Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa

Without excellent customer service, Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa, a family-owned resort on the shores of Lake Ouachita, would not be celebrating its 60th year in business, said Pati Brown, who manages the lodge.

“Taking care of our customers, keeping in touch with our customers and keeping it personal are essential,” said Brown, who has been working at Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa for 35 years.

While it now sports one of the South’s largest inland marinas, Mountain Harbor started in 1955 with 100 fishing boats and four stalls. The founder, Hal Barns, was from Oklahoma, and his wife, Katheryn, was from Malvern. The resort remains in the family today with son Bill Barnes now in charge.

Mountain Harbor has more than 1,300 boating slips, including 260 for houseboats, a restaurant and a full-service floating store with repair shop and fuel dock. The resort also offers several types of accommodations, including lake view guest rooms and condominiums, as well as cottages with lake views, fireplaces and hot tubs.

It also features a dive shop, a place for water toy rentals and three swimming pools, along with more than 40 miles of hiking trails and two conference facilities, including a 2,000-SF open air pavilion and a smaller pavilion that overlooks the lake. Mountain Harbor employs about 50 people.

After being relatively flat in 2012 and 2013, revenue has started to pick back up, and early indicators suggest 2015 will be a good year. “We have had a thrust forward in 2015 in advanced reservations,” Brown said, adding that the outdoor pavilion is booked for weddings every weekend in April, May and June. Business meeting reservations also are up, she said.

“I think about [Mountain Harbor] as a family getting ready for a holiday, except our holiday is all year long,” Brown said.