Beware Off Season!
- June 3, 2008
- Rated 2 of 5 by
bored99 from Trumbull, Connecticut
Despite confirmation to the contrary before our departure, all the facilities were closed!!! We checked in Saturday night and left the next night, it was that bad. I've been to the resort during prime season and it was great, but off season with NO amenities open simply doesn't cut it for a family with young children.
Our family has previously been to Smuggler's Notch during prime season, and although the shared pools were a bit crowded, the overall stay was great, and the private pools for our area especially so. This time, however, we were told that everything was up and running, only to find (upon arriving from out of state after a 6-hour drive with both a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old) that nearly all the amenities were closed! We were most disappointed to find the heated indoor splash pool was closed, since it was cold and rainy. During our far-too-long-single-day at the resort, we did try the outdoor lap pool, but that doesn't cut it for keeping two toddlers entertained (too deep for them to stand but the brisk winds mean you can't take them out much either)! Worse (and mind-boggling to me), the staff wasn't even apologetic! They just shrugged, and after saying "it's closed? I didn't know that" (maintenance had been extended for 2 weeks) just said "well, I guess you could try something else instead," but wouldn't give me a list of alternatives, so as I interrogated them, admitted that one thing after another was closed (all restaurants but one, driving range, tennis, other pools, even local area attractions). They did have a mini-golf course open (9ish holes, but you can only do 2 rounds tops with a 3-year-old... and probably less for an older child!)--although someone had forgotten to unlock it--and a joyless "entertainment room" about 15'x15' with toys for children... but no windows, and a depressing place to spend any amount of time. Everyone we bumped into while on the resort was either angry or asked us if we were--it seemed to be a very common topic on the resort that day. Our room was available to us for the entire week, and we left after less than 24 hours. The front desk people were unable to do anything for us, shrugged and gave an "oh well" look when we told them we were checking out after less than a day, and management has yet to return any phone calls.