Abe Martin Lodge Brown Co State Park

The Abe Martin Lodge & Cabins is located inside Brown County State Park in Nashville, Indiana. The park is Indiana's largest state park at 16,000 acres. The lodge features 84 rooms, the Little Gem Restaurant, cabins, and the indoor water park. The park has over 6,000 square feet of banquet and conference space available. Of course, the real selling point is being smack dab in the middle of Brown County. It's easy to make this a weekend getaway to enjoy the park and the lovely town of Nashville. While i tend to regard the lodge as overly expensive, there are quite a few ways to save along the way including 2-for-1 winter specials from November-February, Spring Into Savings rates (in Spring), Summer Savings Rates (Summer), and a discount for State employees (of which I am one). Abe Martin Lodge itself has the 84 lodge rooms and 6 patio rooms. They are all furnished with either a King-sized bed or two Queen-sized beds. Patio rooms are ground-level and have an outdoor patio. There are accessible room options in the lodge. As a matter of note, the two queen bedroom settings include four aquatic center wristbands while the king room options include two. The lodge also has 12 cabin suites that include a mini-fridge, microwave, coffee pot, TV, and phone. They include two queen beds and one sofa hide-a-bed. The cabin suites include six aquatic center wristbands. There are 20 two-story family cabins that feature two upstairs bedrooms (one king, one queen bed), a balcony overseeing a full kitchen and living room, and a wood-burning stove. Family cabins can accommodate eight people and have two sleeper sofas. Each cabin has a deck overlooking the woods. These have a two-night minimum stay on weekends and include eight aquatic center wristbands. These are obviously not really accessible. Finally, there are 51 rustic cabins available only April 1-October 31. They are air conditioned, heated, and have a private bathroom and shower. They have one double bed, a double bed and a twin bed, or two double beds. Single room cabins have two aquatic center wristbands and double bed/twin bed cabins include three. The lodge includes free wifi. However, the cabins do not. However, those who get cabins can go into public areas of the lodge to use the wifi. Extra amenities include a game room/arcade, a gift shop, a hot tub (ages 18+ only), and both indoor/outdoor conferences areas. Pet friendly and accessible options are available, however, not everything here is accessible (or even close to it). So, it's definitely necessary to plan in advance. The Little Gem Restaurant is open daily, though it does have somewhat limited hours. It has an outdoor patio seating area with amazing views. It also offers carry-out. Despite all its options, the Abe Martin Lodge isn't one of my favorite state park lodging options. Weekends seem to be better (increased staffing, more people around). I'm not one for the waterpark, though it is pretty cool and fun to watch. I'm definitely into the lodge over the cabins, though as a wheelchair user that makes sense. I will also note that while pet-friendly options are available, they're somewhat limited and there's a $25 "per night" deposit and it's non-refundable. So, quite honestly, I'd lean toward leaving Fido and Spot at home. I like staying at the Abe Martin Lodge, however, I can't really say I'd do it nearly as much without the specials offered. Abe Martin Lodge is under Indiana's Dept. of Natural Resources.

We planned a fun day at Brown County State Park on Good Friday to hike, eat, and swim with our families! I'll break this up into two reviews, the first for the aquatic center and the second for the restaurant located in the Lodge. Aquatic Center:We called ahead and ensured the aquatic center was opened and how much it cost ($20 per person, all ages need a band). We had nine family members with us so the water park was a tad pricey for all those included, especially given three were under four years old. My four year old had been so excited to go down the water slide and was heartbroken to learn at the top of it that there was a height requirement that she didn't meet to go down. She had to walk with a face full of tears back down the stairs and felt defeated. I understand the need for safety requirements and appreciate the Lodge for following high safety standards, but having those posted on the website or being informed of that at registration would have been helpful to set expectations for our four year old. The aquatic center otherwise was nice and enjoyable. It was insanely crowded since it was Good Friday and spring break to surrounding schools. The lazy river was elbow to elbow. We arrived at 10am right when their website indicated they opened and it was already crowded and all the loungers were reserved with towels and personal items so we had to find an area on the ground to make our home base. Abe Martin Lodge Restaurant:This left much to be desired. I'm not sure if we visited during an "off" time (noon on Good Friday) but there was an extremely limited menu where every entree was $15+. Our kiddos ordered off the kids menu ($8) and my husband and I both ordered the turkey club. My vegetarian father-in-law asked if he could order the grilled cheese sandwich off the kid's menu and was met with a less than thrilled waitress who "let it slide". That judgmental response coupled with the slow service left us unimpressed with the restaurant. Ending on a high note, the kettle chips are amazing. Order them with ranch for a delightful treat.

This review is specifically for the restaurant. We recently visited the state park for the morning and popped in here to grab lunch. "Down home" is the best way to describe it with classic indiana comfort foods like chicken and noodles, sugar cream pie and hearty breaded tenderloins. They also offer a lunchtime soup and salad bar which I opted for. I enjoyed the ham and beans alongside the loaded soup. Our entree offerings were a little on the slow side to arrive but overall customer service was solid. Eating healthy here isn't the easiest but their menu is fairly extensive. You'll find the restaurant on the second floor of the lodge. It appears they have an overflow room idea for private events. The hotel itself features a large indoor water park and gift shop. I can't speak for the hotel rooms but I have stayed in their small rustic cabins before.

It was a really nice room. Slept very well. Although the mattresses are box springs surprisingly I did feel them through the night. A very disappointing thing was they needed long mirrors hung on the wall outside of the bathroom by an outlet. They had one hung but no outlet. I couldn't get ready while my husband was in the shower. The faucet was dripping the shower's were very strange hot is where cold water was supposed to be. The hot water was on the right of the dial not left so immediately on hot by twisting a small bit which also slowed the water too. Making the water luke warm almost chilly.

This place has unfortunately slipped since the state took it over.Cleanliness is an issue. I was in the bathroom on the second floor right as the cleaning crew walked out. There was an unflushed toilet in there. The trash can outside was overflowing. The soap was empty.I've been here twice in the past month and both times, the restaurant just ignores you unless they have a table. There's no waitlist. No estimate for how long you might wait. No acknowledgement that you are there. Even when there are tables clearly available, you might wait 30+ minutes. I get that they might be short staffed but at least give an estimate, especially since it costs $7 just to drive in and ask.They are usually out of at least one thing. On the most recent visit, it was orange juice at breakfast. No mimosas. They don't proactively share this so you'll just find out under pressure when they do finally come around to ask for your order.On the plus side, it's lower priced for families. The kid menu is a particular value although the adult options are a good value as well. The food is OK. Definitely better than what you might expect from a state park.They also have free EV charging in the parking lot so if you're coming from Indianapolis, Bloomington or Columbus, you can easily cover your trip while waiting and eating. There is occasionally live music and it's well worth throwing a few bucks in the guitar case.It's not exceptional like it used to be but it is good enough to make the occasional trip.

We decided to have lunch at the restaurant inside the lodge during our fall foliage drive through the park.Despite being short staffed and having reduced seating, our wait was short and the staff was friendly and efficient.Lunch hours are 11:30-2The hand breaded pork tenderloin sandwich was delicious and meaty. My husband enjoyed the grilled fish sandwich. Both were served with chips.We shared the best fried biscuits and apple butter, which were served warm with an insane amount of cinnamon sugar coating.There is an elevator to get to the 2nd floor.

This review is for the restaurant in the lodge. It is a really good deal for lunch. There is a buffet (hot items, soups, and salad bar), but they also have a good selection of sandwiches and some entrees.The best deal is a sandwich/side and you add on the soup/salad buffet for a few more dollars.Bonus: If you are a state employee, you get 50% off any item.

So I want to say how completely disgusted I was with the Abe Martin Lodge today. We called several weeks ago to schedule Gracen's Birthday party for today. Upon our arrival with 5 girls in tote and many more route they told us we couldn't have our party there because they booked a party of 300 people and there wasn't enough room for our party to use the facilities. My sweet Gracen was in tears because she felt her birthday was ruined. We scrambled for answers at a moments notice. I want to give the biggest shout out to an amazing friend who saved the day Raquel Kolacz. Upon contacting her she allowed us to come to the Hotel Nashville and use their pool to save Gracen's birthday. Shame on you Abe Martin Lodge for your appalling business practices!

So nice!Of course with some of these reviews I was worried, but I've come to the realization that I'm pretty sure the majority of them are boomers who like to complain. I had 2 Karen's come up to me while in line to check in to try to complain to me about the wait. Did I have to wait? Yes, but apparently their systems went down earlier so checking in was taking longer than normal. No ones fault! They apologized for the wait and were very friendly. One one boomer complain about his card key not working for the pool area. Not anyone's fault, stuff happens and those hotel key cards are always iffy. And also probably had to do with their systems being down. I guess maybe people are expecting top notch service and amenities? but it's a state park! I'm sure they're short staffed, and underpaid just like everywhere else. Rooms? Not dirty at all! In fact pretty much spotless. Dated? Of course it's a lodge built in the 1932. Some paint scraped and older tile. But I loved it! And very clean. Maybe that's what they thought were the rooms being dirty? but the rooms (that I saw, and I had 3 family members also rent rooms). Were very clean, and fresh towels. I'm not sure what other people are expecting?Pools were also very clean! And really nice, retro blue tile and a good zero entry for the kids. Easy to keep an eye on them. 2 lifeguards on staff whole time. Clean towels available. Definitely coming back and making this a family trip. So don't let the Karen reviews scare you away.

Upon arrival you are impressed by the lobby area and it's rustic look! Don't be fooled- We got to our room and found that it should have been renovated 20 years ago. The bathroom was close to disgusting. The shower area was caulked with white material that was covered in brown mold. The water at one point was brown in color ( I know this is Brown County but a little too much Brown). The vents were filthy. Thchie water park was nice for the grands but the water was cool. Now we get to the restaurant. A cup of coffee was $3.00- the only option for breakfast was a buffet for $16.00 (we passed on that). we did the Wednesday restaurant offering and it was $20 per person for horrible food- corn, from a can, beans from a can, pasta, cold, and the only meat was chicken and dumplings, from a can. The park is beautiful- the campground was nice (Our daughter and her kids stayed in our camper)- Nashville is great. AVOID THE LODGE!