The JL Bar Ranch, Resort & Spa

I normally do not share reviews, but after reading others, I felt it was appropriate to share my experience in a constructive and professional manner. I stayed at JL Bar Ranch at the beginning of November, and my intention in writing this review is simply to provide feedback, with no expectation of a refund or compensation of any kind. On the day of our arrival, one of the first things I asked the front desk about was spa services, as we were very interested. The front desk team kindly provided a phone number for the spa. The following day, we returned to the front desk to inform them that we had attempted to contact the spa multiple times without receiving a response. During that second day, we noticed that the spa attendant was spending time in the restaurant with her manager, and it appeared they had a personal relationship. As guests, situations like this can unfortunately impact the level of service received, even when the overall stay is otherwise pleasant. Overall, our stay was good. The food was excellent, the check-in process was quick, and the front desk staff were attentive and professional throughout our stay, which we truly appreciated. Not everything was negative, and I hope this feedback is received in the constructive spirit in which it is intended, with the goal of helping improve the guest experience moving forward.

Overall: Beautiful Property, But Service Didn’t Match the Price. Not worth the trip. I was so excited about this trip as JL Bar had been on my list for a while, and I was already talking about coming back with friends before I even arrived. Unfortunately, after this stay, I don’t think the price matches the mediocre (and at times, pretty bad) service. There was no bartender at the main lodge during dinner hours (6–9 PM) and no one available during the wine tasting hours (around 4 PM) either. For a property that markets itself as a luxury resort, that was really disappointing especially since they had run out of all rosé, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and most other wines for the entire weekend, even during dinner. The limited drink selection just didn’t match the level of resort they claim to be. Our AC was broken and it took multiple calls before maintenance came to fix it. When we tried to reach the front desk, there was no one around, no working number, and even pressing “9” for on-property guests after hours went unanswered. At one point, we had to literally go behind the front desk ourselves just to find a phone number — which still didn’t get us any help as they never responded not even the next day. For a “luxury” experience, that’s just not acceptable. That said, there were several absolute standouts who truly deserve recognition: - Jazmin at the restaurant was AMAZING — kind, professional, and a total pro at customer service. - Koi was the sweetest person ever and came to the rescue with the s’mores — a true angel. - Christie (I believe that’s her name) the horse program trainer was wonderful: friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about what she does. The horse experience was one of the highlights of our trip and one of the main reasons we booked in the first place. I’d highly recommend continuing and expanding that program it’s one of the few things that made the stay memorable, along with the shooting activities. - Keith was so nice and such an amazing shooting instructor — a great guy and one of the best parts of the weekend. Unfortunately, someone behind the front desk was the opposite experience - unhelpful and unpleasant to interact with. I was trying to reach the restaurant from my room and they weren’t answering, so I walked to the front desk to ask for help. When I explained the issue, she seemed annoyed and said, “Well what do you want me to do, take you up there on a golf cart?” I ended up driving myself, where I was thankfully greeted by the wonderful team — Jazmin, Koi, and Tess — who turned the evening around and told me that they should have not sent me up to the dining area and someone should’ve helped me. The food was good, and the property itself is absolutely stunning — it truly has so much potential. But the service was far from luxury-level. I left disappointed, and unless things change, I wouldn’t return which is a shame, because it could be an incredible getaway.

I traveled there by myself and stayed for a week, and it was absolutely wonderful, so much more than I expected! Everyone at JL Bar Ranch was incredibly attentive and truly went above and beyond to make my time there special. The food was phenomenal, and they were exceptionally considerate about my dietary requests, making every meal both delicious and personal. The service was of the highest quality, and you can genuinely feel the warmth of Southern hospitality in every interaction. The wine tasting, sunset trail riding and clay target shooting were all so much fun. I highly recommend trying them all! Everyone I met was highly knowledgeable in their area and always willing to go out of their way to make you feel right at home. This place is a rare gem, and I will definitely be coming back. Thank you to everyone at JL Bar Ranch for making my stay so memorable and special!

As other reviews mention, they are clearly hugely understaffed at the moment (we visited the week leading up to Thanksgiving 2025). The property and range of activities is great, but the lack of service at times, was frankly terrible (for anyone from the UK it was like 'Faulty Towers' in Texas). For the prices paid it was extremely disappointing, with perhaps the biggest disappointment being that my booking requests (via email) for activities had not actually been booked in! I asked about why my two emails had not been replied to and was told they were 'too busy....' The above is one example of many - others included constant surprise when we showed up for activities (once we were able to book), low quality wine at the wine tasting, firepits not working, I could go on... No efforts were made to make this up to us and no credits were applied to our bill, which was a further disappointment, but they were probably too busy to even consider it.

We flew into their first class airport for a Valentine's weekend getaway. The staff, the food, the accommodations, the resort and amenities were all fist class!

I’m leaving this review to warn others. My credit card was used fraudulently for a reservation at this ranch for April. I did not make this reservation. When I called today, their staff confirmed that the reservation was not made by me, verified the exact amount charged and the last four digits of my card, and acknowledged that this was fraudulent activity. What is most concerning is that they also told me this has happened multiple times and that they have had “many fraudulent reservations” before. Despite knowing this was fraud, they refused to issue a refund and instead told me I would have to wait for my bank’s dispute department to contact them — at which point they “would not deny the charge.” If a business is aware that fraud is occurring repeatedly and still allows charges to go through without proactively refunding confirmed fraudulent transactions, that is deeply troubling. This situation caused unnecessary stress and forced me to spend time disputing a charge that they already knew was not legitimate. I would strongly caution anyone entering payment information with this business.

Writing this for my boyfriend. He and my buddy went to the dove shootout and he can't stop talking about it. The people and setting were amazeing. Crazy clean not even a cig butt. The workers jump to their every need. The concerts were great. He even mentioned the hunting guest were all of the same mind set to have a great time enjoying fellowship and company of others. I can't thankyou enough for treating my people like gold God bless you all

Traveled for a weekend away from Austin and to see the Caverns of Sonora. Had a great time at the JL Bar - we did some shooting and got a tour of the range from Keith, and met a few of the horses, and had s'mores poolside! The rooms and the grounds are gorgeous.

All I have to say gang is WOW. This place is legitimate. The hotel is the nicest room I've ever stayed in. By a long shot. The food is amazing. Everything I've had so far is delicious! The surf and turf nachos WHAT The quesadillas WHAT Wings WHAT Chicken and waffleS WHAT Pressman fries WHAT Cheeseburger WHAT Braised short ribs WHAT I give this place a big ole Texas HELL YEAH JL bar and ranch change absolutely NOTHING

I was sooo looking forward to my stay here, but to be honest I was slightly disappointed and don't think it's worth the cost. Back in the day the resort use to be all inclusive, since Covid they have gotten rid of that. For 2 nights after tax, your total comes to around $1200 - which is a lot for a resort in the middle of nowhere that doesn't include food, drink, or activities. It was about $180/person to horse back ride. $95 for wine tasting. And the food was sub par. For being a ranch, you think they would know how to grill a medium rare steak...my steak came out well done. I would have sent it back but we were the only ones in the restaurant and I didn't want to embarrass them or the group I was with. A lot of the staff was new, and although the are nice, they have no idea what they are doing. The amount of times I had to walk up to the front desk and ask for something because they forgot was ridiculous. While we were there the WiFi was down...and you have to remember we are in the middle of no where so I had no cell phone service. There was a second WiFi router but we were not allowed the passcode for it because it was only for the owners. So we went 32 hours with no reception, if there was an emergency we would have been in trouble, the closest town is 45 minutes away. Since there was no wifi, the tvs didn't work, the computer system for credit cards didn't work, it was completely unprofessional. We honestly should have been refunded for our stay. Although the property is gorgeous, I will not be coming back due to the outrageous costs for the quality you receive.

The food is absolutely the most incredible, delicious, fresh, creative food I have ever eaten. Yes, there are lots of steaks or beef, your in Texas Baby! And let me tell you , they certainly know how to cook em' All the side entrees' garlic mashed pots melt in your mouth, baby sautéed mushrooms, fresh baked bread everyday always something different! the staff... THEY are so on point you want to take them home to wait on you! They don't hover, or interrupt, they watch and wait appropriately. Top notch!!! Dessert... the most beautiful Crème Brûlée with a. Hardened Caramel sauce drizzle and extra pieces on the side!!! So outstanding! Perfection!!!

THIS PLACE IS HEAVEN!!! Amazing staff, facilities, food, amenities.... You must come here and enjoy this blissful ranch and spa. We will be back asap. This is my new favorite vacation spot

A lovely resort! We weren't sure whether The JL would truly be a good place for a family with younger kids and tweens, but it was. The entire atmosphere feels very much like staying with family friends who genuinely want to be good hosts, vs. the somewhat distant feel of being just another customer at a standard resort. Just like staying with a friend, the host doesn't have every possible thing you could ever want and it's important to plan ahead for any "must have" things (just as you would if you were going to be a guest at someone's home). They have a lot and definitely do everything they can to accommodate requests, but it's not a major metro area, it's Sonora! Of note: The JL had several kid / family-friendly activities, but it wasn't catered primarily to kids. I LOVED this. There are plenty of places to go with kid-focused pool complexes and video game rooms! The JL pool is a beautiful pool with no slides. The JL game room has billiards, shuffleboard, board / card games and karaoke. Perfect for classic family time! The outdoor lawn has several yard games and place to toss the football / baseball or play a small soccer game. We rolled with all of it and it was all a very welcome change of pace.

This is an Oasis in West Texas!! A rare find The food is excellent and Chef Sergio is amazing.

Beautiful ranch but absolutely terrible customer service. Brought my family here for a cool outdoorsy lux vacation and man did they missed the Mark. Staff was not accommodating nor friendly. If your coming here be prepared to serve your self. I was sooo bummed but we could not hack the lack of service. Not only that they refused to refund any of the remaining days. So we stayed one night and had to pay for the week. What a bust!!! However we moved to another hotel and had an amazing remainder of trip.

Love this place and can not wait to go back! Even during COVID they did an amazing job and we felt completely safe in the wide open spaces of West Texas. Food was fantastic and activities were so much fun. Defiantly do as many shooting activities as you can. Do a UTV tour around the ranch. Sit on your awesome outdoor patio and watch the sunset every night. Rent a golf cart as things are pretty spread out. Eat also of your meals onsite. We went in July and the heat was not a problem---there is lots of shade and a great breeze all the time. This is a must do!!!

One of the best vacations we have taken as a couple as well as with the family. The rooms and amenities are fabulous but the icing on the cake is the people. It's always wonderful to go back and see John, Sidney and Robbie. I highly, highly recommend the JL Bar and Ranch.

I decided to make a trip to Texas for the for the first time to hunt whitetail. I called multiple ranches and nothing could top the quality I saw with JL bar Ranch so I decided to go there with my daughter and good friend. I spoke with kyle throughout the entire booking process and he was very accommodating and informative. We arrived the first day and it was exactly the 5 star experience we were expecting to see. We were greeted and brought to our rooms. Immediately we were introduced to the guides and taken to the gun range to sight in our rifles. That went fast and we were off to hunt. My daughter had an opportunity the first evening but missed from an obstruction . We went on multiple morning and evening hunts and ended up very successful with trophy whitetail bucks. Throughout the stay we ate 3 ~ quality 5 star meals a day which was all included. We went on horseback rides,went to the pool and my daughter even went and got pampered at the spa. Everyone here was very polite and respectful I will definitely be coming here again and with a larger group. This was honestly one of the best vacations I have had and and one of the top hunts I have ever experienced. Thank you Kyle , Ricky and all of the staff at JL BAR RANCH.

I have attended Dinner here several times very accommodating, amazing atmosphere and Delicious. Making reservations is nearly impossible via phone/voicemail, email and Facebook messages. Facebook seems most responsive but time delayed. Very tough Comunication while planning with large groups with timelines and dates

We had a wonderful four-day stay here in July, 2021. The staff were perfectly charming and always attentive. The pool is gorgeous, and we found the other guests to be excellent company. The staff who ran the various shooting sports were friendly and professional, providing excellent coaching. We were new to Sporting Clays, and Kyle and Mike got us hitting the clay pigeons with consistency after just two hours. Keith was great on the rifle range. Pricy, but we'll worth every penny!

AMAZING and STUNNING! This is the best place to be when you need to unwind and recharge from life hands down. From the Spa with Courtney and Dayon, who are very professional and knowledgeable about what they do, which made for an outstanding and relaxing experience. The food... Chef Michael could never disappoint! The whole staff treated you like royalty, they truly go above and beyond to make sure you enjoy your stay! Guide Kyle made all the husbands very happy on our trip. Jon and Sydney took us on an amazingly fun experience with horseback riding, whether you were a first timer or had some experience a great time was had by all. The rooms are just beautiful and cozy. The pool, bar and game room were so much fun to come back to after a day of shooting for a cool down and great time! I can not say enough good things about this place! It's very accommodating to a whole work retreat down to a quick getaway for friends and spouses. This place has it all! I can not wait to get back there!

I received a gift certificate for a massage at the JL Bar Ranch & Resort Spa earlier this summer. My massage therapist, Dayon, was outstanding. Her professional manner and experience as a RMT made for a most enjoyable and relaxing respite from the day. I have made the 12 mile trip from Sonora the the JL Bar Ranch for amazing dining experiences for a couple years now. It is always and cut-above experience and now I am so glad they have added top-notch spa services to their offerings. Sonora is very fortunate to have the JL Bar Ranch and James & Lois Archer in our community.

This place is excellent. Stayed 2 nights here for a work conference. The service is impeccable. The grounds are clean. Food is amazing. The owners are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I will be bringing my family back to experience it again.