Getaway Eastern Catskills Campground - Castle Road — Attraction in Town of Catskill

DISCLAIMER: We stayed at Getaway Catskills East (new location), but it is not available for review on Google yet (I can see why based on our experience). This review is not reflective of the Staff themseleves, because they were very helpful, but of the experience as a whole.

Ok... So very first thing when we checked in, we noticed there was a "BOIL WAER NOTICE" above the sink with the potential of microbes in the water. It said we couldn't use the fresh water in the cabin to brush teeth, wash dishes, wash hands, etc because their freshwater system was not complete yet (the notice was dated 1/13/2020, over a week before we were due to check in). We had to boil all our water before using which was a major inconvenience. Why did the staff neglect to tell us this before we arrived? I really don't know.

Second, the TOILET!!! First of all, when we checked in, there was PEE in the toilet, so someone had used it before we arrived and maintenance had not checked that. We looked past that, but then horror happened...This is a chemical, all in one system type toilet, we get it. It's not high tech, but we only flushed twice (apparently you get about 15 flushes before it has to be serviced). I took a shower later that night, and then the shower wasn't draining...fine, maybe just have to wait a little. I go to the toilet later in the night to flush, and it just wont flush...AND then, all of a sudden, the water filled shower started filling up with DIRTY TOILET WATER! DISGUSTING! Texted the staff around 8:00PM and they said maintenance couldn't come till 8:00AM the NEXT MORNING, but to use the toilet anyways. Also gross, and really unreasonable. My partner and I felt like we had to hold it until we could get a proper bathroom, not to mention we couldn't shower the next day. Maintenance was supposed to come at 8:00AM the next morning and 8:30AM rolls around (neither of us wanted to use the bathroom for hopes it would be fixed around 8AM) and no one came to fix the toilet or shower. We text the staff and finally maintenance gets there around 9:00AM and does some stuff to the system to attempt to clear it. It can't be fixed an hour later and they have us MOVE CABINS!!! So, we had to pack up all our stuff we just unpacked a day prior, move cabins and take time out of our getaway to go to another cabin that had a working TOILET!! I am glad staff was responsive, but for the money we paid, I expected A LOT MORE! We get to the second cabin and THANK GOD the toilet was fine, BUT, the boil water notice there also and said that the issue with the microbes had been noticed back in September 2019. Clearly this issue has persisted, and nothing was done to correct it for months before our stay...

Last thing was the pots, mugs, and dishware in the first cabin were all dirty and had dried on food on them when we went to use them. Just another gross thing to add to the list on top of the toilet fiasco.

All in all, did we have a decent time and did the staff try to make up for it, YES. That was definitely appreciated. This could have been a great experience, but there were too many things that went wrong here to make it great. Perhaps we could try a different location since the Catskills EAST was "new", but I am not so sure. A non-functioning toilet, possible microbe laden water (that we were not informed about before check in), and dirty dishware, is NOT my idea of...

Whew! Where do I start?!?! My husband booked this as a surprise for my birthday. Just went through a high risk pregnancy (Bed ridden) during COVID and now home with a new born and 3 year old was clearly taking a toll on me / us and he book a quick trip for the night just to give us a new scenery & I’m a huge nature lover who has been pining I’ve this place since it opened in the Catskills but was booked months in advance when I attempted to plan a trip prior to my pregnancy. We arrived - SUPER EXCITED! Brought our lil babies with us as well of course. Couldn’t access the unit. The code want working and the lockbox was empty. Waited for on site manager to arrive and let us in. Not that big of a deal - just kept it pushing. Got settled in and my 3 year old was having a good ol time exploring the top and bottom bunks. Later she decided she wanted a bed time story & none of the light next to the bed worked. Not a huge issue - but okay - not so great either. My husband put my daughter to bed on the top bunk once she fell asleep and on his way back down to the bottom - he noticed a bug on top of the cabinets, he pulled out his flashlight and then it was gone. Before bed, I decided to make myself some tea and the tea cup was dirty (old coffee residue - indicating that this cup was rinse and not washed with soap and sponge) because once I washed it with soap and sponge the residue was gone. The next morning while hubby made some eggs, there was no salt. For his coffee, all of the sugar packets were drenched with olive oil and as I made a bottle for my newborn - a cockroach made his way toward the sink. I grab a tissue and caught it then flushed it (I have it on video). I know I’m in the woods or whatever but a cockroach is super specific to unsanitary environments - not 27 degree Catskills weather in a Getaway unit that specifically highlights its cleaning protocols during COVID. While the sunrise that my new born and I got to experience during her morning feeding was exactly what I wanted and the cabin was cozy, i was completely disappointed with the cleanliness of the unit. For the night price of this stay and the distance from him to get here + overbooking that we experienced, I wish that I didn’t have the kind of issues that we experienced. I wanted to write an email to the company and address my disappointments and at the time anger for almost ruining a so needed time away with my family - I didn’t want to put that kind of energy into the world. 2 weeks have past since our stay and I’m in a better mental space. I felt it was fair that I share my experience for future adventure seekers to help them really know what they may be getting into.

I wished for a better experience because we had planned a Getaway experience for my in-laws who work way too much for their age, but now I’m not so sure it’s the best place to...

My boyfriend and I spent 3 nights at Getaway last week and didn't want to come home. The cabins at Catskills West were spread out so we had a lot of privacy. We loved how quiet it was.

As we were walking around we noticed that not all cabins were built exactly the same. Just like a hotel, not all rooms are exactly the same, so don't be surprised if your cabin doesn't look exactly like what you saw on social media or even on Getaway's website. You do get that nice giant window looking out into the woods next to the bed, but you might not get a small window at the foot of your bed. We had an air conditioner there, but we had plenty of windows around the cabin.

We usually go camping in the Fall, so this was a nice change to have our own private bathroom in our cabin. Our cabin was clean but there were big old webs on the ceiling sides and corners. It didn't bother us but I was surprised no one bothered to clean them. We were in the woods so I'm not complaining, but just letting others know so they're not surprised if they see it.

The team at Getaway are super responsive, friendly, and helpful. Great customer service really made our trip a memorable getaway.

TIP #1: The dry flush cartridge for the bathrooms are supposed to give you 15 flushes, but in our experience, sometimes we only had about 10. Flush conservatively. However, the staff changes the cartridge daily and there are portables to use near the entrance if needed.

TIP #2: Our hot water tank only held 10 gallons of hot water before it is refilled, so keep that in mind when you are showering. It sounded like this varies between outposts, so if this is a concern, I suggest finding out ahead of time.

TIP #3: Purchase their package deal for a more affordable stay. Their regular price is too expensive for what you get. We purchased 3 nights and had just enough time to hike a short trail to Kaaterskill falls, pick up fresh donuts from a nearby town, and just enjoy the cabin and our surroundings at a very slow pace. 2 nights would've felt rushed for us.

I already recommended this place to all of my friends as we had a great experience. I am definitely coming back and will explore...