With hospitality and tourism reopening this summer, many individuals and families are looking for a much needed getaway. Although your vacation may look a little different due to the circumstances accompanying the global pandemic, it will still provide you with a fun few days out of the house and a boatload of memories (and who wouldn’t want to escape their home after months cooped up). Now, I’ll spare you every little detail about my trip (which is a colossal challenge considering my passion for the resort), but I will specifically highlight all the steps the staff took to ensure guests had an incredibly safe, clean, and memorable time during COVID-19.
My family and I vacation at Woodloch Resort in the Northern Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania annually for the past 22 years. If you couldn’t tell from the repeated visits expanding from the year I was born to today, we really love this place. Woodloch has become our second home throughout time and every year we look forward to seeing the friendly staff, competing in the family games, and enjoying the beautiful Lake Teedyuskung. To understand how spectacular the resort’s hospitality was amid the pandemic, you have to familiarize yourself with how great it is under normal circumstances. Lucky for you, I have a lifetime of experiences to share! Here’s a brief background on what Woodloch is all about.
Grounds
Woodloch is composed of two resorts, the Pines and the Springs. The Pines are located directly alongside Lake Teedyuskung and can be considered the “downtown” of the resort, as this is where all activities and nightlife occur. Here, there are hotel rooms to reside in, an indoor and outdoor pool, a mini beach on the lake with boat rentals for guests, several dining areas, a nightclub for shows and concerts, a variety of amenities, gift shops, and family competitions. The Springs are just a five minute drive away and this can best be defined as a country club. Located right on a beautiful 18-hole golf course, the Springs provides guests with houses to reside in rather than hotel rooms, an indoor and outdoor pool, two dining options overlooking the greens, and a quiet oasis. My family resides in a house here because there is enough space for everyone under one roof, the views overlooking the course are beautiful, and we enjoy spending a week of quality time all together.
Amenities
Woodloch has activities for everyone to engage in, no matter your age or interests! For the adventurous and outdoorsy, there are the following: rock climbing, zip lining, go-karts, paintball, shooting range, a nature trail, and much more. For those who avoid outdoors at all costs, you can enjoy the following: bumper cars, arcades, indoor basketball, jungle gym, arts and crafts room, escape room, and more. Do you enjoy being in or on the water all day? Woodloch's got just the fix for you, including: waterskiing, lake rentals (kayak, paddle board, row boat, sailboat, paddle boat), indoor waterpark, and bumper boats. While I’m sure I forgot to list a few, you can tell that there are activities for everyone!
Family Events
The family games are fun competitions consisting of a series of challenges for guests to compete against each other for a medal and bragging rights (and trust me, there is no better feeling than hearing your team name get called for a first place gold medal). There are smaller scale competitions such as: Name That Tune, Bingo, Scattergories, 2000’s Trivia Contest, Family Bowling, Family Feud, Cupcake Wars, Waterslide Contest, and more. Then there are the big ticket team events, which are the most competitive in my opinion because they are timed and attract the greatest amount of teams. At these challenges, you can find your team racing through a blowup water slide, eating a fruit by the foot as fast as you can, pushing a beach ball across the pool to your teammate using only your head, and running through the acres of the Pines to solve puzzles and get your next clue for the race. These challenges include the following: Pool Games, Olympics, Scavenger Hunt, Field Day, Double Dare, Amazing Race, and Lake Games. They may sound and look crazy (spoiler alert, they are), but there is no feeling that can compare to the pure joy I get when i'm playing these games.
Nightlife
If you thought you’d be relaxing at night because the day was full of activities, you are wrong, my friend. Woodloch has so much to enjoy once the sun sets over the lake. There are annual Theme Shows and Staff Shows (which are my favorite to see all the social members you hangout with daily acting out skits on stage), as well as, live bands, magicians and comedians, DJ dance parties, karaoke nights, and (our family favorite) Horse Racing! Contrary to what you’re definitely thinking, Horse Racing has nothing to do with actual horses. It is an interactive show that features six wooden horses that are all racing down a track based on a roll of die. As a guest, you bet money on the horse you believe will win, cheer for it as the dice are rolled, and if your horse makes it down the track first you collect your earnings! I almost never win, but the lively atmosphere of guests cheering at the top of their lungs and the staff shouting out play-by-play moves, makes you smile from ear to ear.
Now that you know a little bit about the resort, it’s time for you to know how well the staff worked to ensure safety during COVID-19 while continuing to host all the above events and amenities.
Safety Precautions
Temperature Checks: Upon arrival, guests were required to receive temperature checks to ensure that they were within a healthy range. These were conducted at both resort grounds in the check-in areas of the Pines, as well as, the Springs. While a minor and painless feature, this ensures that the resort is only allowing guests with good health onto the property.
Masks: Worn everywhere in transition and in all indoor areas, masks were required of all guests. As a general rule of thumb, if you were walking somewhere where you could pass or come in contact with others, you should be wearing a mask. When walking to and from locations and dining areas, you were required to wear a mask. Once at your dining table you were allowed to remove your mask to eat and drink. When ordering food at the beach grill, renting a lake boat, and transitioning from beach to main campus, you were required to wear a mask. Once you were eating at the table, on the boat, at your lounge chair, or in a body of water, you were allowed to remove your mask. At certain amenities like go-karts and bumper boats, you were required to wear your masks when waiting and settling in. Once on the boats or in the go-kart can you then remove your mask for the duration of the activity since you are alone and six feet apart. During family and team events, you were required to wear a mask in transition from station to station, as well as, during the explanations of the events. Once physically completing the events, you were allowed to remove your mask being that the challenges involved water games and eating. In indoor gathering areas such as The Nightclub, The North Lodge, and the gift shops, you were strictly required to wear a mask. Only if you were at your table sipping on a drink or eating were you allowed to remove your mask. These locations highly enforced masks as they were tighter spaces as opposed to more open outdoor seating areas. Most importantly, ALL staff members wore masks at all times. We were there for a week, out and about 24/7, and we never once saw a staff member without a mask or face covering (great work team). These precautions were not only simple to follow, but also made me and my family feel incredibly safe as everyone around us respectfully worked to maintain distancing and good health practices.
Capacity Limitations: On top of guests social distancing, the resort mandated capacity limitations throughout its properties. With signs at every location, indoor and outdoor, stating the exact number of guests allowed in that area at once, it was very clear to follow protocol. This allows the resort to maintain proper distancing between guests while having it’s amenities and rooms open for use. The staff politely informed the guests if there was no room for more parties at the time and instructed guests to wait or visit at a later time to ensure capacity was never exceeded. This precaution made me feel safe to go about activities knowing that I was far enough away from the next group of people and that the staff was following high safety measures.
Mobile Sign Ups: On top of Woodloch’s mobile app improving efficiency, its sign-up feature allows for a contactless way to book activities. For amenities, trivia events, team competitions, and outdoor activities, guests are required to book a specific time slot in which they will attend that activity. This aspect not only increases organization in the guests’ and staff’s schedules, but it also prevents long waiting lines outside each amenity. Averting the issue of guests being less than 6 feet apart while waiting their turn, the mobile sign ups will help maintain safety precautions during this time.
Cleanliness
Hand Sanitizer Stations: As if the ground of Woodloch weren’t clean enough beforehand, now you can easily find hand sanitizer stationed all around the resort. They are found entering and exiting buildings, outside dining areas and shops, aside the indoor and outdoor pool areas, in popular common spaces such as well occupied lawns, outside activities, inside the arcades and gyms, and stationed at every single game in each team competition. There is no limit as to where guests can now access hand sanitizer on the resort’s grounds!
Sanitizing Amenities & Team Events: Even though the hand sanitizer is optional and for all to use at their leisure, guests shouldn’t fear because the staff is working overtime to make certain that every shared item is germ free. In between appointment times that guests sign up for on the Woodloch app, the staff utilizes the spare minutes to wipe down all surfaces that came in contact with previous guests so that the next group is good to go. For example, when the group before ours piled out of the go-karts, a staff member wiped down all interiors of the car with a sanitary cloth before allowing us to begin our round. Same rules follow every table at the dining areas and indoor venues like The Nightclub, as well as, at all team events. For those larger competitions with teams rotating from one station to the next, the staff worked quickly to wipe down all surfaces, submerge used tools and items into buckets of soap and water, and replenish goods for the next group. Ever seen a pit crew work during a NASCAR race? Woodloch staff’s system is quite comparable in efficiency!
Lake Activities: The same system applies for kayak, paddle board, and row boat sign-ups at the lake. The lifeguard crew takes down your information as to what item you're checking out, directs you to a suitable life jacket and equipment needed, and sends you on your way. Upon return, the staff requests that the guest place their paddle and life jacket in the appropriate trays to be cleaned and disinfected before the next guest’s adventure on the lake.
Administrative & Stationery: Down to the pens that administration staff hands guests to use upon check-in and check-out, Woodloch mastered its cleaning capabilities. When using materials to fill out forms at Guest Check-In or to sign a bill at the Beach Bar, the staff labeled baskets of pens and pencils as “clean” and “dirty” for guests to clearly choose and place accordingly. Nothing goes past the staff without being properly cleaned, not even a little pen!
All in all, the staff went above and beyond to ensure that guests could vacation as normal and safe as possible (and if you're a regular, you know just how awesome the staff is to begin with). Although naturally different from previous year’s experiences at Woodloch, I can confidently state that my vacation was in no way negatively impacted by the pandemic driving current hospitality and tourism protocols. We were able to engage in every activity we desired going into the vacation, continue our Woodloch traditions, and make many memories that will be cherished for years to come. Our 22nd year at Woodloch was certainly one for the books and we are eagerly waiting for the next. Until then, mask up and stay safe!