Vacation Village in the Berkshires?? Patriot Suites??

[DonM]

I just rec'd an invite to attend a sales presentation for the usual perks (3 night stay plus $100 visa gift card)

Is this a new t/s?, was it renamed, or is it conversion of some condos etc?

Does anyone know anything firsthand?

thanks
don

 

[shoney]

We went on the sales pitch a few years back. I believe Patriots is the name of one of the hotels that they put you up in. You don't necessarily stay in the time share (vacation village). They have several hotels that they place you in. We actually lucked out and stayed at vv:whoopie: . My parents stayed in a hotel in Pittsfield when they went.

 

[DonM]

So you went a "few years back". Was it brand new then? What did you think of it?

can you share anything about it?

thanks
don

 

[cresus]

They're adding on hence the new sales pitches. The resort is quite nice (at least the new units they showed us). The sales tactics were as expected very pushy.

 

[shoney]

We went on the timeshare sales pitch in February of 2004. The resort was fairly new and the salesman was really nice until we didn't buy one. Then it turned ugly and we were driving in his car while he started pounding the steering wheel...bizarre! My parents did purchase one a few months prior to this and basically we use it together with them, so we didn't need another one!
We went back to the resort in July 2004 during 4th of july week...that is the week my parents own. The grounds are nice and so are the condos. There wasn't much in the way of activities at that time....just an indoor pool. We are going back this July and will see the new playgrounds and outdoor pool.
The condos consists of an a and b lockout unit...both are one bedrooms however one is smaller with just a hotplate in the kitchen and the other is much larger with a fullsize kitchen. The beds are a bit hard as you will hear in the reviews.
We like it because it is within driving distance from home. There is a lot to see and do in the berkshires, however nothing is right there. You must be willing to drive. If you have specific questions, just let me know....

 

[STEVIE]

We bought at this resort two years ago. We went on an invitation to view the resort with no intention of buying. We just loved the resort, it was brand new, and we really liked the area. I am really glad we bought, and have had really good luck with trading. Sue

 

[Aldo]

Yes, Vacation Village the resort, Patriot Suites is the hotel they put you up at. Patriot Suites is in Lennox, 10 miles away. If you have a choice, however, stay at the Crowne Plaza in Pittsfield. It has smaller rooms, but at least it's a real hotel, with some class and elegance, and in town. Patriot Suites is all about how cheap and classless can you make really big rooms. Ick.

Not much to do at Vacation Village outside of Skiing Season unless you have a car and are just in the area to do the whole Berkshire summer scene.

Ridiculous prices at the presentation. I finally had to ask the woman "Why should I pay this sort of money when I can go online to gettravelop and rent weeks directly from RCI for $264?

Her look was priceless.

Don't forget to go up to North Adams, walk through the Natural Bridge State Park, and then get BBQ at Hickory Bill's.

 

[shoney]

In the warmer weather, the activities at Jiminy Peak's are great....zip lines, alpine slide, etc..and it is right across the street.
There was also a small farm/play ground type place right down the road. My little boys found a lot to do. It all depends on the interests in your family.

 

[SBK]

Cell phone coverage

We are checking in on May 27th. Sometime ago there was a thread about how bad the cell phone coverage was. Has there been any improvement? We have Verizon.

Is there a local AOL number for dial up? Is there any Broadband coverage?

Thanks

 

[Avery]

Re: Cell phone coverage

We are checking in on May 27th. Sometime ago there was a thread about how bad the cell phone coverage was. Has there been any improvement? We have Verizon.

Is there a local AOL number for dial up? Is there any Broadband coverage?

Thanks

We were last there in January of this year, Verizon didn't work at all (nor did anything else I am aware of). This situation is not expected to improve anytime soon whenever I ask. If someone learns otherwise, please enlighten us!!! No Broadband, either, though there is sometimes spotty WiFi in the lobby of Bentley Brook across the road. When we stayed at VV, we signed up for a month of Earthlink for $9.99, there was a local number we were able to call from the room for free.

 

[shoney]

In a tripadvisor review from 2/06, a person does state that telephone signal was sometimes received and wi-fi was available in the lobby. We are going for the week of July 4th, so I won't know for sure until then....

 

[JUDIE25]

I wouldn't depend on it.....

 

[donnaval]

We were there for a week in August 2005. They had just opened the outdoor pool that very week. The units were quite nice. We had the "b" side which has only partial kitchen with a hot plate, full-size fridge and dishwasher. The "a" side is much much nicer. Our unit had an ENORMOUS bathroom--didn't quite understand why they didn't shave a few inches off the bathroom and use the space for a stove in the kitchen! It would have been so easy to do.

There was a deck from the bedroom that overlooked woods, and a gas fireplace in the living room. Sofa bed was comfy. Bedroom bed was quite firm but fine for us. Free washers and dryers on each floor, not in the units. Parking is along a road and sometimes hard to find near our building, since some people parked pulling in frontwards, and others parked sideways, taking up several spaces.

The resort offered very little in the way of activities: a wine and cheese party that was very short on the wine and cheese, and was mainly a sales pitch for a local winery that was providing the skimpy servings of wine. There was also an Ice Cream Social, a hot dog roast and one or two craft activities. They had free coffee available in the lobby in the mornings. There was a small game room with a couple of vending machines for drinks and snacks. No on-site convenience store. They had videos that could be borrowed at the front desk, and also had big binders filled with information about restaurants and activities in the area.

We didn't spend much time at the resort, since there really wasn't much to do there. We used the resort as a base to do the tourist things--lots of good theater, mountain trails, antiquing. If you go to Adams, the tourist center offers half-price theater tickets on the day of the performance for many of the theaters. We got lucky and hit a sale at the Country Curtains outlet store in Lee. A car is a definite necessity. There's a small grocery store called Dave's a few miles from the resort, but regular grocery stores in Pittsfield.

No cell phone converage at all for our Verizon phone, but we could get service in Pittsfield.

We enjoyed our stay. Probably wouldn't go back, though.