My family and I just came back from an amazing and fun filled 2 night weekend stay at The Fern Resort in Orillia.  We are a young family with 2 children ages 5 and 3.  We visited as part of conference group, joined by other young families. Overall we really enjoyed the resort and everything they had to offer for a young family. Highly Recommend for a summer vacay !!

This is considered an all-inclusive resort so everything that you could possibly need is taken care of -- including three meals a day! Pretty much all of the activities you see onsite are also included with your stay -- free!

What we Loved!

Short Drive away!   Fern is the perfect little getaway destination for anyone from the GTA.  Conveniently located in Orillia it was only a 50 min drive for us which was great!

Orientation was a great way upon arrival to learn about everything that Fern had to offer.  Getting a tour of the grounds and asking all of my questions right off the bat helped me prepare my vacation and stay and get the most out of it! Highly recommend that you attend orientation upon check-in!

Free kids programs!  We felt like we were really able to enjoy our time both as a family and as a couple during the stay because of all of the free children's programming available starting at 8:30 in the morning and going until 8 o'clock in the evening. In addition there was free babysitting from 8 PM until midnight in one of the conference rooms for those who would like to extend their child free time or adults wanting to attend the evening entertainment alone.  There was also very affordable private in room babysitting services available for only eight dollars per hour which is very reasonable in comparison to most is resorts I've been to. My children had a blast in the children's programs and they came and went throughout the day as they pleased. I particularly like to how this children's program had an intermediary age group for three-year-olds where they could go with the younger infants or they could go with their older siblings in the older kids group. That worked out perfect for my three-year-old which is often an age that is awkward for programming

Early kids dinner buffet. The 5:30 PM timeslot for the children's buffet is a perfect fit for most families whose children are hungry earlier.  We enjoyed bringing our kids to the 5:30 seating and then sending them off to kids programs so that we could come back for an adult quiet à la cart menu dinner and take our time to enjoy it. The children's buffet is a little chaotic with the swarm of hungry kids -- but it works!!  Packed with very kid friendly tasty options to appeal to even the fussiest of eaters 

All the free things to do. Especially the pedal boats available. Pretty much everything on the resort is free to do other than motorized boat rentals, specialty programs like tea leaf readings and lessons like for skiing and the snack foods.  We loved all of the equipment available to be used on the grounds and specifically the free pedal boats!! Even the motorized equipment rentals, boating, fishing or water ski lessons were all very affordably priced in comparison to other resorts I've been to.

Lots of pools and hot tubs. I have found in the past that some resorts could be really over crowded especially in the pools and hot tubs but not at Fern. There were plenty of pools to accommodate any level or age of swimmer and many hot tubs. You didn't feel cramped ever. It was not difficult to find a poolside seat in the sun or shade. I also loved the very shallow kids wading pool for the non-swimmer

Dinner rolls. The bread at dinner was probably my favorite item that I tasted on the resort.  They seem to have a Bee and honey theme going on and the sweet rolls were so tasty to look forward to. The smell of them outside first thing in the morning was to die for :)

Coffee in dining room. This one will sound odd but good coffee is something that is a deal breaker or maker for me and the coffee in the dining room at Fern is just delicious! 

Conference facilities. I love how they kept our conference group together and that our hotel rooms were in the same building as our conference meeting room it was very easy to get around and to be accessible to everything my family was close to me while I was in conference and they were enjoying the facilities. The conference room was clean and spacious and well stocked with beverages and conference supplies. The space was quiet and private away from other vacationers for privacy

Food!  Plentiful and lots of options to choose from.  There is no lack of food at Fern.  Enjoyed the dining room experience overall. I especially loved the baby place setting, complete with a high chair and wash cloth for the little ones.  Great thought!  The prime rib dinner was probably one of the best I have ever had and I am still craving it!  Highly suggest!

Beach area with sand toys for the kids.  If I were to come again I would stay in one of these beach side cottages.

Areas to improve:

No poolside towels. You could get free pool towels but you had to go to the front desk to get them.  I would prefer that they were just by the pool, but that's just me being spoiled I'm sure :) I can see how they reduce waste and save money with their method

 

No life jackets readily available by the pool for kids. You could get one if there was some extra available at any of the sports desks but I would have preferred if they had some racks of lifejackets available at any given time poolside on racks for the kids to use. I find that this practice is pretty common across family resorts and just allows for a better safety, but once again I could have remembered to bring one from home.

No free daylong snacks and nibbles.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner was available and plentiful but it would be better if there were some more readily available free quick snacks and drinks throughout the day for those nibbles in between. Even daylong ice cream and a self serve beverage station poolside would be great!  They did have snack and drink bars open but they were at a fee.

 

Rooms were dated but clean. We were in the Hearthside building which is not yet renovated and double beds which were small and very bouncy. I suppose the goal is that you’re only sleeping in your room and not spending much time there but I would have preferred a little bit more space with a larger bed for a more restful night sleep.

Overall we had an amazing time at Fern.  My boys asked if we would live there and my husband wants to go back!  We will be sure to tell all our friends about our stay and be back soon.  My kids were passed out in the car within 5 minutes of leaving for home.  I think they had a great time :)  THANK YOU FERN!

Reviewed by Connie Berenguer. Connie is the Community Manager for Life With A Baby York Region North.