Now is a nice time to right a review about Clevalands House, it has been a year since I have been and my parents just returned. I was married at Clevelands House. I have never seen a more beautiful wedding - not because it was my own. The view from the actual ceremony was stunning.

Jesse and Bob took care of everything on the day of the wedding. The wedding party, my family, nor myself had to worry about anything at all. We were given an itinerary of the day to look over about a week prior to the wedding, we made a few changes, returned it and then everything was in the hands of Cleveland House. It was extremely organized, but in a kind and empathetic way.

The food was outstanding. The rehearsal dinner was an outdoor BBQ with corn on the cob, hamburgers, sausages, salads, vegetable kabobs. The dinner at the wedding was unbelievalbe - we started off with a fall soup - best soup I have ever had. We followed that with a regular house salad. Our guests were given an option on their entree (striploin steak, alaskan trout, or chicken stuffed with goat cheese), and all were outstanding. I loved the steak with mashed potatoes, the steak had a wine/mushroom sauce on it and was cooked perfectly. For dessert we had creme brulee cheesecake, mmmmm!!

The dance was in the boathouse, which gave a fun vibe to it all. Afterwards we moved our bar to the beach and had a bonfire. That was really fun. Our musician played songs on guitar, and a guest/employee of the resort joined us and played guitar as well.

The lodging was incredible. The smell of pine in every room. I was able to stay in both the hotel above the dining facility - the room was exquisite because of the view of the hill and the lake. The cabin I stayed in was huge, beautiful, and right on the lake. I have nothing but good to say.

Jesse and Bob were the most helpful people in the service industry that I have ever met. They were excited for us, they were understanding, thoughtful, full of great ideas...they felt more like mind reading friends then anything else!!

I really couldn't have had a better time with my friends and family. I wish we could go back and do it all again just as a party!!

We are still talking about our nine days at Clevelands House. It's a great place to take a family with loads of activities and very friendly staff/management. Kids camp, boat rides, the lake, nightly entertainment, the workout room, and fitness classes. The food is wonderful, as usual. The nightly entertainment for family and adults is first-class.

We came home yesterday from an amazing week at Clevelands House! I'm not sure who was sadder to come home.. us or the kids!
The reviews on the hotel are rather mixed (happy I didn't read them before I went!) so I will give you my take on the resort.

This is a very family resort where the main attraction is the fact that the mom and dad (and gram and gramps) get to have lovely adult time while the kids are having a WICKED time in the kids camp! If you are looking for something a bit more "chi chi" (or where a kids club is not a neccessity/desire), go up the road to the Marriot. It is spectacular, new, posh, etc etc etc.

First impressions...... felt like we were walking onto the original set of Dirty Dancing! Very "cozy cottage" feeling, though could definitely use a facelift. That being said, everywhere we were was VERY clean and totally functional. How long do you really stay in your room, anyways? We had fabulous interactions with the staff. This place is about as unpretentious as it gets. Most staff are kids paying for university. I agree with one of the reviewers that service could have been a bit more "professional" at times, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the very chill vibe. Pool areas nice, beach great (with bonfire pit), tons of tennis courts, etc etc. Gym very functional, and access to great running/biking/hiking trails. Fun water park, though it is a bit pricey and feels like it should be included. Hubby and I loved it, but it was a bit too "old" for our 4 yr old. That being said, I did see other 4-5yr olds out enjoying it. Primarily a 10-12 and up adventure. The kids waterski program (additional cost) looked great and I think we will do that next year!

What we loved....
*the kids camp! Our 4yr old RAN every morning to camp, and was so excited to see all his friends and the counsellors. (The kids camp staff are AMAZING!) Even the 1yr old who has never been left before was willingly (and happily!) walking to her counsellor by day 3! The area is great (they keep it very clean!) with tons of variety, great programming, etc etc. The are super relaxed in terms of drop off/pick up. Officially the program runs from 9:45 to 4:30, but you can take your kids late or drop them off early. (though it may mean some serious negotiation to take them out early! It certainly was for us!)

*swim lessons - Every day after camp the lifeguards offer swim lessons. FAB price - $15/30min for a 1 on 1 session. We signed our son up for 6 days.... it was easily his favorite part of the whole week. Alex was amazing - he knew when to push and when to ease off, and he accomplished so much in the week! It was awesome to see our son progress!

*hallsitting. In the main hotel, the north lodge, and one other building there is a complimentary hallsitting service. What is that? Every night from 9-midnight a staff member (generally someone from the kids program) hangs out in the hallway of the hotel (1/floor). You leave them your monitor and cell number, and you are free to enjoy the resort ! If your kids are crying the hall monitor will call you/text you. We went to the resort bar a few nights, played shuffleboard, and enjoyed a late night bonfire with friends. If you want to leave the resort you have to have a babysitter ($12/hour) - also a staffer from the kids program. very easy to get, and super reliable.

*Rick the bellhop - I hope he will be working again next summer, because he was so terrific! Not only did he help me carry all my bags (I arrived with 2 kids and all the baggage the day before hubby), but also searched out wine glasses for us, entertained our group with stories of the staff summer party plans (oh.... to be 20 again!), and also worked ridiculously hard to find us marchmellows for us when we had the bonfire (side note - bring your own, or make sure to get to the nearby general store by 9pm!). His hard work and fabulous manner were great!

*dining room atmosphere. I said ATMOSPHERE, not the food - I will get to that in a second. But, on a very positive note, the dining room is SO kid friendly. High chair or boosters as you need, same server and table spot for every meal, no one cares if your kid is crying. All the servers seem to figure out what you want, and try to have it set perfectly for you each time. For example, our breakfast table was always ready with bowls of fresh blueberries and strawberries and vanilla yogurt at each setting, and our server was at the table within seconds with fresh coffee. We take cream in our coffee, so he made sure that the little creamer bowl was full of creams, and no 2%milks. Little personal touches that went a long way! (Thanks Daljinder!)
The best part? NO CLEANING UP AFTER DINNER! They have a crazy vacuum that picks absolutely everything off the floors after each meal, and I think they may also wash the carpet 1x/week. So amazing not to have to worry about my 1yr old dumping her entire plate of food on the floor.

*the spa - we enjoyed great services, and also had the guilt free time away from kids to do it!

What we didn't love...
Not too much to mention, as we really enjoyed our stay. The only area where improvement really must be made is in the quality of the food. It was certainly edible, and there were a few good meals, but certainly nothing was a "wow". Also, I found the menu lacking in "healthy" foods. I get that trying to feed adults and kids off the same menu can be a challenge, but there must be better options that "grilled cheese on white bread served with fries". I know that always works, but even having the option of whole wheat breads, pastas, etc would go a long ways to improving mealtime. Same for the camp. My son certainly never complained, but as a parent I would have preferred there were healthier options for them in the camp. (ie. not having a sugar filled freezie everyday for snack. There are many more nutritious but equally yummy options.)

That being said, we are ready to go next year, and are eagerly looking fwd to seeing our "Cleves Friends" soon!

We just spent a 4 day 36 person family reunion at Clevelands House. The great part was the kids camp which for the most part was very well done. The grounds were nice and lots of tennis courts and well kept pools, hot tub etc. The "pirate cruise" was a great success.
The dock side bar and restaurant "Dukes" was very good with great music at night.
The dining room food was the ugly part. Eggs not cooked properly, poor tasting pancakes, lacking in vegetables. We had one dinner meal with consisting only of corn, potatoes and chicken. What vegetables there were were often over or under cooked. I had sliced potatoes with my ham that were cooked on the outside and entirely not cooked in the center. I have to say I was shocked and disappointed at the consistently poor food - excepting the roast beef which was very good. The only saving grace was the person serving us "Andrew" was excellent. He tri3ed to get things right for us. The ugly was 2 specific problems. My youngest daughter has irriatable bowel syndrome has to have a gluton free diet. We can only conclude the chef has never had any training on gluten free because they kept trying to give her things that had wheat in them or were totally none nutricious.. The other problem was with our middle daughter who had her three children with her one of who is 10 months old and no longer breast feeding. Well the cottage she was in had no cooking facilities - no stove - no sink, no micro wave, no kettle. Howe the heck was she supposed to get her baby bottle ready and afterwards cleaned? I felt so sorry for her because her husband had a business commitment and couldn't come and she was trying to cope with all of this. The last straw was her baby was sick and when she took him to the dining are and needed to bring him in in the stroller so he would be able to sleep the fellow at the door said we could bring the stroller in even in this one situation. My daughter was so upset and finally a night manager was contacted and allowed the stroller in. What a hassel.
We also asked for a hospitality room for the family and got a large meeting room with you guessed it meeting room chairs and tables - no sofas or nice chairs..
So I can't say for sure all this will happen to you. I can also say our entire group
agreed the kids area was terrific and the food was terrible. Personally I wouldn't
go back. I recommend Montebello.
Sincerely Scott