Diamond John's Riverside Retreat

Lauren Andrews

2024-05

Cabin and location were cool. The teepee however, had wasp in it and mildew, and when it stormed, the kids got rained on in the teepee. For the price , I feel like they should have been able to sleep in it. Had to come sleep in the cabin with us. Grass needed cut, and the owners weren't all that friendly. Website showed pictures of a hot tub, but in real life, it was nasty and couldn't use it. I was really disappointed. 😞

Amy Doll

2023-12

Great location, the woman who came to show me to my cabin was very kind but it ends there. I felt like the floor of the deck was going to collapse when I walked on it. I laid down on the main bed and it was so soft I sank through. There was black mold in the shower and grey mold blooms on the front of the mini fridge. I didn't get a teepee because the website said it is musty but the cabin was musty as well. I have asthma and likely wouldn't have been able to breathe in the morning so I left. I personally LOVE to camp in a tent so it's not that I am just about 'glamping', I just can do mold or a questionable bed to sleep on.

Samantha Severa

2023-08

If you like a step up from camping this is the place. Great mother daughter team. Mother was super helpful with places to go and see in the community. The daughter was fantastic with the kids for a night time gem hunt. Just around the corner from a public river Bank for swimming and near town and the diamond mine. We went when it was super hot but the cabin always stayed real cool for us. My son was sad to go. We will go back again.

Michael Stephens

2023-11

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Friday Plum (FridayPlum)

2023-08

Wasn't the worst place I've taken my family, but the big cabin was not worth the rental price. On a positive note, the service was friendly. The minig gear was great! The kayaks are kid sized only! The big cabin was better than a tent in the August heat, if only barely! We were glad we had our camping setup with us as the cooking and eating gear was inadequate and mostly broken. Has a hard time finding enough outlets that a really worked. The cabin is in a severe state of disrepair. Glad I was with amazing people. That saved the trip!Noteworthy details: Big Cabin is in serious disrepair. Liveable but just

Ryan Terry

2023-11

What a waste of money. Don’t waste your money or time here. The owners obviously do not care about cleaning or fixing up these run down cabins. The weeds are so tall on the property basically doing anything outside the cabin without getting eaten alive by bugs is impossible. I would be embarrassed to rent these out to people. Basically stealing your money. The pics on their website are over 20 years old. This place needs to be condemned and shut down.

Colby Green

2023-11

A few months back, we had a fun weekend retreat with some friends. We hung lights up on the porch. Grilled some shrimp and chicken. Cabins were clean and a great value. Veteran friendly. We will be back.Rooms: Very neat cabins settled back in a secluded area.Nearby activities: Diamond Mine a mile a way. Diamond John's let us use some mining equipment.Safety: The area is beautiful and wide open. Cabins have locks. Campsite has surveillance cameras.Walkability: We literally walked everywhere all weekend. This place is super close to the mine and a public swimming area.

Christie Smith

2023-05

This is our families yearly vacation spot! We just got back from another great trip there! Miss it already! Our hosts are great, very personable and make it worth the 2 hour trip! The kids loved the gem hunt as well! Will definitely be planning another trip there soon! They also have kayaks to rent, which will be our next adventure!! Thx for having us backRooms: Cabins are great as well as tipis well crafted! Gives you just the trip you need if you want to get out of city life for a bitNearby activities: Crater, arrowhead hunting, laser tag, old time variety store that had house made food jams, salsas, etc... Plenty of dinersNoteworthy details: Walking by the Missouri, beautiful view!!!! Lots of space and scenario! Great host! Family fun!

Linda Almost

2023-10

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Tashena Floyd

2023-07

I was there with family a week ago would never go back the pictures are not what they seem for 180 per night also our door did not lock u could push it open their was a weird dead smell when u would walk through the door the entrie stay. The creek on the property had mainly Snakes cotton mouths and the Manger or owner came up to me and ask me to ride in a car with her 18 old daughter down the road but she couldn't go nor could she tell me where she needed to go it was very weird and we looked at one of the teepee and would not stay in that either there was mold on the inside of them and not been taken care of or used it look like to us in a while and the grass was so over grown it was crazy. NOT WORTH THE MONEY.

Jessi Marie Elbel

2023-05

We rented the Montana cabin. We arrived later than intended and the owner was so gracious and helpful. He walked us through how to use the TV, gave us mining tips and advice on other activities to do during our stay, and was just all around really pleasant to deal with.There are friendly cats and dogs on the property, which we consider to be a bonus.I'll candidly say there were a few insects to deal with, mainly wasps, but for a family used to country-living it wasn't anything overwhelming or unexpected for a campground in the summer.The view is spectacular, the cabins are right on the river. There are plenty of activities for children: soccer, badminton, and a nighttime gem hunt.

Nicole Carlton

2022-05

We had planned to stay here a couple nights but ended up leaving after 1. We were not informed our children all 8 and older could not use the hot tub until 9 p.m. The lady was so nice and sweet and informed us there was a hot tub. I called later that evening to get the got tub gate unlocked. He informed me our cabin didn't have a hot tub after the lady told me the other one was for everyone to use. He then said ok, I'll come out and unlock it but adults only. What adults are going to go sot in a hot tub and leave their children sit in a musty cabin.The location was nice and the cabins were do able. I figured since it had a shower there would be towels but there was only 1😬. The place has so much potential. I think we would have been just as well in a tent and saved the money.

Becca W

2021-05

Diamond John's could stand a little cosmetic help and the hot tub was not running. HOWEVER, we really loved this place! It was quiet, right by the river, pretty view, the cabin was very nice and extremely comfortable. We were booked for 2 nights. We mined one day but then just enjoyed where we were staying here so much we extended an additional night just to enjoy another day of relaxation. We brought 2 of our dogs and the owners let us know that as long as they are friendly the dogs could run. Our dogs got along great with their wonderfully loving dogs and cats so our babies had a blast, including swimming in the river. We will definitely be going back and fully recommend Diamond John's Riverside Retreat.

Paige Campbell

2023-05

The host were very welcoming and nice I’ve worked in the Parker creek cabins by the lake down in Murfreesboro and would definitely recommend those. This place is very ran down the floors weren’t swept or mopped. The showers hadn’t been wiped down in what looked like a year. There was all sorts of trash from the previous people. Including toothbrushes, empty paper towel rolls, ect. I was very disappointed in this place considering I wanted to stay at the teepees since I was a little girl. I was hoping it would be a good experience but it was not at all. There were flees jumping on us in the bed. The fridge barley kept my little ones drink cold and the ac didn’t work very well. Should’ve just brought a tent it would’ve been an upgrade from this.

Ruth Hasbrook

2022-05

Extremely friendly inkeepers with quaint cozy cabins. We were there in winter and it was so quiet, peaceful, right on the river, conveniently on the other side of crater of diamonds state park. Great diamond finding tips and equipment rental included, which saves a lot! Highly recommend. Electricity, some TV channels and heaters available. :)

Emily Friis

2022-05

So we ended up not staying. We booked two nights. Told them we would be getting there late which was fine. Both my vehicle navigation and my Google maps on my phone took us down a sketchy road with wash out on both sides for 6 miles. Running water over the road. Would have been screwed if we were in a car and not a jeep. Once we were able to weasel our way out, we called the people and they acted like they had no idea about this route. There is apparently a paved way, but you're telling me you've never heard of the other route? That both our common GPS systems took us down? Gimme a break. At least put a warning or something on your website. We ended up staying at a motel in Nashville instead.. Also, we drove by the retreat just out of curiosity the next day and see what we may have missed out on. Absolutely nothing. Looks sketchy and dilapidated. Thanks be to God for stopping us from staying there.

Rebecca Johnson

2023-09

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Joey Dishler

2023-05

My family and I just got back vacationing here once again, for my birthday 10th! Excellent view, host and scenery! The daughter takes the kids at night on a gem hunt! Our favorite place always . A must visit!Noteworthy details: Wonderful a must see

Rachel Mendez

2023-06

Very unfortunate that the website is totally deceitful for what a guest would expect. So many things that need to be cleaned and repaired . Very dirty cabin, floors filthy and look as if they haven’t been cleaned in months. The whole place is disappointing. The price completely ridiculous for what is delivered. Save yourself the disappointment stay elsewhere.

charles miller

2023-09

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Nichole Burch

2020-05

Absolutely love this place.. we rented the tree house cabin and the star light cabin 3 kids 4 adults the cabins are so clean and cozy. The owner is the nicest person and happy is great. The have a night time gem hunt for the kids this was a highlight of there weekend. Sitting out next to the river was beautiful we seen otters playing deer and raccoons. The summer flood did hurt this place but the tps and cabins that are open is worth the stay definitely try and i will guarantee you will love it

Pamela Easley

2023-07

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Lauren Higginbotham

2022-05

This review is based off of my experience with a family of 5 in a tee-pee. I can’t speak for those in the cabins or tree-house.When you drive up, you see an open field with a volleyball net, soccer goals, mining sifters, fishing poles, and kayaks. So many things for my kids to do. I wish we spent more time there to enjoy all of it. We got checked in and the owner showed us to our tee-pee. We got to drive up to the tee-pee and park right by it so unloading was easier. The tee-pee was awesome! It was on a raised wooden deck with stairs that went to a lower stage/deck. Inside the tee-pee was so great! You had a/c, heater, two queen beds with bedding, a mini fridge, satellite tv, and a lamp. I brought our own sleeping bags that we used(my kids have never used them before and thought it was cool), the beds were super comfortable(my husband and I had the best sleep). There was a fire-pit and camping grill assigned to the tee-pee right off the lower deck. The tee-pee had an amazing view of the river. Such a beautiful place. There was even a bigger field near the river. My kids loved playing baseball, tag, etc there. The bathrooms were located close to the tee-pee. There were two full bathrooms on opposite sides from each other. The bathrooms were like any camping bathrooms. I had a bathroom kit(toilet paper, soap, paper towels, etc) we would bring.All in all we had a wonderful experience and we would go back.

Ron Brawner Braemar

2022-05

Started off with no water in shower and no power in the cabin. The lady checked us in was very nice and turned the power on. power stoped as soon as we went to bed.The husband informed us not to use a blower dyer and left before i could tell him we were just sleeping and had nothing. When .we ask about the shower he was rude and never made any apologies The wood decks were patched over rotten wood they would move so much we were afraid to stand together.I guess 220 exceeds max load. I have stated in cabins on many lakes and rivers and never been in one this dirty ,run down, and without any towels soap. It is a nice place to tent camp, and the Tpees i am sure where great four or five years ago. They should do some heavy maintance, because the location is perfect.

Amanda Wilson

2023-05

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Kimberly Gonzales

2019-05

Stay far away from this place. It needs major updating. I don’t even know where to start. For the money you could stay at the hotel down the street and have a better experience. This place is far from a retreat. The first tepee had wasp all inside falling on us. It was a big tepee we paid for. They moved us to a smaller tepee which had ladybugs all inside. Fine with that. The first night it rained and water was coming in the sides of the tepee and the front door. We used our sheets to get the water mopped up. I found holes in the platform I unclogged. The water started draining. The bathrooms need some love. I don’t think the light switches have been cleaned in years. There was no toilet paper, soap to wash your hands or paper towels to dry it. We went to the dollar general down the way to get supplies. I cleaned the bathroom just to make it usable. Cats were all over the life vest which using them could be hard if you are allergic to them. On the last day my daughter got stung by wasp in the tepee. So you can either freeze or put the heater on for wasp to sting you. This place is poorly managed. The woman on the phone can hardly understand you and messed up our dates and refused to give us a refund but only an extra day which would not work because we were leaving to head to our next adventure and a new hotel. The only thing about this place is the river was pretty to look at. This place needs major updating and better management. They need to take care of the wasp issue.

Helen Parlow

2023-05

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Marty Jenry

2021-05

We were a little disappointed . It looks nicer on the web site. The cabin could have been cleaner, I went and bought cleaning supplies too clean my cabin. The ground was not well kept, weeds everywhere. The river was flooded so couldn't swim, the hot tub wasn't working.The water fountain shown on line wasn't working. We never got a key too our cabin.we won't stay their ever again. They get two stars because they are very nice people. But , they need better maintenance of the property.

Ryan Shearer

2021-05

Pros: the owners are nice, they loan you diamond hunting tools, the river view is great, location is easy to find and very convenient to the parkCons: the website photos and descriptions are way outdated. Like other reviews the whole place needs maintenance. Wasps nests just outside our cabin door. Our cabin was damp and musty. Shower door was broken. The front door window had plexiglass instead of glass in the window and wasn’t caulked, so bugs got in. On top of all this, the cats woke us up a couple times during the night meowing! LolAll in all I will NEVER stay there again and don’t recommend it. I wish I had read these reviews before booking it.

Phillip Gleeson

2015-05

The owners are very nice and very hospitable. I thought we were just renting a cabin, but it turned out that there were a lot of other things included. They provide the equipment you need for the diamond mine, and even help you go through gravel to identify diamonds. They have canoes (with paddles, life jackets, and fishing poles) to take out on the river (no charge). They have a nice BBQ pit, half charcoal and half propane. They also have a lot of good stuff for kids. Our three year old son had a blast in the bounce house, and love watching the animals (chickens, peacocks, and pigeons). They also do a gem hunt at night and the kids will all go out with flashlights. Our son came out loaded with a bunch of little treasures. My overall experience was awesome, but they have a couple cons. The cabin was not as clean as I expected it should be, but it was tolerable. I also had to duck every time I went in and out of the cabin (banged my head a couple times). Other than that, I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Murfreesboro and would stay here again the next time I come.