My heavily scheduled fam and I had an open August weekend, so I looked for a resort destination in Pennsylvania's Poconos (which is only a one-hour-plus drive from our home in northern New Jersey) where I, my wife Sue, our tween daughter, and teen son could all kick back and enjoy the area’s beautiful surroundings.
After some strategic Binging, I found that our choices included:
Skytop Lodge (Skytop, PA) - very nice, but we had already been there.
Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort (Shawnee on Delaware, PA) - also nice, but it seemed a bit posh (we’re a pretty CASJ bunch).
Split Rock Resort (Lake Harmony, PA) - more niceness, but aside from golf and an indoor waterpark (which appeared to be very little kid-oriented and a poor fit for my tween daughter and teen son), there wasn’t very much to do.
Another option, The Inn at Pocono Manor in Pocono Manor, PA, felt like a winner for a number of reasons:
Outdoor activities include a swimming pool, golf (putting greens and an 18-hole course), fishing, trap shooting, bicycling trails, hiking trails, a BB gun range, horseback riding, and much more.
Indoor activities include ping pong, billiards, tennis, an arcade room, a swimming pool, a fitness center, and more.
A weekly jazz and blues series, featuring free performances by notable local artists, was being presented throughout the summer.
The Inn has earned noteworthy accolades (top 10 Pocono resorts, top Northeast golf resorts, and top Pocono family reunion destinations from ResortsandLodges.com) top customer reviews (3.6 stars - Google, 4 - TripAdvisor, 3.7 - Expedia, 4 - Facebook), and even a spot on the National Registry of Historic Places.
The Inn’s restaurants - Lamplighter Lounge and The Exchange - have superb reviews from satisfied diners on Yelp and TripAdvisor.
The Inn’s rooms looked charming, spacious, and comfortable.
The overwhelming evidence of the Inn’s superiority guided our decision, so we set the date, packed our bags, gassed up the SUV, and hit the road.
QUICK BACKGROUNDER
Opened in 1902 ”as a ‘peaceful’ retreat, surrounded by natural beauty, where friends and their families could go to get away from the demands of daily living”, the 3,500 acre Inn at Pocono Manor is known as the "Grand Lady of the Mountains." It boasts 242 guest rooms and suites, and along with being a vacation spot, it’s also a popular destination for corporate meetings/retreats/conferences, family events (weddings, reunions, celebrations), and banquets for guests and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
THE LOBBY
I can always get a sense of a property’s character from its lobby, and the Inn’s lobby had a buoyant, unpretentious, oversize-living-room essence. Jumpy jazz set up a swingin’ sound system soundtrack during our stay, guests scurried back and forth to their destinations, and rows of plush chairs and couches invited posteriors to drop in and cool out.
Other appealing aspects of the Inn at Pocono Manor’s lobby that we took full advantage of included:
Free (and very tasty) morning coffee, offered between 5 and 6:00am every day!
Free and fast Wi-fi, available throughout the entire hotel!
Free PC availability to confirm directions, research local attractions, etc.!
ACCOMMODATIONS
Our standard room at the Main Lodge was MUCH bigger than it appeared in the photos. Along with a bedroom (which had two extremely comfortable king beds), there was also a separate and spacious living room with a convertible couch bed and a refrigerator. Each room had its own flatscreen TV; scads of wall outlets for charging devices; comfy chairs; desk/tables; and a lot of windows, which allowed the summer sunshine to gently warm and brighten the interiors.
The bathroom was also roomy, as was a walk-in closet in the living room.
DINING
Each morning, we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast buffet in the Inn’s huge main dining room. Waffles, French toast, pancakes, scrambled egg varieties, a made-to-order omelette station, pastries, breads, smoked fish, fresh fruit, meats, and potatoes were artfully presented on a long line of serving tables, and the quality was superb.
Attentive servers kept our coffee mugs and orange juice glasses filled. They also were busy replacing almost empty buffet chafers with fresh and full ones.
For lunch and dinner, we ate at the Inn’s Lamplighter Lounge (LL), an informal restaurant with a menu that serves delicious versions of familiar favorites. Dishes that were found to be particularly awesome included:
Baby Arugula Watermelon Salad, with watermelon, cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese in tarragon dressing (addition of grilled chicken)
The "Pocono Burger," with sautéed mushrooms, applewood bacon, cheddar and onion straws
Cheese Steak sandwich, with thinly sliced sirloin steak with onions, mushrooms and melted cheese
BLT, with applewood bacon, lettuce, and tomato served with potato chips
Bacon and scallop medallons hoagie, featuring bacon-wrapped scallop medallions with peppers and sauteed onions with marinara sauce
Everything that we enjoyed at the LL was fresh, beautifully presented, and well-executed. The service in the restaurant was also excellent: the bartenders offered recommendations of exceptional craft beers to Sue (who appreciates tasty brews), and Nicole the manager was particularly impressive. When there was an unexpected glitch with one of our orders, she quickly resolved the issue and made sure that everything was to our liking. Her professionalism, personable approach, and attention to detail was reflected in the work of the LL’s hard working waitstaff, who busted their butts to provide great service for their hungry customers.
Another of the Inn’s eateries is The Exchange, which offers fine dining and is frequented by customers (non-guests of the Inn) who drive from across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York to savor its well-reviewed fare. Steaks, chops, seafood, fish, and other gourmet dishes are on the menu. I took a quick peek inside, and the place is très swank.
ACTIVITIES
With all of the Inn’s amazing activities to choose from, we had some limitations:
None of the fam wanted to be tied into hard-and-fast itineraries.
We were staying at the Inn for only two days.
Even with these parameters, we all were still able to enjoy elements of the Inn’s available stuff to do, including:
Frisbee - Sue and our son had a fun session of disc winging on one of the Inn’s many open outdoor areas.
Billiards - My daughter and I played for hours in the library adjacent to the Lamplighter Lounge.
Ping pong/foosball - After dinner each night, Sue and our daughter got their backspin, floats, and chops on (as well as their dinks and drops) in the lower level arcade room.
Hiking - I journeyed with our son (and Sue also walked with him on their own outing) on a scenic and semi-rigorous two mile trek (one mile out, another mile back) that began at the Inn and continued into the nearby woods. For me, this was the high point of our stay: the green, gorgeous landscape and the lively sounds of nature were a peaceful counterpoint to the busy device-driven din of our daily lives:
TAKEAWAYS
Whether you’re a New Yorker, a Pennsylvanian, or a Jerseyite in either go mode or hang mode, the Inn at Pocono Manor can deliver exactly what you’re looking for.
It’s impossible to experience all of the excitement that the Inn has to offer in just a few days, so if you’re aiming to rack up mucho activity during your stay, definitely plan to be there for awhile. If, on the other hand, you’d like to create your schedule on the fly (or have no schedule at all), a weekend jaunt will hook you up with some spectacular unwinding.
Along with its sizably cozy accommodations, gorgeous locale, excellent service, and outstanding dining options, the Inn at Pocono Manor serves up high quality, unpretentious elegance that you’re sure to appreciate - however revved or chillaxed your energy level may be.
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