Sunny Rest Resort

Since the possibility of returning to the French side of St. Martin in 2020 seems more & more remote, and my wife (Cleta) had vacation days she had to use or lose we visited this local (1 1/4 hours away) resort in the Pocono Mountains, PA. We only stayed 3 days/2 nights, but if we had paid for a third night, the 4th night would have been free. The cost was very reasonable -$127 per night including complimentary breakfast.
First, the good news: Masks were required in all public areas, except by or in the pools and social distancing was followed for the most part.
Now the not-so-good news: A major fire 2 weeks ago had severely damaged the on-site restaurant and it has been temporarily replaced with a food truck. The food was good, but a very limited menu.
Overall, we found the place quite nice. (Almost) everyone was very friendly, only certain members had an attitude. There is a nice pool (84 degrees) a smaller conversation pool (94 degrees) and a hot tub (102 degrees). Our room was fairly new with a king bed, and close to the pools. Weather was great and it felt good to work on those tan lines. We would gladly return.

OK, sounds like a decent trip overall. Odd, that Avalon also had that major fire recently. I haven't checked to see how they are doing there.

We stayed at Sunny Rest one night 8/26. Nice people and the food at the pool bar was decent, we didn't see a food truck that day. It was a Sunday and quite crowded so it was a bit difficult to keep distance. We had to cut our stay short to one day instead of 3 but the office was able to only charge us for the one night.

We were told that there is a big difference between the size of the weekday & weekend crowds. We were there the week before you (are you sure of the date - 8/26 was a Wed.). There was a poolside bar (Streakers - I know, corny name) that only had drinks, no food. The restaurant on the other side of the pool, Irv's Place, still was taped off. There were fire inspectors there, and it still appeared to be heavily damaged. The food truck was next to the upper part of the sandy area.

We are driving to New York - Long Island next week and thinking of stopping there one/both ways.

It is one of the originals and popularized in the movie “Diary of a Nudist” circa 1961 with its winter sister Sunny Palms which was in Homestead, Fl. Was available on youtube at one time. An offshoot, Sunnier Palms, is still in Ft Pierce.

As long as the weather holds they tentatively plan to stay open through October.
Also, I think Jim_Laraine meant to say 7/26, which was a Sunday and was pre-fire. The fire was started overnight by a short in the microwave. It was not noticed until flames went through the roof, and was reported by the guard in the booth about 100 feet away.
Pelican Pirate - If you go and have never been there, when you see signs for the resort follow them, not your navigation. Otherwise, you'll end up at the closed back gate, with no room to turn around.
One more thing: We were warned that on weekends it sometimes gets "swing friendly", particularly in the camping area.. We thankfully saw none of that on our visit. In fact, they bill themselves as a family resort and there is a playground near the pool.

We will keep an eye open for all that.

There was a major Covid outbreak there after their Labor Day weekend. They were going to stay open later this year but had to close early for the season due to the outbreak. Friends thyat were there earlier in the summer reported that social distancing was not followed.

When we were there for the most part social distancing was followed - chairs (in pairs) & tables were set up at least 6 ft. apart. Masks were required except in the pools or seated around them. The exception was a group of members who were playing volleyball in the pool. Otherwise, it appeared that people were following guidelines, even in line for the bar (markers were placed) or food truck. But there was no one to enforce common sense and I'm not surprised there was a problem. Also, it gets really, really chilly in the mountains after early Sept. .

Actually I looked at our Sunny Rest reservation and Biturbo was correct, we were there on 7/26 not 8/26. But we were definitely there after the fire which was on 7/15 or so.

https://www.tnonline.com/20200716/fire-damages-restaurant-at-sunny-rest-resort/

Sad about the Covid outbreak but not surprising after the large weekend crowd that we saw on that Sunday (7/26). Instead we should have booked all nights Monday - Thursday, is probably a lot less crowded.

hello from jerry and linda in kansas city

From what we gathered, weekdays and weekends are two entirely different types of crowds. If we return it will definitely be weekdays.

So we did stay here for two nights in September in one of the motel rooms.

The room is basic but nice with mini fridge, TV.

They have a nice bar with deck and tables and had various guitar players and singers. They haves a large heated pool, a new heated conversation pool, and a very large hot tub. You are supposed to buy your alcohol at all of these pools/tubs.

The restaurant was closed due to fire. The nightclub was closed I suppose due to covid.

The campground is extensive on the hillsides of the Poconos with some very elaborate campers/trailers.

The food truck food was good enough for dinner and breakfast. Hopefully they get restaurant rebuilt for next season.

The people were friendly and the hot tub is very friendly and where most people ended up on weekend nights.

The hills of the Poconos are beautiful.

As Biturbo mentions you have to keep your eyes peeled to find the place.

That's very similar to what we found, except for the music. If the restaurant reopens we'd like to return in the Spring. The nearby town of Jim Thorpe (6 mi. away) also has several nice restaurants. And, yes, the drive through the Poconos is very pleasant. Thanks for sharing.