I recently visited the Villa Roma for a bachelorette weekend. The resort is amazing, well maintained with great and friendly service. The surrounding area is beautiful with tons of great places to eat, drink, and play! We all had a blast that weekend!

Just got back our “Go To” place in the Catskills, Villa Roma! Our family which is very large had the best time ever with all activities with Doc Holiday. Our accommodations were very nice and the food was over the top. As we were told their was a new chef on property and I have to say each and every meal was over the top! Thanks for another great family and friends experience!

A conundrum located in the middle of nowhere (coming from folks who live on a dirt road!). The Villa Roma pushes that they are a “Cruise Ship on Land.” Let me say that they could learn a lot from the cruise industry and how to run a top notch ship style resort. We are still shaking our heads wondering why anyone would want to come here. There certainly is no money being put into the place to modernize it and bring it up to snuff. Most of the decor, especially the carpets and most furniture are original from the 1980’s!

CHECK IN: Staff was very friendly and answered all of our questions. We were given a booklet that included all the information regarding times of operation for the activities, nightly dinner menu, wrist bands, etc.

ROOM: Very easy to find. The doors are made out of steel and had many dents (most likely from luggage). Many of the doors did not seal, as you could see light through them. No insulation in the walls as you could hear everything from the hallway to the next door neighbor snoring. We were in a one bedroom suite, and the room could easily be converted into two rooms. Lots of unused space! The bathroom was nicely sized. The shampoo and conditioner that was provided were ineffective at best. Pillows (from JCPenney) were from the 80’s as well and very lumpy and uncomfortable. No safe in the room to put valuables. The phone kept showing that there was a message, but there was no index or any information whatsoever on the phone to tell us how to retrieve the message. There was a wet bar area with a mini fridge that included the leftovers from a previous guest that were moldy.

FOOD: It was great to be at the same table each time that we dined in the main dining room and to have the same waitstaff. Come with an empty stomach, as there is tons of food to be consumed! Our first night, we were looking for a drink and never once did a bar server come to our table. The second night they did come by. The food was just ‘okay’. We have cruised a number of times with a middle of the road cruise line and would say the food was a step below while volume was bordering on excessive - watching our wait staff clear plate after plate of half eaten food - we commented that we hope there is a nearby pig farmer!

POOL: We opted to take advantage of other outside activities during the day. At 4pm, there is hardly anyone at the pool and plenty of chairs to be had. There was a line at 8am forming for all the city folk who were looking to get the best chair. Life guards just taking up a chair, as many were painting their nails or on their phones instead of watching the pool. Don’t expect them to save you if you are drowning! Many people were bringing in their own alcohol in their coolers and putting it in their red solo cups. Very confusing to see information provided that indicated no alcohol allowed at the pool only to see a bar upon arrival there???? Again with the pool, it was maintained to absolute minimum standards in every way - far below what one would expect with the cost of a stay over $1k for 2 nights (family of 3). Our son did enjoy the waterslide.

STAFF: We did find that many of staff did not have name tags or a uniform that stated that they worked at the Villa Roma, however, they were running the activities (ie. zipline, go-karts, etc). We found many of the employees to not be interested in their jobs, especially the life guards and go-kart attendants! Not sure if they were somehow forced to work there but they obviously wanted to be elsewhere.

SUMMARY: The place left us in a complete conundrum. Why would so many well off folks from the city come to an at best mediocre place this far out in the woods??? We commented that we would love to hear Anthony Melchiorri’s (Hotel Impossible) thoughts on this place and perhaps he could help save it before the place deteriorates to a point where people stop coming.