If you spend any amount of time with me, you will know I love the spa experience. Nothing like taking some time to relax, unwind, and treat yo' self with some pampering. When I first heard of The Lodge at Woodloch hotel and spa in Hawley, PA; it was quickly on my bucket list of places to visit. My long time, best friend since 7th grade, Val, had said she wanted to take a girls trip sometime. We were discussing options and then COVID hit, so plans put on hold. Once restrictions loosened, I had mentioned this place to her. I knew it may cost more than other ideas, but figured after a pandemic, it was worth an indulgence. She agreed and we booked two nights for June.
First this resort is mostly all-inclusive. That means all of your meals and most activities are included. Gratuity is added up front as well, so you don't have to worry about tipping anyone while there. What is not included is your spa treatments, alcoholic drinks, certain specialty latte drinks, and some classes had a minor fee. I'll talk about that more later. Here I am going to give an overview of what we experienced, should you consider your own stay. All pictures were taken by me on my cell phone during my visit.
Arrival and Check In
When we first pulled into the resort, we were warmly greeted at the gate, and verified where who we were before letting us on the property. At the front of the hotel, the staff greeted us by our names and took all of our luggage, and then valeted the car for us. We arrived around noon, but check-in isn't until 4:00 pm. I saw online that guests are allowed to arrive any time the day of check in to enjoy the resort . At the front desk we were greeted with a reusable water bottle and backpack to use. We were given a tour as first time visitors of the main areas and spa. They confirmed our information and said they would text us when our room was ready. When our room was ready, we just grabbed the key from the front desk and our luggage was waiting for us in the room.
Note: we do have access to your luggage, which worked out as Val wanted to change clothes. However, they have a locker room in the spa area you can use. It is recommended that if arriving early or staying late on day of check out (you can do that as well), to bring a small bag of clothes and items to use.
Below is the foyer that greets you when you first step inside.
Activities
If you go to their website, they post the schedule of activities about a month or two prior. They have numerous classes all day long. From a variety of fitness classes, nature walks, and art classes; to things like forest bathing. cooking classes, and even classes on napping. There was a huge variety of options for us to choose from; just know its recommended you sign up in advance. We ended up both taking a cooking demonstration, hatchet throwing, and a Nature Pix class (which showed us how to use and take good photos with our cell phones). I also took a yoga class.
Note: some of the classes do have an additional fee. None that we took, but I noticed the ones that did were more of the art classes and the fee was like $10-$15, which I assume was for materials.
They also have activities you can do at your leisure through the day. There is a small lake there that you can kayak or paddle board. We didn't do those but enjoyed sitting on the chairs on the dock, especially in the evening during sunset. They also had things like disc golf, birdwatching, and archery. Archery was the first time I tried it and fell in love. The bow string fought back and bruised my arm(even with a pad), but I still now want an archery range in my backyard. They also have some easy trails to hike. One morning I took a solo walk through the trees and a field, following a trail. It was early and I was alone on the trail. I saw several deer, as you will often while on the property. That morning a mom and her fawn(who looked relatively new to the world), crossed my path a few feet ahead. I stopped by mom kept going. The baby fawn stopped and stared at me for several seconds before chasing after her mom. It was such a magical moment!
Below a young fellow I encountered on my morning hike by the spa.
Finally there is a much larger, family-friendly property nearby named just Woodloch Resort. The Lodge at Woodloch is adult only, but guests at the Lodge are allowed to go to Woodloch and use the amenities there. We did not but maybe some other time!
Spa Area
The women and men each have their own locker room and spa area. I didn't see the men's but the women's had a private women only hot tub, steam shower, sauna, quiet room and general relaxation area. There is of course restrooms and nicely done shower areas with anything you may need to clean up. All of the lockers have robes that you can wear around the resort; and the same robes are available in your room.
The pool and hot tubs (or whirlpools, whatever you call them) are a huge draw in the spa area but a common area for everyone. There is only one thing outside and this a hot tub, but lots of outdoor seating around it if you want to sun bathe or relax outside. Right by that is a huge indoor pool and right next that are two more whirlpools with waterfalls. There are also some common relaxation areas inside.
Picture of the two indoor shared whirlpools as well as the indoor swimming pool, all in the same room.
Spa treatments are extra but I strongly recommend booking one. There is a huge selection from your traditional things like massages, pedicures, and facials; to things like float therapy or reiki treatments. Val and I both opted for the Lodge Body Ritual. It is an almost 2 hour treatment. Its starts with a clay treatment brushed on the skin and then a body wrap. After that is showered off, you get about an hour full body massage. The whole experience was amazing. Not only one of the best massages ever, my skin felt fantastic.
The spa area of the hotel is open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. That is the only downside. I would have loved to be able to enjoy the hot tubs at night after dinner. I can understand the reasons though for shutting it down, which I am sure there are numerous. I mean I could have easily spent an extra night and just slept in there!
Meals
This is a HUGE bonus to this place. All of your meals are included! In case you are wondering, these are good quality, really nice meals. The meals they serve for dinner alone would easily cost you at least $75 a person if eating in a regular restaurant of similar service and quality. It is 3 meals a day and they are very accommodating to all dietary restrictions. The portions size I thought were good as well. Not super big but a good size that will fill you up. Trust me, we kept saying we never really had a chance to get hungry before the next meal. Breakfast and lunch are served between set hours and you just show up in that time frame. Dinner you do need to make a reservation for your dinner time. You can also order the food to your room or to go if you prefer that.
A chicken dinner I got one night as my main course. All dinners have an option up to 4 courses.
Meals go from dinner the day you arrive to lunch the day you check out. Since we arrived early on day of check in while lunch service was happening, we were given the option to have our included lunch that day instead of the day we checked out. We stuck with the day we checked out.
Alcoholic drinks are extra and they also have these things called therapeutic lattes for extra. got excited as I love latte's! However, these are latte in meaning of warm milk, they are not café latte's, so no coffee. Even without the coffee; they were delicious! I had 3 as they were so tasty.
One of my therapeutic latte's.
They do have a room that you an self serve coffee and tea all day long. They also put out snacks you can grab outside the restaurant every day around 3:00pm, but they went fast when we were there. Note their website says resort casual attire for dinner. For lunch and breakfast though, you can wear your robes. If that makes you wonder what to wear, most people through the day were in either their robes, lounge wear, or workout type attire. For dinner it was more of a dressy casual. I saw shorts, casual dresses, slacks, and even jeans. I wouldn't go higher than business casual here for dinner.
Rooms
The rooms are nice and clean. We had a double bed room, which cost less than those with the king beds. All rooms have a balcony which we enjoyed. The sheets were good quality and you could even call the front desk for other pillow options. Each room had a mini-fridge and I really enjoyed their skin and hair care products. I rarely use hotel products as my skin is sensitive and hair can be fussy, but theirs worked nicely with no irritation. They normally have turn down service, but was suspended due to COVID. In the evening they did put a bag on our door with chocolates to make up for it. Overall, I don't have much to say about the rooms. They are good hotel rooms, not like blow your mind the best room ever; but better then average and no complaints.
A picture of our room, I need to learn to take a picture before we start unpacking.
Check Out
Check out time is noon on your departure day. As I mentioned before, you can stay after though. We checked out of our rooms around 11:30. We went to the front desk with our luggage. We told them we were ready to check out of the room but not the property. She immediately picked up the phone and within seconds someone was there to take our luggage. Then we surrendered the room keys and were told to check back in at the desk when ready to leave. We took that time for one final walk around, then enjoyed our final meal there. When we went to leave we went back to the desk. They had our car pulled around while we settled up the bill. The extras were changed to the room but they were able to separate out items. When we were done, our car was out front, nice and cool as they had the AC running, and our luggage was in the trunk loaded. We were asked if we needed directions or gas recommendations before they wished us safe travels.
This was taken from the hotel main door, where you both drop off and pickup your car.
Price
If you look at their site the rooms are anywhere from $399 to $874 a night and that is per person per night, before tax and gratuity. There isn't really a discount for room sharing but it makes sense with all that is included. However, they do have something called mid-week magic and that is what we did. You have to stay at least 2 nights but if you stay Sunday-Thursday (excludes holidays) you can save anywhere from 20-43% off the listed rate. From what I observed, the discount rate varies based on season and popularity, which is to be expected. I was told by a staff member fall is the most popular time there for visitors, when the leaves are changing. So if you are thinking of trying it out and want to save some cash, be flexible with the dates.
Not the best picture below with the lighting, but this is part of the backside of the hotel. The big windows above are the dinning room.
Conclusion
This place is A-MAZING! I can see it becoming my second happy place (after Boonsboro), and will probably try to go once a year, at least every other year. I realize that for the cost of a couple of nights (even with the mid-week special) I could probably purchase a plane ticket to Europe. However, for all that you get its worth it. Not having to worry about meals, tipping, and all those activities that you can do for free. Things that if I were to pay for them individually would add up and cost me more. I love that you can come early on day of check in and stay that day after you check out. We only stayed 2 nights but got a full 48 hours of fun and relaxation on the property. I also cannot say how wonderful all of the staff is there as well.
As much as I love to travel and explore new places, I also love the idea of a place I can go for a couple days and not leave the property. I have visited beautiful resorts before in places such as Hawaii, where it would be easy to stay on the resort the entire time. However, when in a place like Hawaii, I want to get out and explore. I didn't worry about that here, as with it only being a few hours away, those places are available to me more easily in every day life.
Finally I want to touch base on the other guests. There were other guests there and we met and had great conversations with several of them. However, I never felt like the place was crowded or that I didn't have privacy. There are plenty of times being outside, in the pool, or in lounge areas, where we were the only people there. Sometimes you would see other off in the distance but everyone seemed to be in their own worlds. Its a place where its hard to not be relaxed. Where you feel like you can shut down, connect with nature and yourself.
Check out their website for more information or to book your stay! The Lodge at Woodloch. As always, reach out to me if you have any questions about this wonderful facility.
Below the dock area at sunset.
Note: I write this blog for my own fun and to share my experiences. I do not get any sort of compensation for my recommendations in case you are wondering. I don't think enough read it for that anyways. :)
A picture below of me and Val at dinner during our final night stay.
Comments