Overnight Getaway – The Abbey Resort

Want a great deal on The Abbey Resort? Purchase a stay on Living Social for only $109 for two people for a weekday stay, or $258 for a 2-night weekend stay, plus perks! This deal is only available on Living Social for 12 more days (from the date of this post).

Location: 269 Fontana Blvd, Fontana, WI

Phone: 800-709-1323

Parking: There is a large attached parking lot. Free valet parking is available.

Check in & check out: Check in is at 4:00 pm, and check out is at noon.

Price: Prices vary based on date and room type, but start at about $149/night on a weekday and $219/night on weekends. There is an additional $12 fee added to the room price for the amenities and activities.

Accommodations: 

• Guest rooms – Plush pillows and pillow top mattress, beamed or vaulted ceilings, a high definition flat screen television, in-room wireless high speed internet access, in-room safe, nautically inspired light fixtures and art work adorning the walls, adjoining outdoor patio or balcony

• Suites – Beamed or vaulted ceilings, spacious living area complete with two sleeper sofas, plush pillows and pillow top mattresses, wall mounted high definition flat screen television, ample countertops and extra bar sink, expansive bathrooms, outdoor patio or balcony, in-room safe, CD clock radio, in-room high speed wireless internet, nautically inspired light fixtures and art work adorning the walls
• Villas – A full kitchen and dinette, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with plush pillows and comfy mattresses, spacious living area with outdoor patio, access to the private villa outdoor pool

Bathrooms: There are public bathrooms available throughout the hotel.

Nursing: There are no designated nursing areas, but there are several couches and comfortable places to sit throughout the resort.

Handicapped/stroller accessibility: The resort is accessible.

Food:

• Fontana Grill – serves breakfast and dinner and reservations can be made online

• The Waterfront – open for lunch and dinner and reservations can be made online

• Cafe Latte – serves Starbucks beverages, muffins, and pastries
• The Helm – a cocktail lounge with live entertainment open on Friday and Saturday evenings
• Gazebo Grille – serves snacks, burgers, and sandwiches poolside; open based on seasonal occupancy demands and weather conditions
• Room service is available

Entertainment/activities:

• Avani Spa – a 35,000 square-foot facility offering massages, aromatherapy, facials, wraps, saunas, and a full service salon, as well as a pool complex and fitness center. Information about spa treatments, salon services, the fitness center, and spa packages are available online.

• Abbey Arcade – video games, billards, and air hockey

• Solarium Way – a hallway of games like Jenga, Scrabble, and Connect Four

• Indoor pool – a pool, hot tub, and kids pool

• Outdoor pools – two separate gated pools – one for adults only (with a hot tub), and one for families (with a pool, a zero depth kiddie pool, and a hot tub)

• Rainbow Point – a children’s activity area offering crafts, games, and activities at designated times
• Fireside S’Mores – S’mores are available at the Waterfront patio in winter months and at the bonfire pit during warmer weather

• Children’s Programs – Kid Kapades and Kids Night Out & Breakaway are available at an additional cost for kids ages 4-13. Babysitting services are also available. Two weeks advance notice is strongly suggested for these services.
• Marina – Slip rentals, boat rentals, ski school, parasailing, and more is available at the marina.

Specials & packages: The Abbey Resort offers Spa Packages, Romance Packages, and Family Packages. You can sign up to receive notifications of special offers by email.

Parties & events: Weddings, meetings, and events can be arranged.

Additional amenities:

• Wifi is available in the rooms and public areas of the resort.
• Passes for Fontana Beach are available at the front desk for a deposit.
• Bikes and bike trailers are available to borrow at no cost.

We paid: We received a complimentary 2-night stay at The Abbey Resort. Our room would have cost approximately $300 for the 2 nights. We also spent money in the arcade, restaurants, and on outings during our stay.

Our experience:

We did a mid-week visit to The Abbey in August. The Abbey is located in Fontana, but it is actually on Lake Geneva. It’s about 20 minutes from downtown Lake Geneva and there is a shuttle to take you back and forth.

We arrived a bit early for check-in. The front desk staff was great and they were able to get into our room right away. We got a copy of the weekly schedule which included the dining options at the resort and all the special events and acitivites going on each day. The room was very nice with 2 king beds and had a shared outdoor balcony. We had a table and chairs, a fairly large bathroom, and a large tv.

After lounging in the room for a bit we went the Rainbow Point for the “Twisted Balloon Creations” and “Open Playtime” listed on the activity schedule. According to The Abbey website, Rainbow Point is a kids room where activities are held and kids can do crafts. In the hallway outside Rainbow Point there were two young (possibly teenage) employees with balloons who appeared to be practicing making balloon animals (and discussing how a balloon should be twisted for a certain animal). When we arrived they were sitting in the hallway outside the Rainbow Point room (which was closed and dark) and they did not say anything to us or the kids. Because of this, we assumed maybe they were trainees waiting for someone else to arrive so we stood there, awkwardly, for several minutes until finally the girl offered Dexter a balloon animal. Cooper got a balloon too and we left. We didn’t get invited into the Rainbow Point room and there didn’t appear to be any “open playtime”.

Afterwards, we went out for dinner in Lake Geneva. The free valet parking was very convenient and the valets were very pleasant and polite. After dinner we returned to The Abbey and took the kids to the indoor pool for the “Flick n’ Float” movie, A Bug’s Life. The kids liked the movie and the pool wasn’t too crowded. Since the movie didn’t start until 8:00 pm, we didn’t make it through the whole thing – the kids were cold and tired so we went back to the room (where they fell asleep almost immediately!).

On our second day we visited Fontana Beach, which is within walking distance of the resort. We got beach passes at the front desk for a $20 deposit. There were snacks and beach items (buckets, shovels, etc) available for purchase and the bathrooms were very nice and clean. The beach was large and had a lifeguard on duty during the day and it was not very crowded.

In the evening we went to the bonfire for some s’mores. Cooper and Dexter played with some other kids while John and I sat by the fire and we ate yummy s’mores. Again, it was a bit late since we had to wait for sundown so the boys fell asleep pretty quickly when we got back to the room.

The last morning of our stay we planned to have breakfast at Fontana Grill, but Dexter wasn’t feeling very well. I got pastries and drinks from the Cafe to bring back to the room for John and Dexter while Cooper and I went to Fontana Grill. I expected the prices to be a bit high, but it was actually very reasonable. The kids menu was pretty good and Cooper ordered a fruit smoothie, and an egg breakfast that came with fruit. At a lot of restaurants you get a bowl of melon or whatever they happen to have a lot of, but there was actually several different types of fruit. I ordered the eggs benedict (but I order it with regular bacon rather than Canadian bacon). Cooper and I both really enjoyed our food and the price was very good – only $8 for my breakfast, $5 for Cooper’s, and $3 for Cooper’s smoothie.

By the time breakfast was over Dexter was feeling much better so we headed to the outdoor family pool. Beach balls, inner tubes, water guns, and other pool toys were available at the pool. Cooper loved the water slide (as long as Daddy caught him at the bottom), and liked floating around in the deeper pool with an inner tube. Dexter preferred to wade around in the shallower zero-entry pool. After an hour or so it was time to go back to the room to pack up.

 

 

The Abbey was a great place to stay I hope to get a chance to return in the future.

Things I didn’t like:

• Rainbow Point wasn’t all I hoped. It was closed the entire time we were there, even when it was supposed to be open for playtime, and the employees we encountered that did the children’s activities were not very engaging.

Things I did like:

• The food we had was delicious and reasonably priced.
• There were lots of activities on the schedule, including the flick n’ float, bonfire, pool games (which we didn’t attend). Lots of places reserve activities for weekends, but there was plenty to do on weekdays at The Abbey.
• Free valet parking and free shuttle service.

My suggestions:

• Book a spa service if you can. I wasn’t able to on this trip, but the spa looks heavenly. Check out The Abbey magazine in your room when you check in; when we stayed there was a coupon in it for a discount on spa services.
• Check out the schedule as soon as you check in. There were a lot of fun activities going on and we were able to fit everything we wanted to do into our schedule.

We received a complimentary stay at The Abbey Resort to facilitate this review. The Living Social link is an affiliate link. All opinions are my own.