Tyler Place Family Resort

By far the best family vacation we’ve ever had. We had plenty of family time as well as time with just my husband and myself. It was nice to be able to socialize with other adults without having to scream at 2 three-​year-​olds to stop fighting and not to touch things. We loved it so much we’re going again this year. It is a beautiful place with great accommodations wonderful food amazing activities and the best part was great people that we have now become friends with that live all over the country and even out of the country. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great family vacation where you don’t feel like you need another vacation once you get back from your vacation.

I have to agree with Ann J. on her review. We have stayed at other family camps since our stay at TP and been much happier. I consider myself an extrovert, but this made a sorority rush week seem like a piece of cake. With so many repeat customers it is very difficult to break in. People are pleasant to you, but there is definitely a ‘type’ of person that likes this place and fits in – but I honestly can’t figure out what it is — it is very clubby as Ann described. At other camps, they give you assigned seating for dinner to mix it up and then you sit wherever you like for breakfast and lunch. At TP, every single meal was as Ann described. You either sit by yourselves, or I feel like I’m setting up a dinner date every night with other couples whom I barely know. We went to the evening social hours, we participated in the activities, but just didn’t click with but 1 or 2 couples. And new people have just 2 – 3 days to get assimilated before the cliques are already formed. I want to relax, I don’t want to have to think about who I’m going to sit with and have to be ‘on’ all the time, yet I want to enjoy conversation with other adults.
As my then 7 year old said, this is not a family vacation because we are never together as a family. I actually got into quite a heated discussion with one of the older family member owners who chastised me when I allowed my 5 year old child to come into the buffet area at breakfast to choose what he wanted to eat. This after seeing other families do it for 3 or 4 mornings in a row. Be consistent. Kids are not allowed to eat with their parents, and they are sent off to ‘camp’ for 8+ hours of the day, with a break mid afternoon. My 5 year old extrovert cried on the 3^rd day of camp, saying she didn’t want to go back. We were stunned, as that had NEVER happened on any activity, with any sitter, ever. To be fair, when we mentioned it to the counselor, they did try and reach out to our child. Evenings are filled with drunken fests when parents ‘hire’ sitters (who are the staff who watch them all day) to watch their kids.
We had an okay time, the accommodations were disappointing (we stayed in the inn) and had bugs all over our screened porch – we couldn’t really use it at night because all the bugs came flying in). My first night there, I got 3 spider bites from standing next to the trampoline, and when I brought it to the attention of the front desk, they didn’t really seem to care that there were spiders all over the trampoline where my kids would be playing.
I thought I needed a break from the kids for a week and I thought that them being able to have their own summer camp experience right along with us would be great. I actually missed my kids and as my family (kids included) looks back on our week at TP, we definitely are glad to have tried it, but I really have to wonder if the travel writers who continually list Tyler Place as this amazing family camp have ever actually stayed at TP, or just read the reviews, or might even come for a site visit, but there are sooo many other amazing family camps out there, but between TP and all the ‘lists’ of family camps out there, you would think that TP provides a one of a kind vacation… there are so many other family camps out there. Keep looking if you want to actually vacation WITH your family. Other camps that are often listed with TP, are nothing like TP…

Not my cup of tea. There are a lot of things this place does well (food, independence for kids, great activities), but if you are looking to spend time with your kids or enjoy accommodations nicer than your cousin’s waterlogged basement, go elsewhere.
There is a lot of mandatory segregation of parents and children. The kids are in a day camp from before breakfast until after dinner, except for a couple of hours in the afternoon. We would have loved to have this as an *option*, but with busy work schedules, etc. we don’t get to see our kids a lot at home and were hoping to connect with them more during the trip. It felt like we were on a completely different vacations. Kids can’t eat in the regular/​adult dining room, so if you want to eat with your family you are busted down to cheerios and chicken fingers in the small room that allows mixed-​age dining.
This place does a ton of repeat business. Whole extended families come for generations. During our visit we were one of a handful of families with no previous connection to the resort. That might sound like evidence they are doing things right, but it results in a clubby atmosphere. This is especially true at mealtimes, which can feel excruciatingly like a high school cafeteria. There is no other option to eat (unless you leave the property), and no formal seating arrangements, so many times during the week you will find yourself awkwardly asking if there is free space at a table full of people who are laughing at twenty-​year-​old in-​jokes. I am not normally socially anxious in any way, but having to do this at every meal for a week was wearing. TP attracts a country club/​chattering class demographic: hearty 19^th-​hole backslappers, women who organize boarding-​school auction galas, npr/​pbs producers, university professors, lobbyists. This is not an environment for the conversationally meek. Introverts, you have been warned. Do not expect diversity of any kind.
Lastly, the price is way out of line for the accommodations provided. Our room had peeling Eisenhower-​era wallpaper, stained fixtures in the bathroom, mismatched linens, ancient shag carpet, a hodge-​podge of Salvation Army furniture. Every morning there was a crust of dead bugs on the bathroom sink. I get it: it’s like driving in a rusted-​out BMW 2002, so exclusive in its decrepitude that only the gauche dare point it out. Well, I’m pointing. Despite being one of TP’s more expensive rooms, it is several clicks below any chain motel, and frankly insulting given the nearly $ 7k we spent for a week here.

Great place — great way to vacation with kids. We loved the people, the service, the food and activities. Can’t think of a better way to spend a week of vacation when you have young kids.