High hopes for fresh start at Iowa resort
Honey Creek Resort has new management
Honey Creek Resort has new management
Honey Creek Resort has new management
The summer season is just getting started at Honey Creek Resort in Appanoose County. The only state-owned resort in Iowa is starting the season under new management.
Effective Friday, April 14, Achieva Enterprises has taken over operations of Honey Creek, which includes a hotel, restaurant, golf course and more. In March, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced the company, which has ties to southern Iowa, was awarded the contract through a competitive bid process.
The resort, on the shores of Rathbun Lake north of Centerville, has had financial troubles in the past.
An audit found that in 2020, the resort's hotel rooms averaged just below 30 percent occupancy. That was during the height of the pandemic when many hotels were struggling. But even before that, in 2019, visitors only filled about 46 percent of Honey Creek's rooms throughout the year.
The same audit revealed that Honey Creek's total revenue dropped from about $5.9 million in 2019 to less than $4 million in 2020.
In 2022, the DNR announced venue management company Delaware North no longer wanted control over Honey Creek. That created uncertainty for more than a year, until March of 2023, when the DNR announced Achieva Enterprises would take over management.
KCCI obtained the DNR's contract with Achieva Enterprises. The company has agreed to spend up to $6.8 million in state money to make improvements as well as $1.6 million of its own money to build new attractions and update existing ones.
People in Centerville told KCCI they hope that cash will be the answer for Honey Creek.
"We're excited, I'm excited to see what happens," business owner Jennifer Elliott said.
"I think it creates a lot of opportunity for our community as well as surrounding communities," Centerville resident Elizabeth Sells said.
KCCI contacted Achieva Enterprises for comment, but did not hear back.