david1

we are looking to host a family reunion in june and need a nice place. must be driving distance of nyc and within an hour of a major airport. thanks

GoTravel

Beach? Mountains? City?

Price range for rooms?

Or is your criteria wide open?

david1

I'm pretty open-a good range of activities for an active crowd-beach would probably be best.thanks

schlegal1

You have posted this 4x so I imagine you may be new to Fodor's--first, you can search for your own thread or bring it up by clicking on your name at the top of the screen, no need to re-post. Second, you get more responses with specific titles like, "Family Reunion near NYC--Need Resort Recommendations"--it's ok to post a long title and that way people who know something about your topic will click it. Good luck and enjoy fodor's!

J62

Mohonk Mtn house near New Paltz would meet the first criteria (driving from NYC) but not the 2nd. Stewart airport is about 30-40min away, SWF is served by AA, Delta and NWA, but it's not a major airport.

Sagamore on Lake George is another option - just over 1 hr from Albany airport. June can be iffy weather in the Adirondacks - nice yes, but not water sports season yet.

1hr from JFK will barely get you out of NYC, and ditto for Newark for NJ.

Your criteria seem to be somewhat limited, especially the 1hr from major airport. Since you say a beach would be ideal you can likely get an early season house rental at the Jersey Shore for a good price. Not a resort, but there really aren't any 'upscale resorts' along the beach in NJ.

Lmaev

Woodlock Pines in the Poconos

KatieR

Mohonk Mountain House is really special - although it's a little further from Newark or Albany airports than you specified. If you want to check it out, here's a link: http://www.mohonk.com/

steviegene

another vote for Mohonk - if you are looking for upscale. It is a beautiful and special place...and also has lots of family-style activites.

nytraveler

Well- Mohonk doesn;t have a beach - and frankly would be boring for many active younger people. Also - friends went there for a weekend last year and said the food was quite poor given the prices.

If you're saying resort - as in all-inclusive large actual resort - there are very few of these in the Northeast. Even large hotels right on the beach are not common.

And in June for beach use you would probably want to rent a house - or several houses - depending on how many people you have somewhere south of NYC.

I'm not an expert on the Jersey shore so can;t reco towns.

If you hadn't said driving distance to New York I would have said outer banks.

Are you willing to do rental houses and go out to eat? Or do you want a resort with all facilities and restaurants in the same place on a beach - in which case I'm stumped within driving distance of NYC.

Cicerone

I agree that the one hour limit from a major NYC airport is going to be the sticking point.

There are some very nice beach towns in New Jersey within that limit, however none have large resort hotels if that is what you are looking for. Some have small and charming B&Bs but I doubt this is what you want for a family reunion. Some reccos are below. I agree that a beach house rental is a good idea; however if you are going to want it after schools are out, you may find these pricey and you would have to book very very soon, as these tend to rent out quickly. See the links below for ideas. IMO it is hard to rent a beach house remotely, you need to see it and get an idea of room size, condition, bathrooms etc. Also, not sure if renting a house is what you had in mind, as cooking, shopping and laundry may not be such a "vacation" for some members of the family (i.e. the wives)....

The Grenville
345 Main Ave.
Bay Head, NJ 08742
Phone: (732) 892-0599
Fax: (732) 892-0599
http://www.thegrenville.com/

Conover's Bay Head Inn
646 Main Ave
Bay Head NJ
800-956-9099
732-892-4664
http://www.conovers.com/

Bay Head Gables Inn
200 Main Avenue
Bay Head NJ
732-892-9844
http://www.bayheadgables.com/

For a list of other B&B's go to http://www.jerseyboardwalk.com/bed.htm

Some of the towns' websites mentioned below have links to realtors, some other websites to try are

http://www.jerseyshore-online.com
http://cyberrentals.com/NJ/NJ.html

The towns below would be within the one-hour window of Newark Liberty Airport (without traffic which is heavy on Fridays and Sundays).

Bay Head (bayhead.org)
Sea Girt (seagirtboro.)
Spring Lake (springlake.org)
Mantoloking (can get homes on inlets here) mantoloking.org
Manasquan (can get homes on inlets) manasquan-nj.com

I know almost nothing abut the Hamptons but that might be a possibility as well.

While not on a beach, and within about 2 hours of Newark, I can definitely recco Skytop Lodge in the Pocono's, a lovely old-fashioned family resort. (This is not one of those hear-shaped tub places, it is more like the Greenbrier or the Equinox.) There are lots of walks, golf, boating and other activities at the resort. Take a look at skytop.com.