Pinegrove Resort Ranch Resort - Page 1

We went to this "ranch" in Sept 08 for a girl scout weekend and found the place to be less than we expected to find.

Upon walking in the front door you are greeted by a musty smell which continues on into the rooms. The room that we were assigned had two double beds and a single bed. One of the double beds was sagging so badly I would estimate that there was a 6 inch divot in the middle. You couldn't possibly have two people sleep on it. One of the girls in our troup had a bad reaction to the mold in the rooms and got sick while we were there. When the kids filled up the bath tub to take a bath the water in the tub was brown.

Review by the items:

rooms - bad - smell musty, need new mattresses, one of the drawers in the dresser was literally falling apart, bathroom sink badly cracked with black mildew in the cracks, AC unit caked with dust

Pools both indoor and outdoor - nice

rock climbing wall - so old that the grips are worn off and it is hard to climb

volley ball court. - net is sagging and ripped - completely missing the bottom edge - the pine grove person assigned to teach volleyball knew nothing about it

grounds - a little dingy

archery - very small space - not good for groups which they are advertising to. They only had enough arrows for each girl to shoot 3. The targets look like they have been through a war - need more arrows and new targets

horses - nice but they only load them one person at a time - not group friendly

petting zoo area - pleasant, but not well kept

hay ride to lake - nice

fishing at lake - nice

paddle boats at lake - nice - dock is extremely rickety - be careful

food - ok (at best), but certainly not the variety they had in the sample menu

dining room - too small - not capable of handling a crowd - had to wait a long time to get a seat

laser tag - only takes 8 at a time every half hour (16 an hour) - not group friendly. Many of the guns do not work. The weekend we were there half of the area was blocked off because the floor was wet.

shuffleboard - all the sticks were worn off on the ends - need new ones. Many of the pucks are cracked in need of replacement

bullroom - disco - ok, but too loud - my daughter would not stay it was too loud for her

Overall the place is dingy and run down. It has potential, but someone needs to refurbish the place. The activities are not designed to efficiently handle the groups they are trying to appeal to. For adults the place is a dump. For kids it seems ok although if your child has mold allergies you do not want to go here

I stayed at the Pinegrove Resort Ranch last August with my 2 kids, and arranged a trip back there again next week with my family and my extended family.

My kids (age 9 and 12) LOVED it. They enjoyed the all-day-long food, the entertainment, the numerous activities...pretty much everything. I liked most of the food, and the facilities were in decent shape overall. We didn't see the housekeeping disasters noted in many on-line reviews, but our room and bathroom were a bit "tired" looking. Fortunately for us, the water was decent during the 3 days we were there.

Regarding the entertainment, we had a very talented magician one night, and a very entertaining roping cowboy the other night. No complaints! In addition, we had a nice time at their outdoor bonfire/marshmallow roast including a cowboy led sing-along.

I'm curious to see what we find when we return next week. The online reviews are VERY mixed. When we were there last year, another family at our table complained about petty things regarding the meals...rediculous! The food was good, and the service was fine.

The tables in the self-service food court area were a bit messy and there were flies in that part of the facility, but that was the only area we found to be "filthy". Our room's cleanliness was fair, and the lobby was very clean.

Hopefully we'll have an experience next week that at a minimum matches what we had last year! If it's significantly different, I'll leave another post.

The most filthy and run down accommodations you could imagine.

Peeling wall paper, ripped and dirty bedding, mold growing in bath room,

main lodge did not appear to have been swept or cleaned in ages, food was ground into floor and carpets, walls were filthy, indoor pool was disgusting, laser tag was in a basement room that smelled of mold and mildew, hung ceilings were falling down in many places and all the outdoor activity areas (not including the pool) were run down. The water smelled so badly of "rotten eggs" that we all came home smelling of it. I had taken my sister-in-laws three daughters there for what was supposed to be an all inclusive ranch resort with activities for all ages, including teens. Not only were we disgusted at the filth and condition of the hotel but were very frustrated with the lack activities for teens. My sister-in- law paid a significant mandatory service fee, although there was a note on the table asking quests to consider paying the servers $1.50 per person per meal for a tip. I was told by the front desk that the service fee is split between all the servers, but I don't really believe that. I left a tip because I've a feeling those folks work really hard for only min wages. When I voiced my concerns to the manager and asked to see the owner, who was not there, she commented that they have thousands of guests who have no complaints, BUT it was while I was standing there that another family said their room was moldy, and two other guests that I spoke to said there rooms were in the same condition and that the whole place was dirty.

In hind sight I should have packed up my nieces and driven the five hours back home; but their mom and dad had spent much time looking for a place that claimed to have lots of activities, including horse back riding (which was the only thing that didn't disappoint!), and spent quite a lump of money, assuming that the girls would have a great time. What they got was a lesson in not trusting a web site to be what it claims, and that the pics can lie in a big way. I am in the process of reporting the ranch to the Ulster community sanitation and food protection agency, as well as many others and hope they will send someone out to take a look at the situation. God knows what the kitchen looks like!!

Very outdated hotel with old carpets and broken sinks. The resort has a bad bathroom smell that comes out of the water. My room had black mold in the bathroom! No area to sit and eat lunch as a family. Poor quality of food. Dining area was so hot on 8/25/07 that we could not eat. There was no Saturday show because the performer did not show and the resort had no other plans!!!!

I would not recommend this resort at all to any family.