jp10558
TUG Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2022
- Messages
- 1,420
- Reaction score
- 951
- Location
- Southern Tier NY
- Resorts Owned
-
HGVC Seaworld
Wyndham Smoky Mountains
Foxrun Lake Lure
Here's an abbreviated review from my TUG review:
This is another review that's really hard to break down into a single star rating. The rooms specifically get a 3 from me - just above I'm driving home / staying somewhere else.
The decor is dated - like 1970s - like it feels like one of the motels from Supernatural or a Motel 6 from the late 90s. I just feel comfortable on the sheets and am glad for pajamas.
All the faucets drip, the master bathroom toilet is wobbly, the benefit of individual HVAC in the master bedroom, living room and lock off second room is hurt by very flaky temperature control and wild swings between cooking hot and freezing cold.
The kitchen has a weird small yet not mini fridge and freezer - no icemaker or filtered water. The range reminds me of the electric one I had in my first student apartment in college in 2000. They specifically say you have to clean all pots and pans before you leave and putting them in the dishwasher with the "leaving load" doesn't seem to be good enough which makes me question the dishwasher (I haven't used it yet).
On the way to the main building where the pool and hot tub is is a dangerous set of stairs where one of the middle railings is about to break off. 2/3 of the awing covering on this staircase is missing. Once you're in the building, it's a maze across haphazard rows of rooms including one hallway that looks like it came out of the Shining. None of the hallways are level or flat, they're ramping up and down and sideways and back up.
Negatives out of the way - here's where it gets hard to quantify in a single number - there are a lot of positives too:
There are a lot of things to do, many free, at the resort. It's the first with free pool tables. It has indoor ping pong, shuffleboard, bocce ball, pickle ball a kids playground. It has a very aggressive jacuzzi hot tub, a 3" deep indoor pool, and sauna.
It has a paid arcade (but oddly cash only and $1 or $5 only), spa service / massage. It has some stores, a meal plan or main dining room, several other restaurants, bowling alley, bumper boats,go cart track, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. They have events like learn to play pickleball, texas holdem, ping-pong tournaments and more.
This is by far the easiest to find out about things to do, and seems to have more things to do than the majority of places I've stayed. It's easy to access - they have a free shuttle so you don't have to drive and park to go use the pool. So for things to do at the resort but outside the room I'd give it an 8. We love Ping Pong, and may try Pickleball and indoor bocce. Easy walking or getting a shuttle to the pool makes it much easier for one person to go have fun while we're working remotely, or if some just want to relax in the unit.
I will say as my first Interval Getaway, it doesn't sell me on Interval being "higher quality" than RCI resorts lol. The rating of 8.75 astounds me on the TUG boards - this is noticeably below any other units we've ever stayed at. I think a full renovation and update would do wonders for the resort, but I wonder about them having the funds to manage that. Even painting and some wall decor updates (and curtains) would help, but that probably would only bring it up a little. While the activities ad a lot, I have to weigh the actual rooms a lot more and so this is the first review that's ever gone below a 5 for me - usually I'm trying to work out "how nice it is" on the odd grading rubric / legend on TUG. This time I could *maybe* see coming back if I got another really cheap deal and say my mom wanted to come to just do the activities and was OK with sketchy rooms... But I couldn't really see possibly recommending this over Smuggs, Massanutten, or Spruce and Oak in the Berkshires which are all regularly available for very slightly more on RCI with the resort fees added in. They have a bit less to as much to do, with much nicer rooms IMO.
This is another review that's really hard to break down into a single star rating. The rooms specifically get a 3 from me - just above I'm driving home / staying somewhere else.
The decor is dated - like 1970s - like it feels like one of the motels from Supernatural or a Motel 6 from the late 90s. I just feel comfortable on the sheets and am glad for pajamas.
All the faucets drip, the master bathroom toilet is wobbly, the benefit of individual HVAC in the master bedroom, living room and lock off second room is hurt by very flaky temperature control and wild swings between cooking hot and freezing cold.
The kitchen has a weird small yet not mini fridge and freezer - no icemaker or filtered water. The range reminds me of the electric one I had in my first student apartment in college in 2000. They specifically say you have to clean all pots and pans before you leave and putting them in the dishwasher with the "leaving load" doesn't seem to be good enough which makes me question the dishwasher (I haven't used it yet).
On the way to the main building where the pool and hot tub is is a dangerous set of stairs where one of the middle railings is about to break off. 2/3 of the awing covering on this staircase is missing. Once you're in the building, it's a maze across haphazard rows of rooms including one hallway that looks like it came out of the Shining. None of the hallways are level or flat, they're ramping up and down and sideways and back up.
Negatives out of the way - here's where it gets hard to quantify in a single number - there are a lot of positives too:
There are a lot of things to do, many free, at the resort. It's the first with free pool tables. It has indoor ping pong, shuffleboard, bocce ball, pickle ball a kids playground. It has a very aggressive jacuzzi hot tub, a 3" deep indoor pool, and sauna.
It has a paid arcade (but oddly cash only and $1 or $5 only), spa service / massage. It has some stores, a meal plan or main dining room, several other restaurants, bowling alley, bumper boats,go cart track, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. They have events like learn to play pickleball, texas holdem, ping-pong tournaments and more.
This is by far the easiest to find out about things to do, and seems to have more things to do than the majority of places I've stayed. It's easy to access - they have a free shuttle so you don't have to drive and park to go use the pool. So for things to do at the resort but outside the room I'd give it an 8. We love Ping Pong, and may try Pickleball and indoor bocce. Easy walking or getting a shuttle to the pool makes it much easier for one person to go have fun while we're working remotely, or if some just want to relax in the unit.
I will say as my first Interval Getaway, it doesn't sell me on Interval being "higher quality" than RCI resorts lol. The rating of 8.75 astounds me on the TUG boards - this is noticeably below any other units we've ever stayed at. I think a full renovation and update would do wonders for the resort, but I wonder about them having the funds to manage that. Even painting and some wall decor updates (and curtains) would help, but that probably would only bring it up a little. While the activities ad a lot, I have to weigh the actual rooms a lot more and so this is the first review that's ever gone below a 5 for me - usually I'm trying to work out "how nice it is" on the odd grading rubric / legend on TUG. This time I could *maybe* see coming back if I got another really cheap deal and say my mom wanted to come to just do the activities and was OK with sketchy rooms... But I couldn't really see possibly recommending this over Smuggs, Massanutten, or Spruce and Oak in the Berkshires which are all regularly available for very slightly more on RCI with the resort fees added in. They have a bit less to as much to do, with much nicer rooms IMO.