RCI resort 8757:
Every autumn my husband and I do a "leaf peeping" drive along one of the Finger Lakes and go to a few wineries for tastings. This year we toured Cayuga Lake with a couple friends and continued an extra 20-30 minutes to preview Hope Lake Lodge. We have an exchange there in mid June 2015 in a "one bedroom sleeps six (max 8)" unit. I was hoping to find out which of the various suites we were booked in since there are several configurations.
We stopped at a few wineries and arrived at the lodge at about 2:00 and had lunch at the Acorn Grill. At this hour there were few people in the restaurant. The food was good. We had a pulled pork sandwich, elk burger, chicken parmesan, salads and sweet potato fries. All good, and my chicken parm could have fed two people!
After lunch I asked about our June reservation and one of the front desk staff took us to the exact unit we will be staying in (currently unoccupied). It was in great condition and had a corner fireplace, nice full kitchen, murphy bed in the living room as well as a fold out couch, and the bedroom had two queen beds. The living and bedroom areas are set up like a lock-off and each side has its own entry to the hallway and its own bath. The unit is called a "Split Rock suite." I have no idea how many different style units are deposited with RCI. Floor plans are accessible on the resort's website. From what we learned, most of the timeshare availability is from private owners who deposit weeks in RCI. Apparently the lodge has other units that they book through various travel sites. I have seen reviews on Trip Advisor mentioning Groupon deals.
All the RCI reviews are from 2011 and 2012, so I have a feeling there aren't a lot of exchanges here. I asked, but I really didn't get a straight answer on what percentage of usage was timeshare trades.
Aside from the small indoor waterpark (extra charge) and other affiliated activities for which there is also an extra charge (zip lines and mountain coaster etc.) there is a small town park next door with a little lake to canoe or kayak on, and I think the website said that entry fees to the park are waived for timeshare guests. The park doesn't look like a big deal, anyway, and there are larger parks if you don't mind driving 30-45 minutes that would be along Cayuga Lake and would have a public beach. There are a lot of nice parks for hiking within a reasonable day-trip drive, and tons of wineries, breweries, a cider mill and various places that make and sell cheese along Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. The area reminds me a bit of Massanutten in that the area immediately around the resort is very rural, and you have a bit of a drive to get to small towns for shopping, restaurants etc. I think the area offers so much that the drive wouldn't bother me, personally, but if someone expected to roll out of bed and be surrounded with lots to do within a five or ten minute drive, they'd be disappointed.
I'm looking forward to our stay in June. I'm wondering why all the RCI reviews are from 2011 and 2012. Maybe no one has traded in since then???
Every autumn my husband and I do a "leaf peeping" drive along one of the Finger Lakes and go to a few wineries for tastings. This year we toured Cayuga Lake with a couple friends and continued an extra 20-30 minutes to preview Hope Lake Lodge. We have an exchange there in mid June 2015 in a "one bedroom sleeps six (max 8)" unit. I was hoping to find out which of the various suites we were booked in since there are several configurations.
We stopped at a few wineries and arrived at the lodge at about 2:00 and had lunch at the Acorn Grill. At this hour there were few people in the restaurant. The food was good. We had a pulled pork sandwich, elk burger, chicken parmesan, salads and sweet potato fries. All good, and my chicken parm could have fed two people!
After lunch I asked about our June reservation and one of the front desk staff took us to the exact unit we will be staying in (currently unoccupied). It was in great condition and had a corner fireplace, nice full kitchen, murphy bed in the living room as well as a fold out couch, and the bedroom had two queen beds. The living and bedroom areas are set up like a lock-off and each side has its own entry to the hallway and its own bath. The unit is called a "Split Rock suite." I have no idea how many different style units are deposited with RCI. Floor plans are accessible on the resort's website. From what we learned, most of the timeshare availability is from private owners who deposit weeks in RCI. Apparently the lodge has other units that they book through various travel sites. I have seen reviews on Trip Advisor mentioning Groupon deals.
All the RCI reviews are from 2011 and 2012, so I have a feeling there aren't a lot of exchanges here. I asked, but I really didn't get a straight answer on what percentage of usage was timeshare trades.
Aside from the small indoor waterpark (extra charge) and other affiliated activities for which there is also an extra charge (zip lines and mountain coaster etc.) there is a small town park next door with a little lake to canoe or kayak on, and I think the website said that entry fees to the park are waived for timeshare guests. The park doesn't look like a big deal, anyway, and there are larger parks if you don't mind driving 30-45 minutes that would be along Cayuga Lake and would have a public beach. There are a lot of nice parks for hiking within a reasonable day-trip drive, and tons of wineries, breweries, a cider mill and various places that make and sell cheese along Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. The area reminds me a bit of Massanutten in that the area immediately around the resort is very rural, and you have a bit of a drive to get to small towns for shopping, restaurants etc. I think the area offers so much that the drive wouldn't bother me, personally, but if someone expected to roll out of bed and be surrounded with lots to do within a five or ten minute drive, they'd be disappointed.
I'm looking forward to our stay in June. I'm wondering why all the RCI reviews are from 2011 and 2012. Maybe no one has traded in since then???