Margaritaville Lake Resort – Lake Of The Ozarks

Margaritaville Lake Resort – Lake of the Ozarks is best described as Missouri meets Key West. The friendly people combined with the lakeside vibe makes for a true family friendly vacation experience.

When my nine-year-old daughter heard that Jimmy Buffet died, her first reaction was shock, then she said, “Oh, the people in Missouri must be so sad.” This reference was due to the fact that this summer we spent a week at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Lake Resort in Lake of the Ozarks. Never mind that her grandmother, my mom, was a Parrot Head and had attended many Buffet concerts with my dad. I even inherited her Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker. I digress, back to our getaway… this Margaritaville resort was previously known as Tan-Tar-A Resort and was quite a pleasant surprise.

When you go, look for the many phot ops around the resort, including this giant flip flop at the entrance.

Keep reading for some of my family’s favorite features of the Lake of the Ozarks Margaritaville Lake Resort.

Tiki Hut, Pool and Waterslide

What else is there to say? This Lake of the Ozarks pool setting is sweet. On our first morning at Margaritaville, after dining at the all you can eat breakfast buffet, we hit the lakeside swimming pool and waterslide.

There were a couple of onsite conferences but the resort didn’t seem overly busy since it was during the week, which I highly recommend. The pool is huge and while the waterslide is adjacent to the pool it is not attached. It’s in an enclosed little cove so kids can’t wander away.

There are free pool towels and tons of pool chair to choose from. The Tiki Hut is a nice reprieve from the heat with overhead fans. The menu of tropical, fruity drinks and bar food can be dangerous.

Fin City Arcade

I realized I didn’t take many photos of the arcade because we were so busy playing games and having fun. Many of the games give tickets to winners and the kids can trade for prizes including candy and items like beachballs.

Margaritaville Lake Resort offers Water Rentals

Everyday, my family took advantage of the on site water rentals including jet skies and a pontoon. We highly recommend buying a bag of fish food for the huge catfish under the docks where you pick up the rentals.

Wristband Key

Guests have a choice of using a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) hotel room key card. I call this a no-worries room key. This is especially nice for families with kids who are independent enough to run to and from the room by themselves or run around the resort alone and don’t want the risk of holding on to a keycard.

Jolly Mon Indoor Waterpark at Margaritaville Lake Resort

We saved this attraction for the last day and it was a great way to end our trip. This indoor waterpark has a 3-story tree-house, activity pool, lazy river, hot tub and snack shack. Both kids played for hours.