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Split Rock Resort Poconos

L

leslieed

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Location
north wales, pa
Anyone heard anything about the Split Rock sheriff sale and/or any kind of bankruptcy and/or sale? Last I saw is that the court appointed a management company to attempt to sell the entire complex to pay off creditors. The management said "split rock will be operating as normal".
 
Since I first found out in March and it was triggered by finding out that Doc Holiday had left, I have been doing a lot of research and I have not found out a lot, except that the problem goes back a lot further than the waterpark.

It goes back to their paying time share sales people as contractors and losing a suit about that and using time share maintenance funds to pay the fines. Also they could not meet the payroll and have also been sued by the company that holds the timeshare mortgages (TEXTRON FINANCIAL CORPORATION) so there is apparently no financing available for people who would like to buy a time share there.

I am not going to go into the details, but the resort was supposed to go a sheriffs sale in March which postponed twice and Ropa Associates LLC is now trying to find a buyer for the entire resort including the time shares, of which there are several. This has an August deadline. As a Willowbrook (at Split Rock) owner I am very concerned, particularly as my family is scheduled to go up there for a family reunion at the end of August using our Willowbrook timeshares. And the fact that I own there.

There is very little public information available and I keep digging. I do not know how to find if I have any rights here.
 
Hi Nancy,
I'm also a Willowbrook owner. I've too have been tracking the situation, but you're right, there isn't much information available. I read that they were trying to find a buyer for the entire resort, but I didn't know about the August deadline. Do you happen to know when in August? Our vacation is scheduled there from Aug. 11th-18th and goodness knows I need it! I also just exchanged the other half of my 2 bedroom for a week in Williamsburg over the kids' xmas vacation. This whole thing is making me very nervous!!!

Jenn
 
I also just read that their sister property, Mountain Laurel Resort and Spa(owned by same company) has recently been shut down due to a Fire Inspection Failure, and that it doesn't look like they will be open for a few months, if at all.

I'm saddened as my family and I used to go about 25 years ago, when I was a child. Unfortunately this resort has not been updated since, and has obviously been neglected...
 
I recently visited Split Rock , through an II exchange and was extremely disappointed at the Willowbrook Resort. Also the Club House (main Lodge) was actually embaracing after telling our friends how wonderful this resort was. Mostly evertthing was in need of updating and repair. Portions of the lodge were closed and charging $1.00 every time you enter the property seemed a little extreme. Unless improvements are made we will not be back.
 
details about your post

First of all they always charged a toll on the long private road going into the resort. It keeps people from cutting through the resort.
we used to save the receipts and spend them in the resort.

What parts of the lodge are closed?
Did you stay in the Willowbrook section or one of the other sections?
What did you try and not like?

There's a lot to do in the area - from state parks to Jim Thorpe and many other activities and an enormous outlet mall.

We never liked eating in the Hotel restaurants but there are some nice close ones.

We've been going there for years and taking our daughters who are now grown and bringing their children now.

We like swimming and the water park and bowling and activities and sports.
Thanks Nancy
 
I just found/saw this thread. How disappointing for the owners and folks with booked vacations this summer.

I was one of the original (pre-development) owners at Split Rock (Westwood Lodges) when they were selling them as 13 yr RTU with a 7 yr option to extend to make it a total of 20 years. My 20th year of use was in 2002. Out of those 20 years, I think me and my first husband stayed at Split Rock three times, and I stayed at their sister property (Bonita Springs Golf Resort in FLA) three other years as well. The many exchanges we got from this resort fostered an addiction for travel via timeshare ownership, hence my acquiring several more via resale starting in 2001.

I seem to recall there being financial problems with the original owner/developer (Jack Kalins) with rumors of misappropriation of MFs and some other shenanigans. It was nice of them to hit all of us 20 yr RTU'ers with a three year special assessment in years 17, 18, 19 (in my case) . . . and without an offer to renew or buy-in as a full deeded TS owner. (Not that I would have bought in again.)

Anyway, I hope things work out for all involved on the vacation/user side of the equation. As I said, it sounds like a very unfortunate situation.
 
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nancylipp said:
First of all they always charged a toll on the long private road going into the resort. It keeps people from cutting through the resort. we used to save the receipts and spend them in the resort.
<<<SNIPPED>>>
Click to expand...

That "toll" must be been sometime after they built the Galleria, as originally there were no tolls to access the property. I remember doing a weekend sales getaway with my sister and her hubby, staying in the Galleria their first year. They had limited activities even then (the bowling lanes were not completed yet). I don't recall a toll then either.

My favorite memories of staying at Split Rock was swimming in the lake and hanging out at the bar on the far end of Lake Harmony.
 
Being a Poconos visitor from 1974 on, there was a toll past Split Rock to Rt940 of 25¢. It was a shortcut to/from the turnpike entrance.
 
nancylipp said:
First of all they always charged a toll on the long private road going into the resort. It keeps people from cutting through the resort.
we used to save the receipts and spend them in the resort.
Click to expand...

When we were there in early May they had recently stopped allowing the toll receipts to be used as credits for food and perhaps other things. They said they could be used only for "athletic activities". I recall the first time we went there a few years ago the toll had just gone up from 25 cents.
 
nancylipp said:
First of all they always charged a toll on the long private road going into the resort. It keeps people from cutting through the resort.
we used to save the receipts and spend them in the resort.

What parts of the lodge are closed?
Did you stay in the Willowbrook section or one of the other sections?
What did you try and not like?

There's a lot to do in the area - from state parks to Jim Thorpe and many other activities and an enormous outlet mall.

We never liked eating in the Hotel restaurants but there are some nice close ones.

We've been going there for years and taking our daughters who are now grown and bringing their children now.

We like swimming and the water park and bowling and activities and sports.
Thanks Nancy
Click to expand...

We stayed at Willowbrook, Bldg. 5. The unit was in bad shape. The bathroom had a nice jacuzzi tub but the sink was worthless. No room for two people to store their personal items on top. The fireplace had a strong odor of propane gas (had to leave the windows open) and still couldn't get the odor out of the unit. The faucet on the kitchen sink was dripping constantly and the disposal sounded like there was broken glass in it. The coffee pot was broken but they replaced it with another used and broken one. It took three times to get a coffee pot that worked. The couch in the living area was
not suitable to sit on for more than 15 minutes. We do a lot of activities in the area and it was always nice to come back and relax. Not any more!!

Since this was our third visit to Willowbrook I was certainly aware of the $1.00 fee we had to pay each time we entered back into the resort. You mentioned how many things there are to do in the area and believe me, we did most of them...Bolder Field, Bushkill Falls, Blakslee for groceries, Lake Wallenpaupack, both Casono's, Jim Thorpe, the Crossings Outlet and dinner out. So now, each time we left the resort and returned we paid $1.00. Our last visit we would go up to the lodge and use our receipts for pizza or at the bar for a drink, or we could even trade them in at the front desk for cash. Now you can not use them for anything other than the Sports Complex. What a rip-off. We had about $10.00 in receipts which I gave to a family when we left. The ice cream shop is closed and the water in the swimming pool looked mucky. All of the above are what I didn't like. It's certainly not the area, I love the Pocono's and the surrounding area but I will not stay at the Split Rock (Willowbrook ) again.
So as I said before...that was our last visit there unless they find a buyer for the Resort and make some major changes.
 
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[duplicate post)
 
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Split Rock Sheriff's Sale Cancelled By the Bank

From PAhomepage.com

Updated August 10th 2012.

It says:
The resort went up for Sheriff's sale in April. The owner owed a bank more than $20 million. But the sale was postponed repeatedly while the resort, the bank, and a property management company worked out an agreement.

Then, late Thursday, the bank called the Carbon County Sheriff's office and cancelled the sale.

I couldn't find anything else. We will be up there in a little more than a week to vacation at Willowbrook.
 
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Sure hope you have a good time. Please let us know if there have been any improvements or good things happening. Hope they can do something there because it was a great place to vacation.
 
back from a great vacation at Willowbrook

I booked two double units and our whole family went up and it was great. Great because we know how to have fun together.

I saw only minor changes in the resort.
I did not really spent time in the Galleria so I cannot report on other area. We ordered from Galleria pizzeria and it was really good. (Food in the past has been something to avoid in the resort). We did not try the restaurants. Gone were are the signs telling us what to do and what it would cost if we took something home with us.

The area was cleaner. Maintenance was much more responsive and present and the entry to the resort was really well cared for. The beach was nice looking and lots of people were attending the activities. We did have a couple of problems at the outdoor pool and did report them. No towels at one point and the lifeguard leaving early another day.

I went to Owner Services in person because I knew that that was my best change of getting any information that was available. And there was very little. The Sheriffs sale was indeed called off and the resort is being marketed for sale (I couldn't get any details there). New timeshare sales have been totally suspended since early Spring when this all started.

We are definitely planning to go next year because this worked out so well. Good place for a reunion.

And yes there still is that $1 toll at the gate. You can now spend it (max of $2. per) on ice cream at the Galleria or activities.
 
Nancy: Thank you so much for the update at Split Rock. I was hoping this would happen one day. We love going to the Pocono's and Willowbrook was always our go to place. Now that Aston has taken over things are looking up. Are you an owner at Willowbrook?
 
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In the 1990's this was a great family resort, thanks for the updated information.
 
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