Antelope or Wahweap Rentals

[Dworwood]

We normally go out of bullfrog but are considering Wahweap for those who live near the South end. I am curious if anyone has an opinion which marina has the more well kept house boats. I was told Antelope is much better to work with and if the cut is closed it would take a lot of travel miles off as well. Any opinions from the group? It has been 17 years since we have rented a boat. Thanks for any input. DW

 

[birdsnest]

I'm not sure which class houseboat you are looking for but the bigger the boats, the better the presentation. Antelope takes better care of their boats but they can't touch Wahweap for off season rates. I just got a 54' Myacht with full insurance (600$ deductible) and a preboard which means we spend the first night on the boat so we can leave at day break. Preboard was $475 at Antelope but I talked the wahweap houseboat into 1/2 price on the preboard. The total was about $1800 less at wahweap. Around $3800 for a seven day trip. 7 fishermen going and a couple of them prefer to sleep on top deck which leaves plenty of room for everyone. Comes to about $550 each for a week fishing trip, not bad. This particular boat is powered by twin 60 hp fourstrokes which will pull our 3 fishing boats with no problem at about 8 mph. each man throws in about a hundred bucks for fuel and ice.

 

[Dworwood]

I'm not sure which class houseboat you are looking for but the bigger the boats, the better the presentation. Antelope takes better care of their boats but they can't touch Wahweap for off season rates. I just got a 54' Myacht with full insurance (600$ deductible) and a preboard which means we spend the first night on the boat so we can leave at day break. Preboard was $475 at Antelope but I talked the wahweap houseboat into 1/2 price on the preboard. The total was about $1800 less at wahweap. Around $3800 for a seven day trip. 7 fishermen going and a couple of them prefer to sleep on top deck which leaves plenty of room for everyone. Comes to about $550 each for a week fishing trip, not bad. This particular boat is powered by twin 60 hp fourstrokes which will pull our 3 fishing boats with no problem at about 8 mph. each man throws in about a hundred bucks for fuel and ice.

Thank you. Sounds kind of what I have found also.

 

[JFRCalifornia]

Agree with birdnest's assessment... I've rented houseboats out of both marinas many times, and in general the Antelope Point boats are nicer and better maintained. At Wahweap, the bigger boats are better maintained than their smaller ones--anything 53 feet or less probably has some problem, hopefully just annoying and not worse... and the Aramark staff (at the management level) aren't exactly helpful in resolving your problems...but the dock workers are fine.... I know they sometimes cannibalize the non-essential parts from the smaller boats to fix problems on the larger ones, at least that's what one forthright employee told me a few years back--and I know that's true in the case of rooftop mattresses, which used to come on the 46-footers, but they took them off and used them as replacements on the larger boats...

And yes, Antelope will shave off about 6 or 7 miles because the Cut is not open...

But also true that better offseason deals can be had at Wahweap...

 

[Rivergoer]

All the above^^^

From Wahweap, the extra mileage adds an hour each way on a houseboat...extra fuel too. But, the price difference still favors Wahweap cost-wise. Just count on an extra couple of hours (round trip).

Hopefully that snowpack will melt soon, fill the Cut and shave that extra time off the trip from Wahweap!

 

[Pegasus]

I agree with the comments above.

I'd add that the "expectations" are usually the problem when renting a houseboat on LP. For $600 to $1500 per night, many expect they will be renting a really nice, like new, well cared for boat, and are disappointed to arrive and find out they rented a 15-year-old, dented/damaged boat that is technically safe to operate, and OK inside, but not what they "expected" it to be. If you lower you and your crews' expectations of what the rental will be like, you might just be pleasantly surprised upon arrival!

Luckily, the fun and lifetime experiences you will have on the lake are NOT dependent upon the type, size, or cost of the boat you are in!

 

[birdsnest]

I agree with the comments above.

I'd add that the "expectations" are usually the problem when renting a houseboat on LP. For $600 to $1500 per night, many expect they will be renting a really nice, like new, well cared for boat, and are disappointed to arrive and find out they rented a 15-year-old, dented/damaged boat that is technically safe to operate, and OK inside, but not what they "expected" it to be. If you lower you and your crews' expectations of what the rental will be like, you might just be pleasantly surprised upon arrival!

Luckily, the fun and lifetime experiences you will have on the lake are NOT dependent upon the type, size, or cost of the boat you are in!

That is exactly right.. Many people want the houseboat to be the vacation and forget to look around.

 

[Dworwood]

I agree with the comments above.

I'd add that the "expectations" are usually the problem when renting a houseboat on LP. For $600 to $1500 per night, many expect they will be renting a really nice, like new, well cared for boat, and are disappointed to arrive and find out they rented a 15-year-old, dented/damaged boat that is technically safe to operate, and OK inside, but not what they "expected" it to be. If you lower you and your crews' expectations of what the rental will be like, you might just be pleasantly surprised upon arrival!

Luckily, the fun and lifetime experiences you will have on the lake are NOT dependent upon the type, size, or cost of the boat you are in!

I agree with that, we have rented house boats several times back in the 90's and early 2000's, stayed in tents in the 70's and 80's & I was on Powell on 911 for the whole week, missed the whole thing as far as TV goes. Some of the most memorable trips were the smaller boats with a tent on top! With that said, our crew is getting older and one of the couples was worried about getting a worn out house boat and having trouble. I was probing the WW group to see what your thoughts were and I appreciate the comments so far. They have been what I hoped to hear from the group. Not much difference really between marina's and probably not a lot between their equipment either. Probably not enough to cancel and start over. There are always pro's and con's between going to any of the marinas on Powell but the experience and company is what we are there for, not the boat. Thanks to all for the help and advice on this subject.
DW