A while ago, me and my friends decided to getaway for the weekend and visit a resort in Huntsville, Muskoka. We stumbled on Hidden Valley Resort, Ascend Hotel Collection and we quickly reserved our rooms and started getting ready for our getaway!
The resort is about 2 and a half hours away from Toronto, and had some amazing views on the way up, it was a great and easy location, there were many other resorts around this area as well which was great because there is a tendency to feel a bit isolated in Huntsville since it is so far out of the city!
We were checked in pretty quickly and got settled, the first thing we wanted to do was hit the pool! There was a huge pool and hot tub. We gravitated towards the hot tub because the pool itself, while very big, was also very busy with families and kids! We loved the hot tub, it had more than enough room for all 6 of us, and was so relaxing! The hot tub was the highlight of the resort in my opinion!
Then we explored the resort a bit and spent some time getting ready for dinner in our rooms. The hotel itself is a little dated and the hallways do need a bit of a facelift to match the rest of the resort. However, the rooms were very comfy and clean! It was pretty big and we had no trouble getting comfortable! However some rooms were definitely bigger than others! It wasn’t as modern as some of the other hotels I’ve been to but it was clean, homey and charming! Next we got ready and headed into town for dinner! We opted for a dinner spot outside the hotel just to explore the surrounding town a little bit!
When we got back we chilled out and watched a movie in our rooms because we were a bit tired from the long day!
The next day we got up super early to head to the pool, their pamphlet and website said they opened earlier than the front desk honored us. We went to the front desk and they basically told us no, we had to wait until 9am to go to the pool. That was fine. We went back to our rooms and hung out until they opened the pool. Then we had lunch and wanted to check out some of the other amenities. Their games room was also closed, which was not communicated to us. We had to pay an additional resort fee for the amenities such as the games room, snow sports, however when we got there nothing was really functional.
This was a huge disappointment because the pool and hot tub are usual staples at hotels so it wasn’t apparent what we were paying the additional tax for if the other amenities weren’t being offered.
I think this resort has a lot of potential to be so much better and would have offered us a much better stay if the amenities promised were working. Otherwise, the grounds are extremely large and there is so much to explore and lots of space to accommodate activities! I had also reached out to hotel staff via emails letting them know very nicely that my stay was not ideal and there was false information and the lack of amenities, however not much reconciliation was done.
I don’t think I’ll be returning to this hotel soon. While it was relaxing and a great time with friends, I would definitely try another hotel nearby or go during a different time of year when more activities are offered.
Sincerely, Celine
SincerelyCeline 