Massanutten's Shenandoah Villas

I own week 32 (8.7.14.09), A&B lockoff. This was my first year there. MY FAMILY LOVED IT! We found the unit to be pleasantly sized, clean, well appointed, with no issues whatsoever...except when the propane tank became empty and the maintanance guy brought one over within 10 minutes of the call. The unit is about 3/4 up the mountain. The wildlife is cool- plenty of deer that come right up to the deck and not scarey. We lucked out with our unit as it backed up to trees in the back and one side, thus not being surrounded by others. The upgrades they made a few years back are evident (vinyl siding, new decks, paint, air conditioner kicks cool butt and roofs i think). I found the unit to be within 2 minutes of two of the three pools, ski lodge (shows, scrapbooking, tie die, chair lift ride) and MVOA (candy bag bingo- a can't miss for any five year old with a sugar tooth), mini-golf, go karts and a golf course. Most of the activities cost, but if THE MOUSE can charge for every littl thing, can't Massanutten? The costs aren't that bad for something to do with your kids and I don't think are that far off line from any boardwalk or amusement park. The kids enjoyed it all and cannot wait to go back next year; to be honest, neither can I. Well worth the purchase for my family. I did receive a call Monday morning about the survey- once they found out I was a new owner, they didn't push it and didn't call back thereafter. Some people did say they were offering $75 to keep the appointment and $125 to sit through it all (3 hours).

Stayed in april not much going on then. The unit was nice. The waterpark was expensive so we went to the pool instead. THe city harrisonburg has a tax on restaurants that is like 11% so eating out gets expensive really quick.

My stay was mostly pleasant, however, I must report abuse from the overly aggressive sales. Yes, I agree with the many reviews below which praise the goodness and beauty of Massanutten, but, Great Eastern Management has tainted your resort experience with a downright vicious and relentless sales approach. For those of you who value your time, steer clear of the "owner's update/tour" or the free sales breakfast/dinner. You will be offered $100 or so, but the sales staff will pressure you, nag you, and nearly drain your will to live until you either walk away or write a large enough check that satisfies the company's voracious & greedy business appetite.

I have to share a letter with you that was written after being conned by one of the staff at what is suppose to be the Massanutten parking pass desk. Exhausted from the long trip to this resort, I misunderstood the saleslady who is supposed to issue guests a parking pass. I handed the saleslady a payment for what I thought was the parking pass, later to find out it was a $20.00 charge for an invitation to breakfast. It's hard to believe, but yes, the "parking pass counter" will charge you $20.00 for an invitation to a sales breakfast. Buyer beware, do not trust the folks who are supposed to furnish you with your parking pass. The second you hear the check-in desk official tell you to go to the parking pass counter to acquire your pass, you need to mentally arm yourself with the confidence and resolve to strictly obtain your parking pass and accept nothing else from the salespeople. This is unless you have the time, patience, and nerves to endure their high-pressure sales presentation.

At Massanutten, they have a trained sales staff that tries to play on your emotions, and they will hit you with rebuttals when you try to leave or decline their timeshare sale. When I contacted the sales division to decline the sales presentation service altogether, I was not refunded the $20.00 payment. This denial of refund goes against the terms and conditions of VISA's contract with businesses, and VISA was the form of payment used for the transaction. My legal firm is assessing this situation to weigh all options and to determine how best to proceed. For the many vacation-goers who have had run-ins with this kind of scenario, I am with you and I pledge to share any information/results that may help you to avoid or remedy shady practices of this nature. For now, though, the email address for the sales lions at Massanutten is sales at massresort.com. If you run into something like this, or would just like to support the cause; you are urged to copy and paste the second paragraph of the below letter into an email to the sales staff. Together, we can stop what has become a lackluster experience at a pushy timeshare complex, and help restore it into a five star deluxe resort accommodation. Thank you.

Below is the letter written to the Massanutten sales dept. and shared with RCI/Redweek & others to express my displeasure with the sales approach:

[Today I write you to reiterate that I have declined your sales presentation service scheduled for Jan 19, 2009. My method of payment was with a VISA credit card number ending 3821. According to the VISA terms and conditions issued to both businesses and cardholders, any service that goes unfulfilled or unrendered is subject to a full refund. Since I have declined your sales presentation on the above listed date, I ask that you please credit my VISA card the full amount of $20.00 within three (3) business days. Failure to do so will result in my contacting VISA, RCI, and all other concerned entities and agencies to report this incident.

I also request in writing, that in the future I not be approached by any member of the Great Eastern/Massanutten sales staff with any offer to attend a sales meeting. I would like the parking pass and nothing else from parking pass officials. Please do not make liars out of the check-in staff who direct guests to the parking pass distributors only to be dealt an aggressive salesperson . As a customer, I feel that luring vacation-goers into an aggressive sales session by using the parking pass counter is an unethical and dishonest ploy. This tactic gives timeshare resorts a bad reputation. Please restore my pride in Massanutten ownership by reconsidering and changing this practice. Thank you for your cooperation.]

***NO MORE ABUSE from pushy, aggressive and unethical timeshare sales practices!! Enjoy your travels! de

UPDATE 2/9/09: VISA issued a full refund after reviewing the situation***

We stayed here for the first time over Christmas week at the Woodstone Measows. Units were nicely laid out and very clean. Area was beautiful - we saw some deer near the Golf Course Restaurant. Kids had their first sking lessons and throughly enjoyed themselves. Resort is less than 20 mins drive to Harrisonburg which has many big box stores and good selection of restaurants. Christmas dinner at the Fairways Restaurant was delicious. We liked so much that we purchased some of the new units planned for the Meadows area.

We loved staying here.............

We have been to this resort on several occassions and never have been disappointed.

Clean and friendly resort. We had plenty to do to keep us busy!!