have to set up a tent! Inside was a warm, king sized bed with memory foam and lots of pillows, a fridge, a coffee maker, an electric fireplace, and the sound of rain hitting the high canvas roof.
These tents are well done & nicely appointed, with a little deck area and plenty of room. Our camping party was two adults, twelve year old (they had a cot ready for us), and black lab. Pampered Wilderness was fine with the dog, just needed notice.
Gas grill outside made cooking easy, even in the rain. Coffee maker (Keurig) fueled us up. Muffins and s’more fixings awaited in the fridge. We stored our coolers on the deck, made everything easy.
And when the sun came out the next day? Sitting on the porch in tree-​filtered sunshine, sipping from a mug. Reading a book while listening to birds in the fir trees and the dog snoring from the bed. I felt happy.
Millersylvania State Park is very large, with mature forest, lake (we brought kayaks), and some hiking areas. It’s a popular park, the Tents are mixed in the campground area, although on a smaller, quieter loop (not a lot of cars driving by to find their campsite).
So it’s off in the woods, but you are next to other campgrounds and will hear other campsites. They gave clearly tried to create more visual privacy with some plantings and screening. Some people walking by would ask about the tents. I didn’t mind showing the place off!
Some nuts and bolts: each tent has a decorative theme, we stayed in «Modern Wilderness». texting & calling the phone number worked fine, Hailey was helpful and responsive. Yes, the bathrooms are shared, State Park restrooms & showers. They were recently painted, cleaned regularly, and very close by. Showers take tokens (some provided by PW). If you require a private well-​appointed privy, this isn’t your place. We had parking for two vehicles.
Would happily go back again.

My husband and I love camping. For my 30^th birthday he decided to book something a little special. The pampered wilderness tent and amenities were good. The bed was very comfortable, the tent was clean and set up lovely. The bikes provided were in very poor condition. Understandable for a busy place. The restrooms on the other hand were very disappointing. For being «pampered» the lack of hot water in the sinks, the fact that the bathrooms look like they are cleaned once a year. The hand soap dispensers were not filled our entire visit. The shower closest to our site did not have hot water. We decided to walk to the next shower facility, it was atrocious. I expected a separate «pampered wilderness» bathroom. For the amount of money it costs to rent, they need to step up their bathroom game.
The sites are also very close together. Doesn’t feel secluded at all. Not much to do in the park. I will not be returning.

Wow, tough Unilocal crowd… glad I had better experience.
Booked shabby chic and it was exactly like the picture… BEAUTIFUL. They had welcome basket in fridge with coffee, smores kit, muffin, fruit and bottled water. Tent (if you can call it that) had coffee maker, fridge, microwave, desk, fan and furnace… basically everything you’d expect in hotel room but with more thoughtful decoration.
Outside there were chairs, grill and fire pit (although burn ban didn’t allow use).
Site is located at a very busy state park so not exactly quiet get away but proximity to other people actually made us feel safe. While camping is typically about the outdoors our tent was so nice we didn’t care to see much else.
Bathroom was short walk… and is what you’d expect any bathroom in state park to be (shared bathroom for both glamping/​camping folks). Not exactly the luxury you will experience in tent but bearable.
I found communication via text to be the easiest method. I figured out dates via text, confirmed we were booked via text and they provided lock codes via text, answered questions during our stay and we checked out via text. I understand most people complain about difficulty in communicating with folks at pampered wilderness and I guess knowing text is available should help with this because I found them very responsive via text.
Would definitely stay again and recommend mainly for romantic weekend… it isn’t a 5 star hotel and should be reviewed as such (chill out folks)…I thought the point was camping or at least a fancier version of camping where you don’t have to pack your entire life into your car… and this is exactly that.
Cheers to owners, space felt like labor of love.

I bought a Living Social deal for two tents back in 2014 for $ 199 each for a two-​nights mid-​week stay. Dates didn’t work out in 2014 so I asked them to extend my voucher to 2015 and they readily agreed. Making rez at least a year in advance is a must if you want to have choices in tents. Since I purchased an additional tent, I asked for the two closest to each other. I was told Cozy Cottage & Country Cabin. Making the rez and communicating with them via email was easy.
When we went (June 30−7÷3), the campsite was unoccupied. By late evening, though, most of the others arrived. First thing we noticed was that our tents were not close together. In fact, they were fairly far apart. We had trees/​bushes between these tents and had to walk around to be able to see each other. When I called about this, they apologized and said the previous booking agent didn’t know what he was doing. Since the other tents were reserved, they couldn’t swap out for us. We ended up just hanging out at our site most of the time so it worked out ok.
(Oh! Be sure to get the tent lock codes before you arrive. I called for these when we got there and thankfully, they picked up right away and let me know.)
The lodging wasn’t quite as nice as I had hoped, but doable. I am a bit of a germaphobe and my current health situation required that I be extra careful, so I’m not the best gage for this, but if I’m gonna pay a certain amount for clean lodging, I’d rather be at an air-​conditioned hotel! Still, $ 400 for two families to stay 3 nights (they gave us an extra night than what was guaranteed by the LS deal!) and make good memories, was a steal.
My pictures show what they had in the tent. We packed some of these items from home. Would’ve been nice to know in advance so we could save packing space. Gas grill was awesome. Clean and useful, especially with the fire ban. No Boy Scouts coming around with firewood if there’s a fire ban! We had to roast our marshmallows over the propane gas grill.
Activities: The free bikes were right next to our tent so we used them daily to go for rides. We had 6 in our group and there were still bikes left over. Another large group at the site brought their own bikes so that saved us. Fits people over 5ft, but the smallest one in our group still made it work for him by standing up and peddling and start/​stopping on logs. Definitely meant for adults. We found a swimming hole at Deep Lake so made use of our tubes. It’s a marshy lake with lots of greens at the bottom so bring aqua sox if that kind of thing grosses you out. Our kids did NOT like that, but still made it into the water since it was in the 90’s the entire time. Flat trails for biking and walking. Didn’t really get around to hiking since it was hot, so I don’t know what kind of elevation or trails were around.
Overall, it was a great trip for the value, but wouldn’t do it again if it cost much more. The bathroom was the usual state park facility with coin showers. Private bathrooms would make it so much better and I’d pay more. We just used the cold water from the outside spouts to wash our hair since it was hot. I am not a camper by nature (if that wasn’t made clear by now), but this was easy to do for two suburban moms and four middle schoolers.

We went in early May of 2015 and our stay was wonderful! I cannot wait to return. The people complaining are the ones who could not get a booking. I’ve attached several pictures so please have a look. The cabins are on a typical camp site so do not expect a remote environment. But we still had our privacy and everything was fine. I was pleasantly surprised they provided a propane BBQ which made grilling super easy. There are plenty of electrical outlets inside the cabin to charge your cell phones and we even brought our rice cooker. Having a microwave really helped since we still heat up our baby’s milk. And for making popcorn for those who’ve downloaded movies. Having the camp in Millersylvania State Park gave us lots to do. There are beaches to go kayaking or do water activities and they even have bikes to ride for free.
Couple hiccups we did have were not being able to get the hot water in the shower to work even if we put a ton of tokens in it. We could’ve gone to the entrance and asked the ranger for help but we just walked to another bathroom as it was just as fast to do that. Maybe if I stayed more than 2 nights I would’ve gone through the trouble. One of our tiki torches were out of lighting fluid but the 2^nd day the owner stopped by and refilled all of them. We had a nice chat with him and he was extremely nice. And we could not get the Keurig Coffee maker to work but we just brewed it the old camping way. I did text them that it wasn’t working but didn’t hear back.
I am already trying to find time to return. It is perfect for someone like me who doesn’t like to sleep in the tent but loves to be outdoors with friends.

So I just have to say I havent actually been, (my boyfriend booked the Safari Suite for our 5^th Anniversary in June. Our booking was made in early April), but I need to say something to everyone complaining about the service.
I manage bookings for vacation rentals as part of my profession and it is no simple task, especially when your properties are in high demand. If you are going to make a booking or cancel, do so well in advance. If you have a coupon like LivingSocial obviously you are not the only one so be patient.
Unfortunately we had to cancel our visit due to a back injury I sustained recently. They responded to our email within 10 days. This is not as quick as say a hotel, but I think what most people need to understand is that patience should be had when working with a small family business that obviously has high demand.
We have already gotten our refund and will try to visit next season when my back has healed. :)

I’ve been trying to make reservations for 3 days… really?!
Can you say REFUND?
Trying to book a 3 night stay, the one offered on Living Social? Good luck! If booking online, there is NO option to stay starting on a TUESDAY as stated in adverts.
I QUIT! They WILL NOT get my patronage AND I will give a bad recommendation to everyone I know, because this is sooooo frustrating to spend $ 300 with a time limit and receive NO reply WHAT SO EVER, after Email, Voice mail etc.
Just BAD BUSINESS… ugh!

Bought a Living Social Voucher. They oversold these vouchers in the range of 400! according to Living Social Customer Support. They don’t even have that many openings in one year. I have tried for several weeks to make a reservation and no response. The phone always goes to voicemail telling me I have to email for a Living Social Reservation. If you’re paying full price you can book online. After reading the most recent review, I am going to get a refund. This places sounds neglected, unsafe and disgusting. They have no intention of honoring the Living Social Vouchers. Just the full price ones.

My husband and I just spent two nites here. Stayed in the Safari tent. All of the tents are different and well appointed. Makes for fun camping. Loved it! It took me back to our Africa trip over 15 yrs ago. The owners have done a great job pulling this together. I understand it has been quiet a journey working with the State and parks getting things done. The couple just started this up last year and were bombarded with 600 phone calls. Give them a chance to perfect it.
For those complaining about this and that, get a hotel or take a chill pill. I like quiet too but It is a state park and there will be families enjoying as well.
Planning on returning next summer with friends. So much fun sitting around camp fire with a glass of wine, and biking (plenty of bikes to go around) Did not realize there is a gas barbecue. Will bring more food next time. One of the prettiest and cleanest parks I’ve ever seen. Except for bathrooms (but again it’s a state park)
Will return for sure !

Bought a Living Social deal, Been trying to reach out to the folks who run this place, seems like they went ran away with all the living social deal money they got. Pampered wilderness is a fraud, bogus company

Five-​Star Luxury Camping at its best! My husband and I, plus a few gals spent two nights (Sunday and Monday) in both the Modern Wilderness and Country Cabin over the Memorial Day weekend. We had an absolutely wonderful stay despite the cool temperatures and a bit of rain.
The cabins are well furnished, clean, and very comfortable. We found all the amenities as mentioned on the website, including spatulas, tongs, and dishwashing soap. There was a faucet right outside the Modern Wilderness Cabin, which made it easy to wash our dishes with the plastic tub provided.
The campgrounds were peaceful and private in our immediate areas. We enjoyed making s’mores over the fire pit and just relaxing outdoors with the serene surroundings. The bikes and kayaks provided with the cabins were also a nice touch, although a few of the handle bars were loose, but a friendly park ranger helped us tighten them up in a jiffy.
We used our Living Social vouchers, and the owners and staff were very responsive to my e-​mails and texts (they provide their number to you in the confirmation e-​mail prior to check-​in). We did not experience any problems and would definitely recommend this to our friends and family.
Note: The bathrooms and showers by the RV park are much cleaner and well-​lit. Bring your own hand soap as the bathrooms do not have them!

Glamping (glamour + camping) says it all! We had a girls 2 night get-​away and we had a blast!!!
The first day it rained, but these tents are pretty heavy duty and kept us dry. The little electrical heater kept us comfortable. It was very cold outside! The keurig is perfect for hot chocolate and coffee. The microwave is great too! The soothing sound of rain put us to sleep as we lay in the comfortable beds with plush furry blankets. We all slept well!!! We were able to lock the tent while we slept so we felt safe. Also surprisingly there are smoke detectors! We did note that the bottom of the tent is securely nailed down…(emergency exit… bring a knife to cut an exit).
On day 2 we used the grill to toast our bagels. The rain stopped and it was a beautiful sunny day so we rode the bikes around the park to Deep Lake. Walked around the park and enjoyed the scenery. We made a fire ($ 5/​bundle, bring your own lighter) and made delicious smores. They provided wooden chairs and picnic table (see pic). Bring gloves so you dont get splinters when handling the wood. Bring flash lights to walk to the bathroom at night. The tent and bathroom itself is lit well, but the route to the bathroom is not. They provide a broom to keep your floor clean.
There are hot showers for $¼ tokens=6 min. They are located in the state park restroom. I posted a pic. Bring slippers to shower in! Make sure u put all 4 tokens in even tho the sign says 2 tokens=3 min, the water won’t get hot. I stood and froze for what felt like forever. Bath towels were provided as well as some toiletries! (See pic)
We really enjoyed our stay! The campsite was landscaped beautifully with wood chips so when it’s raining your feet won’t get muddy (unless u walk to the bathroom). Also the flooring is raised off the ground. There are 2 tiki torches in front the tent, but you must bring a lighter! And would recommend insect repellant.
This is a perfect girls glamping getaway!

Pampered wilderness is a bit of a misnomer, this isn’t spa treatments in the wild. But what it is is a really comfy car camping experience. We stayed in the Rustic Retreat Cabin for two nights, each cabin has a different theme, so take a look online to pick one you’ll like.
I was first pleasantly surprised by the grooming of the campsite, the cleanliness of the cabin, and the huge comfortable bed. The cabin had a heater, mini fridge, microwave, some utensils and a pan, and a BBQ with side burner. What’s odd is what isn’t included — no tongs or metal spatula for the BBQ, no soap or sponge to wash the dishes, etc. I don’t mind if its not all included but the website could be more clear what to bring. Given the pristine condition of all the cooking related items I’m guessing most people went out to eat or nuked their food, a pity considering how great kabobs taste off the BBQ lounging by the fire with a glass of wine.
We spent most of the days riding their cruiser bikes through the trails. I’d skip the inflatable kayaks if there’s wind, you’ll get blown all over. We didn’t have any issues with other campers — weekdays are great for having the place to yourself.
Probably the only letdown is the bathrooms — they’re state park bathrooms. Nothing like cold toilet seats and rough TP in the morning. Still a great experience and well worth doing.

I stayed in the Safari Cabin on 9÷22−23. It was beautiful and perfect. Since I was there at an off-​time (weeknight and late in the camping season), the campground was nearly empty, so the place was silent except for the birdsong and rain.
The rain was no problem at all. I wandered all around the hiking trails of the park with an umbrella during the day. The inside of the tent was dry as could be, and the little heater dried my pant legs while I sat nearby in the evening. The tent stayed warm through two cool nights with the heater. There is a campfire pit out front where I enjoyed the provided smores and enjoyed a glass of wine.
I was there by myself as a little mini-​retreat. I left feeling refreshed and calm.
Previous reviewers have pointed out things that didn’t work for them, but I think it’s important to remember this is still *camping*. If you want a luxury hotel room, head to Portland or Seattle. This is luxury camping, which involves things like, well… campgrounds. I was a wilderness survival instructor for a living for several years; I am not a stranger to real camping. I’ve also stayed in super fancy hotel rooms. This is neither of those things, so that’s not what you should expect. It’s a super fancy wall tent in a beautiful State Park Campground within a 30 minute drive of a city. If that’s what you are looking for, you will love this place.

My husband and I stayed here to celebrate our anniversary. We love wilderness camping, but we like to splurge a bit for special occasions and thought we’d get the best of both worlds with Pampered Wilderness. Tammy and Ryan have a GREAT idea here, but this location isn’t appropriate for people who do any sort of real camping or are looking to have a quiet weekend to themselves. Please don’t do what we did and see the photos and assume this is actually secluded in any sort of wilderness. It’s located inside a State Park campground with hundreds of camping spots — your neighbors are mere feet away from you on either side. The «scenic stroll» to the bathroom is about 20 feet directly behind the tent and there’s a short-​cut path for the rest of the campground to use that goes right past the Rustic Retreat tent. On top of that, all the children from neighboring sites were using the «wilderness» next to the bathroom as a meeting/​gaming spot for their adventure play. Cute if you are a family with kids to join in – not so cute when you’re trying to enjoy your lovely $ 150/​night tent.
We bought the Living Social deal geared toward a romantic getaway — two nights, bottle of wine included plus a kayak/​bike rental for the day for 2 at $ 219. When we arrived, there was only 1 kayak and no bikes at our tent. The bottle of wine was also not there. When we called Tammy and told her (a very awkward experience having to ask for things you were promised/​paid for), a couple hours later she and her husband showed up with the second kayak and the bottle of wine for us. The wine was not even from the local winery. I thought they’d have gone in on a marketing deal and gotten a local bottle from Scattercreek (a few miles away). Instead, the bottle was a $ 5 bottle of Oak Leaf (a CA wine) from Walmart. Regardless, it had alcohol in it, which we needed. Half-​way across the lake in the kayaks, I noticed mine leaking air, which is probably why they had it in the first place — there was a patch in it.
The lake itself has multiple swimming areas sectioned off, which is good for the families swimming, but not good if you’re looking to escape on a boat from the screaming children and enjoy the water. Also, as we exited the lake in between those swimming areas, the filth of the water and lakebed was overwhelming. It smelled like sewer and there was trash in the mud.
Once you’ve paid your hotel-​like prices for this beautiful tent in screaming children’s haven, don’t forget that you have to then pay for entrance to the park ($ 10) and for any shower tokens if you want to wash off that lake filth ($ 1 for 6 minutes). And without the Living Social deal, the deflated kayak rental or the non-​existent bike rental is $ 25/​day per person. And you’ll have to buy your own bottle of $ 6 California wine.
As is evident by the pictures, this tent is beautifully furnished. You can tell they like to decorate and they’re good at it. There were just so many cheap/​weird things about the whole thing. The gas grill was dirty, the wine bottle opener was so cheap and flimsy, we barely got the bottle open. Instead of sturdy paper or reusable plastic plates, they provided flimsy (and not eco-​friendly) Styrofoam plates. The popcorn provided was microwave popcorn (I imagined having Jiffy Pop over a fire or something more cutesy). A wooden folding chair my skinny husband was sitting in at breakfast just suddenly collapsed on him as he took a sip of his coffee.
Our saviors of the weekend:
1. Inside the tent they provided an MP3 speaker so we could respectfully play our own music and shut out the world when we closed the tent up (unfortunately, many other campsites near and far played their music not-​so-​respectfully).
2. The neighbors we had in the other PW tent next to us were so nice, quiet and courteous. They did tell us, though, they never received instructions on how to get into their tent — they waited outside their tent for 90 minutes before Tammy responded to them. The only reason I got the check-​in information, I’m certain, is because I e-​mailed them the day before with a LOT of questions because we hadn’t heard anything from them yet about procedures.
Before posting this review, I contacted Tammy about our disappointments — I was very kind and understanding in my e-​mail, offering simple suggestions from a customer’s point of view. I was trying very hard to be constructive in my comments, rather than critical. This is a brand new business that launched itself in a very visible way — Living Social. They are now booked up for the next year, which I KNOW is a LOT of work, answering e-​mails and calls and making reservations and keeping the tents in working order, clean, etc. But more than a week later, I have received no response at all — not any form of apology or thanks for the feedback. Part of making for a great or better experience is not just cleaning the room and providing amenities, it’s follow through and follow-​up after issues/​complaints arise.