One of our favorite things to do as a family is to go on road trips and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a little retreat. This is something we’ve been doing on the regular with our kids ever since they were born. Whether it’s heading back to Ottawa to visit family or up to the Muskoka’s for a three-day weekend, we find that our best family bonding times are when we are away from our everyday routine and experiencing new places together.
Recently, we were invited to visit Carriage Hills Resort in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, part of Simcoe County, just north of Barrie. It is a year-round resort nestled in the Horseshoe Valley that offers plenty of onsite and off site activities for the whole family. With the adjoining Carriage Ridge Resort next door, there’s also lots of rooms and amenities to choose from.
Our family stayed in a two-bedroom suite which sleeps a total of eight people. There are two king sized beds and two pullout sleeper couches. You enter the suite and walk into a foyer and to one side you have the first master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and small kitchenette. In the foyer, you also have a storage closet and a washer and dryer! Talk about amazing convenience to have washing facilities right inside your suite!
Then you walk in through large double doors into the main master suite. There you will find a complete kitchen, dining table, living room with gas fireplace and the master bedroom with ensuite bathroom. The bathtub in this main master suite is unreal, complete with jets and surrounding mirrors! Truly, my kids favorite feature of the entire room!
We’ve traveled a lot when I was growing up and one of the things I love most about going to resorts like Carriage Hills is that it really feels like a home away from home. Different than most hotels, resorts are usually equipped with full kitchens and basic supplies so that you can cook all your own meals onsite. This is a huge money saver as you don’t have to go out to restaurants for each meal. But if cooking each meal isn’t your forte while on vacation, rest assured that there are some really great local restaurants and golf clubs nearby Carriage Hills that offer amazing dishes for the whole family!
I should also mention that both master bedrooms have balconies which is a nice feature to have one overlooking the front of the resort with the other one overlooking the back forest! I spent both mornings on the back balcony with a coffee watching the sun rise! It was magnificent!
We have such a busy lifestyle at home between school, extra curricular activities and events to attend that when we go away, we often find ourselves laying low and enjoying the amenities onsite. Carriage Hills Resort had the best indoor/outdoor pool complete with indoor and outdoor hot tubs and a sauna, all surrounded by lush green trees. We spent two days of hard work, bouncing between hot tubs, pool and sauna! It’s really hard work, but someone has to do it 😉
At the pool house, they also had a large library of movies you could rent, which we ended up watching three while we were there! The kids loved it! They also had a full arcade as well as all kinds of daily kid activities available for the kids from xbox games to crafting. They also have a fabulous playground for the kids to play on, fire pits for you to use as well as a number of bbq’s on site, which made grilling our dinner so nice!
Overall, I was so impressed with Carriage Hills Resort. The staff were so friendly. The grounds were immaculate! We’ve traveled a lot throughout the years to various resorts and I have to say, this was hands down one of my top three favorites! It was so clean, spacious and really a beautiful place to retreat for the weekend.
In fact, while we were there, we were texting with my parents talking about coming back for an entire week family vacation with the entire family next summer! That’s how much we enjoyed our time at Carriage Hills Resort!
I had so many people message me on Instagram asking for more information on this resort, so I hope that this post has helped answer some of those questions. If you’d like to book a family getaway just over an hour outside of Toronto, Carriage Hills Resort is the place to stay!
Happy Vacationing!
Love & Blessings,
Note: This post was sponsored by Wyndham Extra Holidays. As always, the thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
