Camp Kidwell - Bloomingdale, Michigan

Nana G.

First off can I say infested with bedbugs! I hate to even have to write this review because this could be a really great Camp for everyone young adult adults, young kids and adult adults, but it needs to be completely updated. The bathrooms are terrible. All the toilets need to be replaced and the shower stalls need to be refinished. On top of all that we had over 40 youth that are in our program with us. All of the cabins were infested with bedbugs. We had to leave a day early. It was extremely disappointing, the owner is a very nice person, but I think he may have known there was bedbugs because how do you not have anyone else complaining and when we looked at the walls, we have pictures of The infestation. The cabin walls need to be replaced. They are boards that can come down, and and exterminator person needs to spray these down. It needs to be done more than one time. If he allows someone to come in right after us, he does not care if his clients take bedbugs home with them which cost thousands of dollars to get rid of bedbugs.
I had to take every single piece of clothing that I owned to the laundromat to wash on super high heat and dry on super high heat. I had to throw away all of my bedding articles that were in the room thank goodness I did not have all of my very expensive clothes with me in the room. The staff talked to all of our young adult youths in our program, very rude and abruptly. The staff also treated all of our staff. Abruptly, and we are all adults. We paid for all of the food and they treated us like we could not have what we were asking for when we went to get our food. I think if the health inspector went out there, they would shut this camp down. So I hope the owner takes these very direct words to heart and does exactly what needs to be done for this camp to continue running.

Elyvia W.

Our group of young adults stayed at Camp Kidwell and, unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. On our first full day, one member of our group woke from a nap covered in large bites. When we checked the bedding, we discovered a bed bug infestation.

We immediately reported this to staff, but the response was dismissive—“I’ll figure it out.” We bagged our belongings and placed them outside to be thrown away, and were offered a different cabin. However, by that point, we no longer felt the facilities were safe or clean. Staff attempted to blame the issue on “being outdoors,” rather than taking responsibility for proper maintenance and sanitation.

We chose to leave after dinner the same day, because they also didn't try to clean or evacuate. Bed bugs are a serious health and safety concern, and the lack of accountability from staff was unacceptable. Based on this experience, our group will not be returning to Camp Kidwell.

SEL S.

When you think of a Safe & Caring environment for your children to attend Summer Camp, it's Camp Kidwell. My Boys Love this place. My oldest son is Special Needs & they are so understanding & patient with him. He doesn't feel comfortable anywhere else. I can't express enough gratitude & appreciation for the Entire Staff. They went ABOVE & BEYOND calling me about a hiccup in our camp program today. The gentleman on the phone, said no problem we will fix it & he did just that.
Thank you so very much Camp kidwell
You guys are definitely helping to change the future, one child at a time.

Michael T.

I can't believe this place is still up and running. They don't have enough staff to cover most of what they need, so they hire minors. The animals (horses) are poorly taken care of. The staff are unprofessional and have no clue how to resolve issues. The cops have been called numerous times to pick up campers or to report staff. I pulled my daughter from here because a staff member assaulted her, and when she reported it, they told her to read between the lines on how the other person felt. This place is an absolute joke and should be shut down. 😒

Reply to your comment: We tried speaking with you and was told that she should have read between the lines. We also brought it to your attention and was basically told nothing would be done. So this review was made in response to your no response and inability to take responsibility for the actions. Please do better in the future for the sake of everyone or shut down until you can understand how to properly go about these issues.

Amanda Q.

My kids love it! KJ and the staff is great with the kids!

Benjamin M.

I just got done with this camp and it was a very long week. If we ran, we would get yelled at to stop. When we were swimming we weren't weren't allowed to put our head under the water. There's a set schedule and you don't have many options on what you can do. In fact you have none. The food also is not good there. The councilors are usually pretty bad. We had two councilors and one was very good while the other was very bad. The bad one would yell at us and get angry very easy. I don't recommend this camp. Some other very good ones that I've been to are Pine Trail Camp and Camp Geniva.

Lexi H.

I want to this camp back when I was 10 and it left such a strong memory on me that I remember it almost six years later! All the activity’s are so fun and I never felt left out once. Also the campfires were so fun and now I plane to go there one last time next summer to relive some memories. I 100% recommend this camp

None Y.

Disregard what that Larry guy said about this camp because he has no clue what he's talking about...this camp is so awesome! The mentors are lively and fun and the kids love them. I will be forever grateful to this camp for helping give my children the opportunity to attend and have a healthy life experience that definitely gives great memories. Thank you Camp Kidwell for being awesome! I highly recommend this camp to everyone!

Chris W.

This is in response to some of the negative reviews I’ve seen regarding this camp. Camp Kidwell is a rustic, more older fashioned camp located on Eagle Lake in Cheshire Township, Michigan. It is home to four overnight male cabins and five overnight female cabins as well as a day camp program over the summer. They have off season programs including our Winter Camp as well as our respite once-a-weekend a month programs. In response to previous people who have attended camp recently, it is sad to hear that they didn’t have a positive experience regarding their stay. However, I can speak on behalf of hundreds if not thousands of families that have attended camp over the past 75 years, and I can attest that this is a smaller demographic of people. As far as bedbugs goes, it happens everywhere. Going and writing people off is awful. In fact, in response to the comment about the state health inspector, I’m happy to share they come and visit us annually. If we failed our inspection, we simply wouldn’t have been opened for operation. Also, Camp is ran by a very small staff force during the off season, in which this group attended.

Please don’t let a few people’s negative opinions reflect the operations of this wonderful small, rustic camp. While we may not be the camp you see on television shows, we are a cohesive family-oriented community who are working our tails off to try to keep a float in modern times. So next time you take to the internet to write a negative review, think of the broader scheme of things and where people may be coming from.

Nana G.

First off can I say infested with bedbugs! I hate to even have to write this review because this could be a really great Camp for everyone young adult adults, young kids and adult adults, but it needs to be completely updated. The bathrooms are terrible. All the toilets need to be replaced and the shower stalls need to be refinished. On top of all that we had over 40 youth that are in our program with us. All of the cabins were infested with bedbugs. We had to leave a day early. It was extremely disappointing, the owner is a very nice person, but I think he may have known there was bedbugs because how do you not have anyone else complaining and when we looked at the walls, we have pictures of The infestation. The cabin walls need to be replaced. They are boards that can come down, and and exterminator person needs to spray these down. It needs to be done more than one time. If he allows someone to come in right after us, he does not care if his clients take bedbugs home with them which cost thousands of dollars to get rid of bedbugs.
I had to take every single piece of clothing that I owned to the laundromat to wash on super high heat and dry on super high heat. I had to throw away all of my bedding articles that were in the room thank goodness I did not have all of my very expensive clothes with me in the room. The staff talked to all of our young adult youths in our program, very rude and abruptly. The staff also treated all of our staff. Abruptly, and we are all adults. We paid for all of the food and they treated us like we could not have what we were asking for when we went to get our food. I think if the health inspector went out there, they would shut this camp down. So I hope the owner takes these very direct words to heart and does exactly what needs to be done for this camp to continue running.

Elyvia W.

Our group of young adults stayed at Camp Kidwell and, unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. On our first full day, one member of our group woke from a nap covered in large bites. When we checked the bedding, we discovered a bed bug infestation.

We immediately reported this to staff, but the response was dismissive—“I’ll figure it out.” We bagged our belongings and placed them outside to be thrown away, and were offered a different cabin. However, by that point, we no longer felt the facilities were safe or clean. Staff attempted to blame the issue on “being outdoors,” rather than taking responsibility for proper maintenance and sanitation.

We chose to leave after dinner the same day, because they also didn't try to clean or evacuate. Bed bugs are a serious health and safety concern, and the lack of accountability from staff was unacceptable. Based on this experience, our group will not be returning to Camp Kidwell.

SEL S.

When you think of a Safe & Caring environment for your children to attend Summer Camp, it's Camp Kidwell. My Boys Love this place. My oldest son is Special Needs & they are so understanding & patient with him. He doesn't feel comfortable anywhere else. I can't express enough gratitude & appreciation for the Entire Staff. They went ABOVE & BEYOND calling me about a hiccup in our camp program today. The gentleman on the phone, said no problem we will fix it & he did just that.
Thank you so very much Camp kidwell
You guys are definitely helping to change the future, one child at a time.

Michael T.

I can't believe this place is still up and running. They don't have enough staff to cover most of what they need, so they hire minors. The animals (horses) are poorly taken care of. The staff are unprofessional and have no clue how to resolve issues. The cops have been called numerous times to pick up campers or to report staff. I pulled my daughter from here because a staff member assaulted her, and when she reported it, they told her to read between the lines on how the other person felt. This place is an absolute joke and should be shut down. 😒

Reply to your comment: We tried speaking with you and was told that she should have read between the lines. We also brought it to your attention and was basically told nothing would be done. So this review was made in response to your no response and inability to take responsibility for the actions. Please do better in the future for the sake of everyone or shut down until you can understand how to properly go about these issues.