This past weekend, The Moms and the team at Evenflo invited us to spend part of our weekend at Woodloch Pines Resort while we tested out the new Evenflo Platinum Series car seats. Woodloch is an all-inclusive family resort that offers many family friendly activities all year-long. It is in the Pocono Mountains lake region, just 90 miles from midtown Manhattan (for us NYC folk, it took us 3 hours in total, but a good 30-40 minutes was just getting out of the city).
I’ve heard such magical things about Woodloch. A friend of mine has been going to Woodloch for over 45-years — since she was a child and she continues to go every year with her family. It’s a place where families call a home-away-from-home.
The Rooms: Our room was in “Springbrook” and was centrally located near the heated indoor pool and splash room, a two-minute walk from the Dining Area and three minutes from all the activities. Our room wasn’t even a room. It was a 1 bedroom suite with two full baths. The bedroom had two queen-sized beds and the living area was large enough for the girls to run around in. The terrace overlooked the lake, which I’m sure is beautiful during the summer months. Our room had a large walk-in closet with a large dresser drawer, way more than enough room for a family of four to stash all of their belongings. Our room was also down the hall from the laundry room, which for any traveling family, is a great convenience to have.
The Food: I never know what to expect at an all-inclusive resort, especially when it comes to food. I feel like “all-inclusive” gets such a bad reputation BUT — this is our second time at an all-inclusive — and I can safely say that the food was delicious at Woodloch Pines! We got there for dinner, which was a four-course meal in the main dining room with tables for each family (you don’t have to sit with strangers!).
The friendliest servers would sit you down at your table (the same table throughout your whole stay) and would tell you about the menu. For our appetizer, we had a choice of a Shrimp & Roasted Corn Chowder or Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato salad; for our entrée a choice of Roast Prime Rib of Beef, Golden Jumbo Butterfly Shrimp, Baked Tilapia or Pasta with Grilled Chicken. Sides are served family style as well as their homemade bread selection. Their on-site bakery makes amazing baked goods for dessert
Breakfast was also delicious with bottomless cups of coffee, fresh fruit, the bakery’s AMAZING coffee cake that was served warm (we couldn’t stop eating it), and hot or cold cereal. That was breakfast’s first course. Then we had our choice of our main breakfast: homemade crepes, eggs in every way, bacon, sausage or sausage, with of course homemade bread. It was truly the biggest breakfast we had eaten!
The menus always have kid-friendly options like chicken tenders, PB&J, grilled cheese, pizza, hot dog, pasta or mac & cheese, so everyone in the family is satisfied.
The Activities: I was truly surprised by the amount of activities Woodloch had to offer. In the morning at breakfast, each table receives a pamphlet with the day’s activities: family winter olympics, yoga classes, arts & crafts, a baking competition, and wallyball contests were some of the activities that were happening when we were there.
Woodloch also has activities that are open throughout the day (see picture above, clockwise from upper left): bumper cars, the indoor heated pool, splash area (for the little kiddies), the Indoor Forest Playground which my girls LOVED. We could’ve stayed in that indoor playground for a long time.
The weather was a little bit chilly and rainy when we were there, but snowtubing was open as well as the Go-Carts which were a family favorite. We would have loved to stay longer to try out some area skiing, ice skating and snowshoeing, but perhaps next year! Although Woodloch’s rates can be a tad on the expensive side, remember that it is all-inclusive and for those who can drive to Woodloch, you don’t have to pay for airfare!
I would love to visit Woodloch Pines for a longer period of time, especially during the warmer months to see what type of activities are available at the lake. I’ve also heard great things about their adult exercise classes. It seems like Woodloch is a great place for a family vacation, couple’s getaway or even a girls weekend away. Have you been to Woodloch Pines before? I’d love to know your experience!
Woodloch’s sister properties, The Lodge at Woodloch — a destination spa resort, and Woodloch Springs— a championship style golf course, offer a different experience making sure our guests will find exactly what they want in a destination vacation. Woodloch was just named the #2 large hotel for families in America by TripAdvisor.com for the second straight year. For more information, visit the Woodloch Pines Resort website.