Why you should stay at King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake, Iowa

Why you should stay at King's Pointe Resort in Storm Lake, Iowa

If you’re looking for a lakefront getaway where you can park your car and have everything you need in one space, check out King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake, Iowa. They have a variety of accommodations ranging from a regular hotel room to suites, to cottages. On top of the accommodations, they have a huge list of amenities and activities that are available onsite. Seriously, you will park your car and you’ll have everything you need for your getaway!

I was surprised to learn that King’s Pointe is not privately owned. Instead, it was built and is still maintained by the city of Storm Lake. It opened back in 2007 using a combination of local dollars and Iowa Vision Grant funds.

Disclaimer: Our trip to King’s Pointe Resort was hosted by Storm Lake United, however, the opinions are our own.

Address: 1520 East Lakeshore DriveStorm Lake, Iowa 50588

Website: https://www.kingspointeresort.com/

Accommodations at King’s Pointe Resort

The accommodations range from regular hotel rooms to various suites, including multi-room suites. During our stay, we were offered two options: King Suite on an upper floor with a lake view – or – a Shoreline King Suite with a lake view. We took the shoreline room. Shoreline rooms are on the ground floor, face the lake, and have a sliding glass door that leads directly outside to the lake. We brought our bicycles with us and choosing the shoreline room was the perfect pick for the activities we had planned.

Our room was a King Suite Shoreline room with a sliding glass door out to the trail along the lake. We even stored our bikes in our room and had easy access to the trail for early morning explorations.

Although the rooms and suites are great, the most popular accommodation during the summer is the cottages. They have four separate cottages available and each contains 3 queen beds and one king sleeper sofa, a full kitchen, dining area, and living room. Also a fire pit and outdoor gas grill. All four cottages are located near each other and are just east of the resort, but still on the lake. It was late June when we visited King’s Pointe and we inquired about the cottages and they were booked every night for the rest of the summer! Super popular!

This is one of the four cottages, showing a private patio and access to its own outdoor grill.

Amenities at King’s Pointe Resort

When it comes to amenities, King’s Pointe Resort gets an A. It’s the place where you’ll drive to and leave your car in the parking lot for the entire weekend because you’ll have all the activities you need right on site.

Take on Storm Lake

It’s the fourth largest glacial lake in the state of Iowa, which makes it a popular destination for boating and fishing. There’s even a courtesy dock on the grounds at King’s Pointe Resort and during our stay, we saw several families who left their boats at the dock while staying at the resort. We also saw a number of adults and kids fishing along the shoreline as there are numerous other public docks in the area. In fact, we were told that walleye were being caught from the shoreline in early June.

If you don’t have a boat – that’s not a problem either, they are now renting small watercraft at the Awaysis Park which is connected to the resort. They have canoes, kayaks, and paddleboats available for rent through the Kaloni app. This setup is really slick and makes it possible to rent anytime you see a small watercraft that you like, meaning that you don’t have to wait for a rental shop to open or for someone to come and assist you with checkout. Just use your phone, take a photo of the code/image on the watercraft – and you’ll be directed to download the Kaloni App. With the app, you’ll enter your information and credit card and it will check the watercraft out for you. The craft is GPS-tracked, so you’ll get billed if you don’t bring it back to the proper spot and get it checked back in correctly. They have life jackets, oars, and paddles onsite as well. The setup is ideal for those who like to hit the water in the early morning or after sunset and don’t want to be time restricted like most rentals from a traditional boathouse.

Outdoor and Indoor Waterpark

King’s Point is best known for its dual indoor and outdoor water park. The outdoor waterpark was crazy busy on the Sunday afternoon that we arrived. The waterparks are not only for the guests at the resort – they serve as the local swimming pool for Storm Lake. The outdoor park consists of two sections: the traditional pool with lap swimming, diving boards, kids’ water play area, and lots of places to hang out and catch up on your lack of vitamin D.

The other section contains five large waterslides that are encircled by the lazy river. Most of the slides have a 48″ height requirement, although one slide does allow a 36″ height if riding with a responsible adult. I didn’t actually go on that specific slide, so I can’t attest to whether I personally qualified as “responsible” or not.

Aerial view of the outdoor waterpark at King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake, Iowa.

They also have birthday packages available that cover not only admission but also access to their party room which can be rented by the hour.

Aerial view of the outdoor waterpark at King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake, Iowa.

The indoor water park is what keeps the resort busy during the winter season – as I’m guessing that it’s one of the largest indoor waterparks in the state of Iowa. I did some digging online and couldn’t find any information on what is the largest indoor waterpark in the state – but I’ve personally been to most of the indoor waterparks in the state and I can’t imagine that this isn’t the largest. There are three indoor slides, some with a 36″ height requirement and one slide with a 48″ height requirement. There’s also a zero-depth entry, water playground, lily pad walk, water basketball, and a lazy river.

YouTube video
A quick video showing the indoor waterpark at King’s Pointe Park in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Regatta Restaurant

I’ll be honest, I don’t usually get excited about the standard restaurant that comes with a hotel. I mean who does? But I was caught off guard. Regatta Restaurant at King’s Pointe Resort is different. Not only does it have outstanding lakefront views, but its menu and food are also equally impressive. One night, we even grabbed a pizza to go and took it just a few feet to the outside dining and watched boats zip along the lake as the sun fell to the horizon.

Bike / Walking Trails

The entire north shore of Storm Lake is a paved walking/biking path that connects the numerous lakeshore parks. As I mentioned earlier, we stayed in a shoreline room. This gave us a ground-level room with a sliding glass door out to the trail. We brought our bikes with us and we actually stored them in our room (there was no space concern, their suites are good-sized). This allowed us to ride right out of the room to the trail without the hassle of unracking the bike each time or heading through the hallways or the lobby. In fact, during our three days, we rode our bikes every morning and every evening, as the weather was perfect and it gave us an easy way to check out the various parks and public art (like the painted lighthouses and the chainsaw sculptures) that are scattered around Storm Lake.

Riding the bike trail through Sunrise Park and checking out the many chainsaw sculptures along the trail.

Also, you don’t have to bring your own bike – they also have two other options available. Across the street is a bicycle shop that rents bikes, but of course, you have to operate during their store hours. The better option is to rent a bike from King’s Point bike rental location made possible by Kaloni (the same company that rents the canoes and kayaks). Their rentals are located in the parking lot and it works just like the watercraft rental. You simply take a photo of the code on the bike, and it pulls up the Kaloni app, which collects your payment and provides you with access to the bike. The prices are incredibly reasonable – $3 per half hour. And just like the watercraft rental, the big benefit is being able to rent the bike whenever you want. No waiting for a rental shop to open. No waiting in line. If you see a bike secured to the rack, scan the code and be on your way.

Golf and mini-golf

Sunrise Pointe Golf Course is also right onsite with King’s Pointe Resort. It’s a nine-hole course on forty acres. And if real golf isn’t your thing – then they have mini golf as well. Pirates’ Pointe is 18 holes and admission runs around $7 per adult.

Aerial view of the eighteen-hole mini-golf available at Pirate’s Pointe in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Awaysis Park

Awaysis Park is a public park adjacent to King’s Point Resort. It was built at the same time as the resort, as I believe it was a part of the same Vision Iowa Grant. The key feature is a lighthouse that has both stairs and an elevator to get you to the top for a view across the lake. The park also features a family playground, a large green space, and Kolb gardens. Next to the lighthouse, there’s also a public beach (which is where you can rent small watercraft). There are also several public docks that welcome boaters as well as fishermen.

Aerial view of Awaysis Park showing the public docks, beach, lighthouse, and playground.

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4 Comments

  1. wonderful write-up about a wonderful place where I have lived the majority of my life. The only “problem” with this article….it might bring many people here to visit and part of the charm of Storm Lake is that it does not have a large “tourist” population, being an hour south of the larger touristy area of the Iowa Great Lakes. I love taking solitary walks or walks with friends along the shore of Storm Lake. Well maintained. Peaceful. Birds, squirrels, occasional person with dog on a leash.