Part #2

After having some time last night to relax and calm down from our experience at dinner, and reading other reviews on trip advisor, we decided there was no way we were going to give this resort another dollar.... It was obvious they didn't care about their guest's experiences, nor the feeling they were creating by gouging you for EVERYTHING, at every turn. I won't go into all the details as other reviewers have already, but $15 for bath salts in the room, $2 coffee.. come on... maybe at a Motel 8.. But at a place where their tag line is "Let us Spoil You"... Maybe it should read.. " If you'd like to spoil yourself, bring lots of extra cash so you can enjoy the usual amenities you have at home." You know you are in the wrong place when a weekend at home is more relaxing than the resort you are at.

A few points that may have been missed out last night... When we returned to our room after the dinner incident, we decided to order room service as we were starving. Pick up the phone... BROKEN! Can't even call in to place an order!! We were booked in one of their supposed spa villas (HAHA) which as a good 5-8 minute walk down the road, so it wasn't as if we could just pop down to the front desk.. We resorted to our cell phone to place our order, which did come quickly I must say. We had calmed down a bit by then, so took the opportunity to discuss the situation with the so called manager MARY. She continued to be defensive about their strict policy, didn't offer an apology in an regard, but did end up getting an earful from both my wife and myself. Let me be clear. I have no issue with a strict dress code, even though it does not fit the resort. However if you want to ensure all guests are wearing dress pants, MAKE THAT CLEAR! A dark pair of black jeans with a dress shirt is acceptable in most fine establishments in Toronto.. this is Algonguin park!!!!!! Stating it on a section of your website , not mentioning it when placing the reservation, or having it posted on the confirmation e-mails, would lead this to happening over an over again. It was 100% the attitude and way the situation was handled which was the problem. Ultimately they can run their business however they want to, what they can't do is attempt to embarrass or humiliate people. Especially at $400+ per night!!!!!! Before going down for the evening, we found ourselves a reservation at Deerhurst Resort for the rest of the weekend...

Upon waking up in the morning at 7:45 eager to get outta there. We called again on our cell phone (their phone still broken) to order some breakfast before heading out. We were told it would be brought to us at 9:15am!! lol... what....? I'm ordering at 8am and being told the first available time to bring it to us was an hour and fifteen minutes later.. I should have expected that... I was told, "well everyone wants to have breakfast, how can we make it for everyone at the same time..?" Now let me just say in the 33 yrs I have been on this planet, the many many spas and resorts we have travelled to around the world, I have never heard that.. Everyone wants to eat... huh? How in #$%# is that my problem? Get more kitchen staff, do whatever, but don't tell the guest that.. At this point this experience has somewhat turned humorous.. Sometimes when you end up in a situation such as this, you can only laugh...

After a mediocre breakfast at best, we packed up and went down to the front desk to check out. I had been trying to contact the owner JON from about 8am to discuss the situation with him. We are business owners ourselves, and at most I thought that he should be aware of how his guests are being treated and the condition of the rooms. I was told he would possibly be at the front desk at 9am. We arrived to no Jon as requested but did manage to speak with a visibly dis interested DEBORAH who apparently is the office manager. At first she expressed some understanding to the situation and let us know that Jon was in fact aware of what had happened but was no longer available for the morning.. Really...? An owner knows a guest is unhappy and doesn't make time to discuss and attempt to rectify..? Really...? It became clear to us at that point that the whole resort operates in the same manner. Somehow (and I have no idea how) this place has been placed in a 5 star category. We have stayed in 3 star establishments that are better than this disaster. The staff here must think they are naturally 5 star people, as they work in such a fine establishment, and therefore can treat people and their resort as privileged to be in their presence.

One last experience to send us on our way.. Upon checking the room for all our stuff, my wife noticed a bag poking out from under the bed. A lingerie bag from another guest.... Diiiirrrrrrttttttyyyyyyy! You try to convince yourself that despite the 30 year old decor, the room is clean, and there are no "left overs" from the last couple. .... Ummm yeah, the left over bag from La Senza, not going to help with that visualization.

We are off now to Deerhurst to start this weekend over. Reading the reviews posted i can see many have had a similar experience to ours. There are some positives as well which leads me to believe that either they are writing them themselves, or the guests posting these reviews have never been anywhere other than this place to compare to. I will finish by saying, save your $450 per night, and treat yourself to White Oaks in St Catharines, Deerhurst, or a host of other resorts who value your business and truly want you to relax and enjoy your time with them.

Attn Jon (owner of Couples Resort), it seemed you had no interest in approaching us or the situation we experienced. We gave full opportunity for this to be rectified. No interest....You knew where we were, and that I was looking to speak with you. Your staff have my e-mail address and tel #. You are welcome to contact me. I am embarrassed more for you and you staff than anything else. We have learned our lesson, and will make sure all our friends and family never make the same mistake.

We have been twice now. The first time we stayed in a gorgeous room with a hot tub on the deck and loved it! This past week we signed up for their January special and got their armpit room. The first time we had a couples massage; this time they were fully booked when we got there. Both times we ate very well, had fires in the fireplace, went for lovely walks in the woods (paths cleared by staff), and played in the games room so we really did have a nice couples-oriented time. I just wish I'd realized what I was giving up by getting the deal.

So we'll start with the four hour drive up to the couples resort. We arrive, are extremely tired and just want to relax and have a nice meal after we check in. The rooms are a time-warp going back to 1991, and freezing cold!!!! We called them in advance to let them know what time we would be arriving,,,a fire would have been a really great touch. (I spent the next hour sitting fully clothed in the sauna.) The check in staff actually talked behind my husbands back because he wouldn't accept that a gift card meant negative 100.00, not a charge to the room.. They thought he had left the room and complained about him. So next we arrive to the dining room on time for our 7:15 dinner reservation. We wait 20 MINS! Where the waitstaff showed us to the
lounge to sit. The same waitress came to show us to our table, actually looks my husband up and down. Sneers and says "We have two problems, we have a table ready for you,,,but we can't seat you because your wearing jeans". Ok,,,annoying because that's only one problem, but I'll let that go because her tone was so incredibly condescending and disrespectful. What a way to address a guest that just paid 1000.00 to stay for two days. She said you will have to have room service, and we charge a 10.00 fee.....oh by the way, they might as well charge for toilet paper as well because every little chance they get to gouge you they will! ( 30.00 eco fee? 3 dollars for a side for breakfast? and 3.00 for a keurig coffee in the room??? 18.00 for bubble bath? in this ugly room,,really?????? So back to the dinner issue,,, the manager was not apologetic at all either and we were left completely dumbfounded to be treated that way.It was a terrible experience not even attempted to be rectified. We get back to our room, (still starving) and the phone does not work to call the front desk to order our meals.. We call from our cell phone and order our meals and thankfully, the room service was very polite and understanding.
we are about to sample our meals, and see how the rest of the weekend goes.....

An overrated, cheap rendition of a wannabe, exclusive, winter resort banking on a romantic ambience, a pseudo-flamboyant, culinary cuisine presented in photogenic, skimpy portions.

As for the exaggerated, nano-entrees - ask for a pair of tweezers. It’s supposed home-cuisine fails during breakfast when one notices “Kraft jams”.