Nottingham Village Friar Tuck -- How bad is it?

[markel]

OK, I have a last call first of March and see the reviews are basically not very good. How bad is it?? Plan on going skiing at Windham for a few days. Looking for a place for the kids to swim in the evenings. Any comments would surely be appreciated.

Mark

[EileenSRN]

We were there in the summer of '04. The main building was typical '50 with dining room, bar, "health club". The indoor pool was a decent size, but too cool for my taste even in summer. The hot tub, however, was the size of a small pool. There were also sauna rooms. They were building a few new units close to the main building. We were in the original building - about 1/4 mile from the main building. They smelled musty, felt damp. When we asked why the place wasn't kept up, the "customer service" rep said that it was a sold out (old section) resort, closest to NYC that you could get into. Most of the owners lived within a few hours and either used it to stay in while skiing or traded it. If I was a die hard skier, only using it to sleep cheap, I could live with it. I think you could say this place was in it's prime the same time Buddy Hackett was.

[Aldo]

I've never traded into the TX units there, but we had our professional convention at this resort a couple of years ago.

I'd never consider staying there unless you managed to pick it up cheap though gettravelop.com or one of these other sites where RCI skims off the exchange pool and rents it out cheap.

If you can get it for $199 or $264 for the week, OK, but otherwise the Catskills are full of beat up old musty hotels just like this place.

The indoor pool and sauna were actually pretty nice, though.

[suenmike32]

There's nothing classy about this place at all. Maybe back in the 60's... but it's been all downhill ever since.

[susgar]

Hi,
We stayed at this so called resort, Aug. 2003. At first I thought the place was nice, the common areas are ok, except the workout room was way outdated. When we went to our assigned "Jacuzzi suite", at I believe $350:00 dollars a night, I thought I was going to get sick. Truley the place had such a bad odor, my husband agreed, it was such a stench , there was no way we could stay there. I have never refused a room before at any hotel or resort. We went to the front counter, and they didn't even apologize. We were given another room, but at the same cost, which was small and filthy. There were urine stains on the bathroom floor around the toilet, there were lights in the unit that didn't work, the entire unit was way substandard. All I ask for is for the place to be clean. I went to their so called spa for a service, had to wait 30 minutes after the time of my appt. because the therapist was breastfeeding her baby. Come on now, this is supposed to be a "spa"!!!! Once the woman was able to accomodate my appt, she spent countless time grooming her hair and makeup in front of the mirror, and arguing with another employee. I have never experienced anything so unprofessional as this. The outdoor pools were nice, but closed way too early, at like 5:00 pm. I questioned the life guard about why the pools closed so early, and he said the owner was too cheap to pay for the life guards to be there any later. Truley, in my opinion, this resort has alot of potential. If the owner would refurbish the rooms and have the resort employees represent themselves professionally it could be a good place. Until that time, I would warn people not to ruin their vacation by staying there.

[Egret1986]

I think it would have the potential to be fairly nice. But as it is, it probably beats all the old motels nearby, but not by much. The two timeshare buildings are a bit different. For extra vacations and exchanges through RCI, we've always been put into the same building. The last time we were there, the one-bedroom we exchanged for was horrible. The smell was worse than usual. This wasn't musty, it smelled like sewage. Before unpacking, I requested another unit. Different unit, same problem, not acceptable. Finally, we were given a room in the other building that we had never stayed in. It was a two-bedroom. I think this building was upgraded at some point. It was acceptable and not smelly. We've stayed there 3 to 4 times over the years only because my husband's mother is in a nursing home down the road from there and other family members of his are within a 1/2 hour drive. The Holiday Inn in Kingston we stayed at once when we were up there ended up being $1000 for 7 nights for a small room with two double beds. At least with Nottingham Villiage, it cost us less and we had a place to cook.

If you really want to be in the area and not spend a lot of money and are aware of the fact that this is definitely a property that hasn't had money put into it in a long, long time; I would go for it. But before you unpack, check things out in the unit (heating, appliances and smell). Possibly you can request to be put in the upgraded building (this is not to say, great, but better).

[markel]

Egret,

Do you recall which building was the better?? I picked this up as a last call. 1BR/sleeps 6. $149 for the week. We will only be spending 4 nights there though. They tell me it is in the Buckingham Village section/building. Apparently, it's the timeshare building closest to the main building with the indoor pool. They must have a few other timeshare buildings further away. I have stayed in some very nice places in the past (via exchanging). I'm not going into this expecting anything fancy, just hoping not to regret it !!

Mark

[EileenSRN]

Sounds like you may have one of the new - really new - units. They had maybe 12 or so done in 2004. Ask them if you have to drive over the bridge to get to the building. The new units are maybe 100 yds, probably less, from the main building. They are cube style - either 2 up and 2 down or 4 &4. The old building is an apartment building style. If you're in one of the new ones your golden. We toured one - it was lovely. I believe Nottingham are the old buildings (2), and Buckingham the new section. But I can't swear to it.

[EileenSRN]

I just took a look at the web site. Under Condo's they are showing pictures of what we were told were new TS units. It doesn't sound like that inventory is availably for exchanges. I'd still call to see if you're in one of the 2 old buildings or one of the new ones.

[Egret1986]

Originally Posted by markel

Egret,

Do you recall which building was the better?? I picked this up as a last call. 1BR/sleeps 6. $149 for the week. We will only be spending 4 nights there though. They tell me it is in the Buckingham Village section/building. Apparently, it's the timeshare building closest to the main building with the indoor pool. They must have a few other timeshare buildings further away. I have stayed in some very nice places in the past (via exchanging). I'm not going into this expecting anything fancy, just hoping not to regret it !!

Mark

When we were there last, (June 2003) the only timeshares were across the bridge. If they're not across the bridge, then you're in new timeshares. Although if you're going to be out skiing and only there for four nights, at $149, personally I would take it. As long as the heat in the unit works and there isn't a sewage smell, it's okay. The indoor pool area is nice, with a small game room, small work-out room, huge hot tub, sauna and steam room. As stated previously, if you're getting a new timeshare you're golden. If you're not, for the price......Give the resort a call. I've never seen bugs in the units, that does me in. I can't stand bugs. It's also been clean in the units when I've stayed. Very, very old and dated though.

[markel]

I just wanted to thank you all for the replies. I called the resort and was told that I SHOULD be in the Buckingham section, which are closest to the main building and most importantly the newer/most recently refurbished. If all plays out as it stands, we should be O.K. Thanks again for the input.

Mark

[Lizyyz]

Originally Posted by markel

I just wanted to thank you all for the replies. I called the resort and was told that I SHOULD be in the Buckingham section, which are closest to the main building and most importantly the newer/most recently refurbished. If all plays out as it stands, we should be O.K. Thanks again for the input.

Mark

This is within driving distance from where I live so I'd like to hear about your experience there. Thanks.

Liz

[markel]

I'll be sure to post all the positives & negatives (hopefully no negatives !!) upon my return.

Mark

[markel]

We just returned from our stay here and I wanted to post my findings. First of all, our general experience here was POSITIVE. We were assigned to the Buckingham Village section (via RCI confirmation) and that was where we were placed. 1BR/sleeps 6. Unit had full kitchen, sofa bed, and bathroom in one part, with 2 DBL beds and bathroom in other part, with a door in the middle. This is the section directly across from the "main" building with the hotel rooms/indoor pool/steam room/sauna, etc. Less than a minute walk. Previous posts mentioned that these were new units?? They looked aged to me from the outside, but were obviously refurbished recently. We took a walk to the Nottingham Village section (the one across the bridge). Two buildings and a five minute walk or so. Didn't get to see inside any of these units, but did talk to someone that was staying in one and they mentioned that the unit was clean and in nice condition. The resort was basically EMPTY the entire time. It did pick up on Fri/Sat night somewhat though. No planned activites program this time of year. Indoor pool area was extremely nice. This was the main reason for staying here. Lifeguard on duty open to close. All staff at the resort were very friendly. Resort was 25-30 minutes from Windham Mountain. Closest town for restaurants, groceries, etc. was Cairo and was 10 minutes drive. I was told from several employees that the entire resort was FULL the weekend prior to our stay. They also say it is usually full during the summer. This resort served my family well and we had a great time !! Hope this helps,


Mark

[EileenSRN]

Mark,
I'm so glad you had a nice time. I'm sure staying in the "refurbished "units made all the difference. It was dead during the week when we were there, too. They told us that most of the owners lived in the city and only came on the weekends - sometimes making it a 4 day weekend.

[teachingmyown]

Glad your trip turned out well. Now, be sure to go to the reviews section and post a review. You've got the beginnings of a very good one here, but it won't be immortalized unless you take it to the reviews section. There hasn't been one posted in a while so your observations would be helpful.