My weekend at Deerhurst Resort/Victory Women’s Conference

Okay well this should be a post about my review of the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, ON where I stayed for the weekend during the 2011 Victory Women’s Conference.  It will be, but it will also be about my amazing experience at the Conference.  Which will be in a separate consecutive post.

We arrived on Thursday, check in was a breeze I had booked the room with my credit card but we used another person’s Card for the incidentals and they had no problems with that.

We were located very close to the main building about a 1 min drive and a 10 min walk ( I know because I walked there on Fri)  Located in the condo’s named “The Greens” .  Each building is number then you have a separate room number as well.  There is a shuttle that runs the grounds 24/7 so if you can’t walk between locations this will get you there it runs every 15 mins or so.

We were located in the top level of the Condo’s which was okay for most of us but if you have someone who has difficulty with mobility issues you might want to check into that.  I didn’t have the luxury of choice because ( I got the last condo booked for the condo)  So no break from stairs for the weekend, oh well.

When you open the door, especially if your not used to that kind of luxury, you can kind of gasp out loud.  The condo is huge and so comforting, so what if the decor is a little dated when you go somewhere that is out in Nature and billing itself as rustic you expect it.  I was very pleased with the accommodations there were 3 bedrooms.  1 with a queen bed, 1 with 2 queens and 1 with a huge King.  All the bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms, so no fighting for bathroom time.  Two of the bathrooms have huge Jacuzzi tubs.

There is a full kitchen, we didn’t really get to use ( I was with a bunch of women who are mom’s and not interested in cooking for the weekend it was their break, and I was on my Isagenix Cleanse)  It would be perfect for family reunions or a group of people interested in saving money by cooking.  A huge Dining Table and a nice size living room with a gas fireplace.  There is also a nice size balcony with table and chairs overlooking the you guessed “Greens” of the golf course.

Now onto the review.  the room was damp and a little chilly when we arrived so after some figuring out we turned on the gas fireplace to warm it up. ( It was left on all weekend to keep us warm).  It was a very cozy environment perfect place for 6 women to chill out.  The condo’s have a max of 6 people which some of us didn’t understand because if you share beds you could easily fit 10 people with the 4 beds and pull out couch.

Once we were unloaded we decided to head out and eat ahead of the meetings so we headed to the resort (main building) that houses 3 restaurants we wanted the quickest and least expensive so we headed to the Grill which is not very easy to locate it’s like a fair walk from the entrance and down more stairs ( there is an elevator for people with mobility issues)

It’s nice very typical of a bar and grill, nature inspired decor, booths and table and chairs pretty typical of most restaurants these days, It had this amazing gas fireplace that was not on and should of been because it was damp there as well.

The prices are pretty reasonable a little more pricier then the norm but nothing outrageous eg. fries were $5 for a serving and poutine was $8 so yeah they increased the prices a bit.  Appetizers were between 5 and $13, they had Salads, Entree’s priced between $15 and (actually don’t remember the highest price).  Also I didn’t take pictures of my food oops but we ordered A Chicken Dish with Couscous Risotto because I wanted to experiment, I mean not exposed to this kind of food very often.  It was okay mom and I split so we didn’t get the presentation factor that my friends got, but the dishes looked like the stuff you see on Masterchef or Top Chef very nicely done.  Our food was okay, not great a little too spicy for me and mom, and I don’t think that Couscous makes a nice risotto, but it filled the bill for filling us we paid $21 plus tip meal came up to $25.  So not bad for us.  The rest of my group loved their food, one ordered Veggie burger w/salad,  Israel Couscous Salad, Baked Brie w/Cranberry and Toasts, Chicken Fingers and Salad, Fish and Chips.  So a very nice variety indeed.

It was a little on the loud side wherever you went at the resort that weekend because we had the lovely experience of having a conference at the same time as a dance competition so we were surrounded by kids/teens and their parents/coaches running and dancing all around us in what some of us thought were little to no clothing.  Glad that we weren’t staying in the main building I am sure those people did not get the quiet nights we did.

So on Friday we had the opportunity to have some free time between meetings so we managed to walk over to the main building and try out the gym facilities again located a little out of the way.  It’s an okay arrangement it was pretty busy there.  They have treadmills, Elliptical, Rowing, Incumbent Bike, Stepper, A weight room and other stuff there was several pieces of equipment out of order and not a lot of room to do floor exercises with the provided flexibility balls.  I think my experience would have been different if it wouldn’t have been so busy (still self conscious).  But I did manage to do 15mins on the treadmill, work on the elliptical, Some other thing that worked my arms, Some floor work and then well I was tired I haven’t been working out like that in a long time.

Then we headed down to the pool which is gorgeous and surrounded with kids (thanks to the dance competition),  It’s beautiful and I am pretty sure it’s salt because I didn’t have the assaulting smell of chlorine in my nasal cavity and I was able to stay and enjoy it for a full 45mins with out any problems.

I tried the hot tub for 5 mins way too hot for me in fact I sat in it and immediately got lightheaded and had trouble breathing (so that is way too hot for anyone in my opinion).  Would have stayed longer but we were on a time crunch.

There is so much to do at the resort that I would really like to go back and experience more there is a spa, golf course, biking, hiking, and horseback riding.  Unfortunately this trip was very budget and most of their activities have an additional fee that is not included in your resort fee that you pay when you check in.

Our meetings were located in another building that was not within walking distance so we took the van to go there or we could have taken the shuttle.  Nice size room and the meals provided by the conference were upstairs from the meeting and yes again there is an elevator.  I didn’t partake in the meals but from what I saw there were pretty nice and my group had no complaints.

Our main gala on Friday night was located in the Thompson Ballroom and it was amazing it was beautiful and you felt like a princess which was the point.  It was set up elegantly and so special.  They had this amazing punch that was strawberry and something else set up at the back, they served it all and got offended when we tried to even get our own tea or coffee ( we kept being told that it’s their job to serve us), amazing staff.

Saturday the day we were leaving it finally decided to get sunny and warm, oh well so we had a chance to really see the grounds they are beautiful and there is so much to see and do the place is huge (hence the shuttle).  Just walked around and took in the beauty and took some pictures of the place definitely want to go back and just experience more of it.  Now onto the fun stuff the cost. (Keep in mind we had a discount from the conference so it’s a little more expensive then what we paid, in a group though very affordable).

We had the 3 bedroom condo ( Not the Large One) It cost us $713 for 2 nights (yeah I know sounds high but when you divide by 6 or 7 people it’s not bad.  This cost includes the resort fee and taxes the room originally started at $309 a night so there is a lot of additional charges attached but completely worth it.

We paid aprox around $60 or so a night each and on Friday night we had a 7th person so the cost went down even lower yeah.

We divided the cost of the gas so that was $25 each.

There was a conference fee that included the meals there were 2 options $200 paid for all the meals and the conference for Friday and Saturday.  $160 for the meals on Saturday and the conference. and what I paid was $100 for just the Gala and conference.

So my total cost for the weekend was

• $100 Conference & Gala
• $25 Gas
• $110.66

Total = $235.66 which is not bad for a weekend at Deerhurst completely affordable weekend for a group of women.

I hope to go again sometime this summer once I am back on my feet.  I completely enjoyed myself and it was a great treat.  Thanks Mom you were right!!

The only downside I found for me is the bed was just a little too hard for my liking other then that.  Great weekend.

Here are some pictures of our condo, and the resort.

Next post: The Conference.