Quisisana Resort — Hotel in Lovell

This is a challenging review to write because this family run resort occupies a rarified niche in the Northeast. Hopefully, I can help you decide whether this is your cup of tea. I apologize in advance for the long review.||“Quisi” is a resort, meaning its services are all encompassing from room service, to dining, to activities (many on the lake), to chauffeured golf carts for the elderly to get around to the entertainments. With some 158 guests living in cabins scattered around the grounds and some 100 staff, you will be taken care of in your week long stay. The resort is family run and has been around since 1947. They take their job of making you a happy guest seriously. ||The dining experience is quite good with flexible options for takeaway and for vegetarians. Each meal has a fixed menu with a couple of choices and a general menu that always is available. Breakfast has a lot of options.||Quisi is situated directly on a quiet lake, with two nice beachfronts. Quisi beach staff ensure that you find the right activity from sailing, to a bicycle pedalo, to canoes or kayaking etc. to beach volleyball or shuffleboard. ||If you have seen the movie, Dirty Dancing, you have an idea of what to expect (except the staff have stricter boundaries). ||Now, what makes Quisi stand out, is its entertainment and vibe. The entertainment is a signature item requiring immense planning, auditions, effort and practice. ||Entertainment. Some 50 members of the staff are young artists who perform nightly (with two daytime shows a week, primarily for kids). Musicals, revues, operettas, and chamber music recitals all vie for your attention. The musical numbers, operettas and revues (for our year) were crowd pleasers. The recitals were serious performances. If you come, please be mindful that performing stage members, who wait your table three meals a day, are also the performers at the 9:00 pm shows! ||They have long days! For one of the operettas, the lead had to get up and practice at 5:30 am, serve breakfast, do an 11:00 am performance, and serve lunch and dinner. ||My takeaway from the entertainment experience is that for the adult members of families, it’s a major plus. PS young kids were remarkably attentive and well behaved. The downside, as someone who attends a lot of theater, is that the theatrical performances (although well performed) were a little light and over-the-top, a notch below summer stock theater. That said, there is something magical about Fine Arts and Music Arts graduates launching their careers before your eyes and ears. ||Vibe. The vibe here is very particular (and for me a three star experience). First, and Immediately, you will discover that many of the families are from the Northeast and have been coming here for generations. It seemed to me that a large majority of guests had come here many times. Although social and inclusive, there is a clubby feel, even for someone like me who has lived in the Northeast.||Second, Quisi has a very summer camp like vibe. The vibe is also, understandably, family centric with lots of young family members with kids. Although there are couples and couples with friends or older children, as a couple, we felt a little removed from the central focus of Quisi. But for families with kids, who are safe here and can make lifelong friends here, it’s an absolute treasure. ||Having said all of that, we met incredibly interesting people and felt pampered and well taken care of. ||Caveats. The website tells you this but wifi is available in only part of the main building. More importantly, there is no cell reception in the area. So if you go off hiking, keep that in mind. Also, and an obvious point, there is no lifeguard on the beaches, so attend to your children and loved ones. ||Confession. The vibe at another famous Northeast coast resort, Mohonk, is also very particular but a five star experience for me. Mohonk also is on a lake (is open year round) and with a storied history and generations of returning guests. Hypocrite! Maybe. Or maybe I just didn’t like summer...

This is a challenging review to write because this family run resort occupies a rarified niche in the Northeast. Hopefully, I can help you decide whether this is your cup of tea. I apologize in advance for the long review.

“Quisi” is a resort, meaning its services are all encompassing from room service, to dining, to activities (many on the lake), to chauffeured golf carts for the elderly to get around to the entertainments. With some 158 guests living in cabins scattered around the grounds and some 100 staff, you will be taken care of in your week long stay. The resort is family run and has been around since 1947. They take their job of making you a happy guest seriously.

The dining experience is quite good with flexible options for takeaway and for vegetarians. Each meal has a fixed menu with a couple of choices and a general menu that always is available. Breakfast has a lot of options.

Quisi is situated directly on a quiet lake, with two nice beachfronts. Quisi beach staff ensure that you find the right activity from sailing, to a bicycle pedalo, to canoes or kayaking etc. to beach volleyball or shuffleboard.

If you have seen the movie, Dirty Dancing, you have an idea of what to expect (except the staff have stricter boundaries).

Now, what makes Quisi stand out, is its entertainment and vibe. The entertainment is a signature item requiring immense planning, auditions, effort and practice.

Entertainment. Some 50 members of the staff are young artists who perform nightly (with two daytime shows a week, primarily for kids). Musicals, revues, operettas, and chamber music recitals all vie for your attention. The musical numbers, operettas and revues (for our year) were crowd pleasers. The recitals were serious performances. If you come, please be mindful that performing stage members, who wait your table three meals a day, are also the performers at the 9:00 pm shows!

They have long days! For one of the operettas, the lead had to get up and practice at 5:30 am, serve breakfast, do an 11:00 am performance, and serve lunch and dinner.

My takeaway from the entertainment experience is that for the adult members of families, it’s a major plus. PS young kids were remarkably attentive and well behaved. The downside, as someone who attends a lot of theater, is that the theatrical performances (although well performed) were a little light and over-the-top, a notch below summer stock theater. That said, there is something magical about Fine Arts and Music Arts graduates launching their careers before your eyes and ears.

Vibe. The vibe here is very particular (and for me a three star experience). First, and Immediately, you will discover that many of the families are from the Northeast and have been coming here for generations. It seemed to me that a large majority of guests had come here many times. Although social and inclusive, there is a clubby feel, even for someone like me who has lived in the Northeast.

Second, Quisi has a very summer camp like vibe. The vibe is also, understandably, family centric with lots of young family members with kids. Although there are couples and couples with friends or older children, as a couple, we felt a little removed from the central focus of Quisi. But for families with kids, who are safe here and can make lifelong friends here, it’s an absolute treasure.

Having said all of that, we met incredibly interesting people and felt pampered and well taken care of.

Caveats. The website tells you this but wifi is available in only part of the main building. More importantly, there is no cell reception in the area. So if you go off hiking, keep that in mind. Also, and an obvious point, there is no lifeguard on the beaches, so attend to your children and loved ones.

Confession. The vibe at another famous Northeast coast resort, Mohonk, is also very particular but a five star experience for me. Mohonk also is on a lake (is open year round) and with a storied history and generations of returning guests. Hypocrite! Maybe. Or maybe I just didn’t like summer...

It wouldn’t be fair for me to come to Quisisana for another year without writing my own review of this incredible spot in the Maine woods. My wife, 10-year old son and I have been coming to Quisi for the last 8 or 9 years and each experience has been wonderful and unique in the best of ways.|| ||My wife knew of Quisi from a childhood friend whose family came to the resort years ago. They painted a picture of an idyllic and restful lakeside setting with wonderful food, activities for all ages, and talented staff who put on top-notch performances each night.||||I was skeptical. Are we going stare at the same lake for a week? Do I really have to eat all my meals at the same time each day? Am I going to be happy trading Phish for Puccini for a week? I had been more accustomed to attending outdoor rock festivals in the summer than sitting for an evening of chamber music or musical theater in the woods, but I was intrigued by the idea of it and after my wife spoke with the incredible owner Jane on the phone, we were on our way. ||||We were lucky to have friends accompany us on our first visit to Quisisana who also have a boy our son’s age (and they’ve returned with us each year since). We’ve watched our sons grow up together and develop their own special connection to this wondrous place.||||On our first day in the spacious dining hall, I had an odd feeling of having crashed a large family reunion. Couples and large families who had not seen each other since their visit to Quisisana the previous summer were greeting each other with a happiness and affection that was genuine and heartfelt. Despite us not knowing anyone else at that time (besides the family we were traveling with) we had an instantaneous feeling of comfort and belonging. We would soon make our own friends and acquaintances and be part of the family as well.||||I could go on and tell you all about how great the food is (yes, there is a Pavlovian response to the bell that’s rung outside the dining hall to signal each mealtime), how wonderful the performances are, how beautiful the lake is, how truly special the Oran’s family is, and all of the rest that has been so well documented in previous reviews, but that’s not my main point.||||What makes Quisisana special may be personal but it’s also universal. Quisisana, seemingly effortlessly, provides both a deep sense of connection to the natural world, and an opportunity to appreciate all the kindness and talents the owners and staff have in abundance. Over the years we've watched children grow, adults age, and families expand. We've experienced life here.||||The delicate balance of natural beauty, music and song, culinary arts, human activities, and social interaction is achieved to perfection here, making our stays at Quisisana both a sublime sensory experience and a deeply relaxing and...