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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach
Did you love/hate your Pesach Program in a Hotel?
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amother


 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 8:15 pm
While there is iyh another full year to Pesach, we are thinking of Iyh going away next year and I was wondering.....if you went away, which Hotel/program did you go to? How much did it cost? How was the room/suite, Program, Day camp, food, service, cleanliness, type of crowd, and would you do it again??

Thanks!!
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passaicmom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:18 pm
I am still in Lancaster it was great. My MIL took our family I think it was $10400 for my family to have 2 rooms (5 kids) plus a few hundred more for tips. Our rooms were nice enough we had the larger rooms that were well worth the upgrade. My 3 year old and 7 year old had a great time in the camp program. The food was good and kept on coming. The crowd was a mix. After the first Seder I told my husband I am doing this every year, it was so nice to not have to do all the work and to just enjoy all time with our family.
I added the zero sorry


Last edited by passaicmom on Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ChutzPAh




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:21 pm
passaicmom wrote:
I am still in Lancaster it was great. My MIL took our family I think it was $1400 for my family to have 2 rooms (5 kids) plus a few hundred more for tips. Our rooms were nice enough we had the larger rooms that were well worth the upgrade. My 3 year old and 7 year old had a great time in the camp program. The food was good and kept on coming. The crowd was a mix. After the first Seder I told my husband I am doing this every year, it was so nice to not have to do all the work and to just enjoy all time with our family.


You mean $1400 a person? There's no way a family of seven can go to a hotel for the entire pesach for $1400
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MamaBear




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:23 pm
Ha! Just looked up Lancaster because I was in shocked....she must have gotten some deal and it was per person anyhow. Look at the rates....the 2 bedroom is advertised at $8500 for the week

http://www.pesachinlancaster.com/#!pricing/cg5q
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MamaBear




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:23 pm
Plus an additional 20% tax added to that plus tips so more, too
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Apr 22 2014, 9:25 pm
passaicmom wrote:
I am still in Lancaster it was great. My MIL took our family I think it was $1400 for my family to have 2 rooms (5 kids) plus a few hundred more for tips. Our rooms were nice enough we had the larger rooms that were well worth the upgrade. My 3 year old and 7 year old had a great time in the camp program. The food was good and kept on coming. The crowd was a mix. After the first Seder I told my husband I am doing this every year, it was so nice to not have to do all the work and to just enjoy all time with our family.
Do you mean $14,000?
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willow




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 6:48 am
1400? It is cheaper then we made at home
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cbg




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 9:05 am
The original post says $10,400
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 9:47 am
editing is amazing

-0- when zero is an exorbitant amount
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 9:57 am
We went to the Ramada in Jerusalem. around $5,000 for two adults and one child.

The food was amazing, and plenty. I can imagine that's what a top rate cruise would be like. The customer service was above and beyond helpful, and the rooms were nice, with a tiny merpeset. Separate hours for men and women at the indoor pool, with a steam and dry sauna. The outdoor pool was mixed, and there's a toddler playground and grassy area for play.

The downside - the seder was crowded, and so loud you couldn't hear the person sitting next to you screaming in your ear. I've been to rock concerts that were more sedate. Kids running loose everywhere, parents didn't care. Lots of really rich people with snooty entitlement attitudes. Some of their behavior made me embarrassed to be Jewish. I really wanted to tell our Arab waiters that "we're not ALL like that". embarrassed

The hotel advertized activities for all ages up through teens, but the truth was there was nothing for anyone over 7. DD (10) was really unhappy about that. There were few girls here age there, and none of them spoke much English, so she didn't have much to do except swim. The hotel also advertized free wifi, but when we got there they charged, and it didn't even work right. Several people were furious about the fees, and some people (including us) had our computers crash trying to deal with the weird signal.

Over all, it was an interesting experience, but I'll be perfectly happy to have my small, intimate seders in my own home from now on. We just don't do crowds well, so it's not worth it for us.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 11:23 am
My friends went to Bulgaria. If you want I can ask?
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amother


 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 12:25 pm
We went to the Gateways program at the Stamford Hilton. One word: phenominal. There was the right mix of ruchnious and gashmious(high quality food, late night hot milchig buffets after Shabbous and the first days after yom tov, lavish tea room). There were approx. 4 time slots each day of speakers, 2-3 speakers per time slot. It was like candy for the neshomah. Often couldn't make up my mind which shiur to go to. As for the camp, my children are older so didn't go to camp. However, I did observe that the campers were happy and were kept busy. There was a trip to Great Adventures on Chol Hamoed and a carnival. The guests were down to earth and friendly. It was $3000 a person for a double room.
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pesek zman




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 1:57 pm
overthehill wrote:
So gateways was 3000 a person, and Lancaster was like 1500 a person. Wow! Anyone have any other places/input? Thanks Ruchel but we don't want to travel so far!


Lancaster is NOT 1500 a person!! The woman who went to lancaster had 2 rooms total for 7 people (5 kids) Kids, especially 5 in one room, are often less per person
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MamaBear




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 2:31 pm
So you'd still have to clean (but you can hire help for that)....has anyone ever catered all of Pesach at home? Obviously, there's a range in terms of price....but even if you went all out, what would it cost compared to a hotel?
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pesek zman




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 2:39 pm
MamaBear wrote:
So you'd still have to clean (but you can hire help for that)....has anyone ever catered all of Pesach at home? Obviously, there's a range in terms of price....but even if you went all out, what would it cost compared to a hotel?


I've been going to hotels for pesach for 20+ years. There is no doubt that it's expensive and a luxury. However, to me, it's not a weeklong vacation, it's month long vacation. The entire month before pesach, those who stay home (even if they hire help and get takeout) are busy with pesach prep. BH going away savesr from that. It's expensive and who is to say if it's 'worth it' but it's more than paying for the food and entertainment. You pay for peace of mind (before as well as during)
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Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 2:45 pm
superdanni wrote:
I've been going to hotels for pesach for 20+ years. There is no doubt that it's expensive and a luxury. However, to me, it's not a weeklong vacation, it's month long vacation. The entire month before pesach, those who stay home (even if they hire help and get takeout) are busy with pesach prep. BH going away savesr from that. It's expensive and who is to say if it's 'worth it' but it's more than paying for the food and entertainment. You pay for peace of mind (before as well as during)


You can hire help to clean your house for pesach as well. Obviously there is still food and other stuff to be bought but those who go away also have to pack and shop.
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MaBelleVie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 3:18 pm
No matter how much help you hire, pesach cleaning is still a pretty big stress. But I can definitely see the appeal of staying home (my preference by far) PLUS having all the food catered so no work beyond heating things up and setting the table (with disposables of course!). I'm sure it's still far cheaper than $2000+ pp.
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ectomorph




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 3:21 pm
My husband and I were at family, but we did figure out how much it would cost if we stayed at home and took out every single meal including breakfast and did no cooking whatsoever (like the food available in hotels)... it came out to $3-400 less than a hotel. Granted, we live in an area where there is only one choice for takeout which is expensive... but frankly if we didn't have the time/energy to deal with cleaning, it's totally worth it to go to a hotel.
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MamaBear




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 3:46 pm
Airfare is another factor if you don't live near a program...then taxis etc
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amother


 

Post Wed, Apr 23 2014, 4:07 pm
I went to Pesach for less- don't remember the total cost and included a child but it was definitely less then 2,000 per person- I think the total was less then 4,000. It was significantly less then every other hotel we looked in to. I can understand paying more for something like gateways that you get inspiration.

Otherwise if we go away we will probably go back there. Personally if there's any way to pull it off without me not "handling it"- my husband and I both prefer being in a home. Regardless of the program. This year it made sense for us to go away hopefully next year I will be able to handle making it home.
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