Willowbrook at Lake Harmony

RCI Gold resort in a nice setting. Grass surrounded by woods in the middle of the Poconos of Pennsylvania.

It's a great resort if you love the outdoors and nature. Most people go during the winter to go skiing! It's also a family-friendly place. The place is a bit outdated, but if you don't have to pay for the stay then it's not too bad.

Our family has been coming to this resort fro over 10 years. The resort gets better every year. Bel Air recently has purchased the resort and has been rennovating all the facilities. It has so many amenties that you only find here such as an indoor water park, movie theater and arcade! It has a ports complex that you can play all kinds of indoor sports, bowling, raquetball, basketball or tennis. It is close to ski mountains for skiing in the Winter and white water rafting in the Summer. It is full of family fun, such as taking a hike to the Split Rock, visiting the Claws N Paws Animal Park, or shopping at the Premium Crossing Outlets. It is a wonderful getaway for family in the Pocono Mountains area.

We love this resort. The main amenity is the close proximity to so many features of the poconos like skiing, outlet shopping, hunting, fishing, etc. There are breathtaking views and the new units are beautiful.

Nice, brand new condos at Willowbrook. Very clean and well stocked. Resort has some "tired" looking areas, ie indoor pool and spa at main lodge needs a deep clean all around. Older lodges on resort showing their age. Restaurant at lake nothing special.

Caught plenty of fish on lake. Saw at least 15 deer each evening. Enjoyed miniture golf, swimming in lake and outdoor and indoor pools, movie theatre with current movies, fishing at nearby trout hatchery, and relaxing in peace and quiet.

We stayed the 2nd week of June. We had originally called them in the winter and the staff seemed to lack knowledge about summer programs, and were not real pleasant on the phone. Unfortunately, we found the same problems when we arrived - many uncaring and unpleasant staff. The exceptions were the restaurant staff (Galleria and Bellago), who were mostly excellant.

Split Rock Resort is spread over MANY acres, with 3 separate types of timeshare units: Galleria, Westwood, and Willowbrook. Willowbrook is a brand new addition to an otherwise dated and tired resort. We stayed at Willowbrook, in one of only 2 units completed so far. This facility was VERY nice, and adjacent to the golf course. The problem is that if you want to use the pools or hot tubs, you are sharing them with hotel patrons as well, and it is a pretty good walk or jump in the car to get anywhere.

Other than the Willowbrook buildings, the resort is in major need of an overhaul. The original Lodge on Lake Harmony was so old and outdated, it was almost embarrassing - we were however very impressed with the Bellago restaurant inside the Lodge. Great food and staff... Strange though - Italian cuisine in a Ponderosa setting???

Scenery wise, the area is beautiful, and very handy to I-80 (and for you NASCAR fans, 10 minutes from the track!). There are deer roaming everywhere, and recreational activities abound for kids and adults (Texas Hold-em is currently the rage). Nice 8 lane bowling alley, great mini- golf course, and a 1st run small movie theatre are in the Galleria complex, so you will not run out of activities. Don't believe the beautiful pix of the 2 tiered hot tub room though, it needs some TLC!

As far as the review goes, the 2 stars are for the "overall" experience, including public facilities and staff. If I were to give a star rating to only the Willowbrook buildings, I would give them 4 stars. Overall, it appears that they are trying to update the "total" resort, including a proposed indoor water park, but until some serious money is spent here, we won't likely be back. Staying at Split Rock Resort only makes me appreciate Marriott more.

I love the fact that I can stay at the Willow-brook Resort for peace and quiet and then visit their sister resort Split-rock Resort which has so many amenities.