The Summit at Massanutten

I just rented two units for a week for 8 adults (6 seniors) and 2 children. The place is designed for family fun with tube riding, zip lining, miniature golf, and, of course, the water park. The children and their parents partook in all of it, and some very senior adults even did the zip lining. It was fun!

We used it as a base of operations and visited Luray Caverns, Monticello, Montpelier, and 4 of the many vineyards they have in the area. The ladies took an afternoon to go antique shopping (the men declined). A couple of drawbacks to be aware of. The mountain view units did not have disabled access, so if you are traveling with someone who needs that, make sure you arrange for it. The check in was slowwww. We arrived at 3:15, check in was scheduled for 4, and our upstairs unit was not ready until 6:45. The units were large and comfortable, and we didn't have any trouble sleeping in the king size bed.

Do NOT sign up for the sales pitch to get free water park passes or Massanutten dollars. The woman who was assigned to us was agressive, obnoxious, and sometimes insulting. The "pitch" lasted for 3 hours and in my opinion, the units are overpriced. Why buy a unit when you can rent one from an owner through Redweek?

Other than that, we had a good time, but we are glad we weren't there when the earthquake happened!

Our family is just finishing our stay in one of the two bedroom lower units. We rented the unit from an owner on Redweek.

The entire unit was very large and immaculate. The king bed was great and our 3 kids had plenty of room with the two twin beds and pull out sleeper sofa. Our unit was never more than a few minutes' drive from any of the resort amenities (indoor/outdoor pools, recreation center, mini golf, go karts, playgrounds, etc.). The resort itself is only a few minutes from the Water Park. We've been there before during a shorter stay when only the indoor section was open. The outdoor section is equally fun. Our kids could not get enough of the lily pad "water bridge" (you'll see what I mean). The wave pool was great fun, too, as were the giant outdoor slide, all of the indoor slides and the wave board ride.

I would recommend getting a 3-Day pass to the Water Park rather than the 6-Day pass, though you do get 3 extra days for less than a 1-Day pass by purchasing the 6-Day pass. It's just that after a few hours, the kids were wiped out. We would go ealry, leave when they got tired and grab something to eat, then go back again in the late afternoon. But they also enjoyed all the activities at the resort - especially the indoor pools and diving boards. I think a 3-Day pass gives you plenty of time to enjoy everything without feeling like you have to go to the Water Park to make the pass worthwhile. Also, don't buy food at the Water Park - it's ridiculously expensive (though obviously more convenient if you're hungry and not ready to leave).

We also went to Luray Caverns. That was fun and educational - kids and adults both had a good time. It's a 40 minute drive from the resort and it doesn't take much longer than that to go through the caverns, so it's not something that will take a whole day. I wouldn't waste your money on the garden maze, though. From the car, going through the entire maze with 3 kids, buying ice cream and returning to the car, it only took 25 minutes. It cost was $19 and would have been $25 if our daughter was one year older. Even at the reduced price, it's just not worth it. The "prize" for finding the 4 "clues" in the maze is a coupon for $1 off a t-shirt, hat or poster in the gift shop. Our maze experience was underwhelming at best. We've been through other mazes near where we live and on other vacations, so it's not that we just don't like them. This one just wasn't that interesting in our opinion.

Nonetheless, the entire family had a great time and we'll definitely be back again in the future. I would highly recommend this resort for families or anyone looking to have a relaxing, fun time. It's also great if you love wildlife - we saw deer all over the place almost every day. There was also the occasional groundhog and other smaller animals. The trash receptacles are bear-proof, but we never saw a bear (for which I personally am very grateful). Definitely bring a camera - the deer are very used to people and you can get pretty close to take great shots of them.

The only negative comment I would make (the garden maze notwithstanding) concerns the limited kitchen. Because we rented a lower unit, there isn't a stove or oven - just a microwave and a grill on the deck. We knew that ahead of time and came prepared. However, the microwave was not very good. It would stop rotating in the middle of cooking which made it difficult to time things properly. We burned several bags of popcorn before deciding to just buy popcorn at Food Lion. But honestly, the microwave issue was a minor annoyance at best. We never even bothered complaining about it, though we will let the staff know at check-out.

Anyway, if you're considering staying here, we highly recommend this resort. This comes from a family of 5: mom, dad and 3 kids (ages 12, 8 and 5). The next time we visit, we're going to rent an entire upper and lower unit so that my mom, brother and niece can come, too. Based upon what we've told them already, they can't wait until next year!

For a family reunion, we booked four two-bedroom units at The Summit at Massanutten 88U, 88L, 131U, and 205U (two as owners and two through RCI). All were clean and in good working order. (One of the toilets was continually running in two of the units, but the problems were quickly solved by a slight adjustment. There were no other issues.) The U units were upper units with a full kitchen. The L units are lower units with no stove but with a grill on the balcony. The U units had better views. Each set of one U unit and one L unit share a washer and dryer, which was downstairs in the hallway.

We arrived at 5 pm and had no wait to register. (The resort was offering a financial incentive to arrive after 7 pm, so the earlier registration period had few people.) After registration, we were sent to the parking pass desk, where they tried to get us to attend a sales presentation. After several attempts, they accepted my decision not to attend. (They also called a couple times during the week to try to persuade us, but then gave up.) Except for the pools, almost everything had an additional cost. We didn’t find the activity discount card to be worth purchasing. Our kids (7 & 11 year old boys) particularly enjoyed the waterpark and the go-karts. They took the Flowrider lesson and enjoyed it a lot.

Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s home) is about an hour away in Charlottesville, and Luray Caverns is about 45 minutes away. We enjoyed both. Our boys really liked Luray Caverns and didn’t complain at Monticello.

We love Massanutten. We have stayed at several of the Summit properties. Although several are called Summit, there is the original, Grenoble Woods, Hillside, and a few more, AND they are different. I believe they are assigned by check-in day. Grenoble Woods is a Friday and is awesome with fantastic views. Hillside is on the same road as the Mountainside Villas, still has great views but a strange layout. There is a small deck in front by the door facing the parking for the upper unit only. Both units have a rear deck with the views. BUT, you have to go through the master bed to reach it. That is great if you are in the master but not so great if someone else is and is still asleep when you want to sit outside. Also, on the lower deck the grill is on the balcony, but it seems really strange to me to carry my food through the bedroom to cook.

The units themselves have all the amenities one needs for the week, spa tub, and fireplace. Now there is free wireless!!!!

The property is amazing. We do not buy the activity card at nearly $100 each plus still fees for some activities, just with a discount. For a family of four, we have never used up that much in activities. This spring we did lots of smaller activities (one game golf, candy bag bingo, go kart, faquet ball, pool tables ) and water park and did just fine with our budget.

The main pool is very large so there is lots of water activities, and indoor/outdoor hot tubs. It is in the rec center that has coin pool tables, arcade, but Basketball court is free and so is the pool and raquet ball is free to reserve and only $2 for the goggles and raquet. For 4 of us we usually split the hour and only spend $4.

Lots of hiking opportunities, even just nice walks around the property. There are two fishing ponds where we have actually seen fish jump but never caught one. Lots and lots of deer. Nice to see but be careful driving.

A true favorite of ours.

Prices are very reasonable here for everything, anyone who says otherwise must not travel much. We've stayed at resorts from Canada to the Dominican Republic and this is by far the best value, and with the most things to see and do of any of them. The units are very nice, no complaints there, not the most upscale I've stayed in, but very comfortable and relaxing, with anything you could need. Units with full kitchen have everything you would have at home and partial kitchens are only missing an oven. All units are being refurbished over the next few years with just about all new everything right down to the kitchen cabinets! Checkin is fast and easy even on busy weekends. We've been there for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Presidents week when the kids are out of school and always gotten right in with no wait, and they have the nicest people working there. We own here and at a dozen other resorts and this is our favorite. We have had minor problems but you get those anywhere, things break, that's life, but the staff has always fixed anything immediately and on our schedule. We wish they took pets, but there is a great kennel (Wayworn Pet Kennel) we use when we go and it's right across the street. Yes, some activities are busier than others and can fill up but that's just a testament to how popular they are. If you can't get your first choice, then try one of the other 165 different activities they offer every week. We found Massanutten by accident through RCI and have been glad we did ever since! If you take the "tour" those sales people get paid commission only, so they will try to sell you, but no one forces you to go if you don't want the $100. We usually take the tour, say no, get our $100 and leave in 90 minutes, afterall, it isn't a prison and I'm willing to sit there for $66 and hour. Go, enjoy, repeat.