Our son eyed the courtesy van suspiciously as we exited the rain-soaked Shortlines Bus station in Monticello, New York.  "Is there a town around here?" he asked nicely.  We were speeding towards a family weekend at Kutsher's Country Club, and I believe he was imagining his escape to a mall with a multiplex. 

"Ya'got so many things to do here, whywudyawanna go into town?" bellowed the driver without taking his eyes off the road.  Kutsher's prides itself on the number of activities available to guests, rain or shine.  After almost 100 years in business, first as a farmhouse B&B and later as a country and golf club, the Kutsher family has memorized that old hospitality industry maxim:

If there's a lot to do and your guests don't do anything, they're relaxing.  If there's nothing to do and your guests don't do anything, they're bored."

Families, I guarantee you will never have this problem. Kutsher's has offered the same successful schedule of sports, lectures, crafts displays and entertaining interludes between three solid meals and a periodic cocktail reception for decades.   

Borscht Belt or Woodstock?
The scenic, year-round Catskills playground of lakes and mountains is ideally situated just 2 hours from New York City, 2.5 hours from Philadelphia and about 4 hours from Boston. Throughout the 20th century it saw boom times (in the 1940s-1960s) and bust (1980s) and this millennium, the tattered blue collar economy is counting on a gambling referendum for some adrenalin.

We wondered if we would find the Borscht Belt backdrop seen in "Dirty Dancing" or frolicking hippies from the Woodstock era. Neither, really. These days, artists live in Woodstock and communities of devout Hasidim have settled around the Catskills, building once flourishing synagogues anew. Not far away in Newburgh, the Gomez Mill House (built by Sephardic immigrant Luis Gomez in 1714) is the oldest surviving Jewish homestead in the state. Kutsher's itself had been one of the historic resorts (such as Brown's, The Concord and Grossinger's) that catered to New York's Jewish upper and middle classes in our parents' generation. Yet, today this resort wears its Jewish heritage with ease.  Guests of any denomination are welcomed and no fuss is made about when or where or what to eat, or other social mores common to any religious group.

It's only when you hear the indoor gym is closed for a Yeshiva group's prayers, or another huge table (nine people, ranging in age from highchair to wheelchair, was the average table size at our visit) starts singing "Dai! Dai! Daiyenu" and stomping their feet, do you realize that you're in a very special place.  So is it Jewish?  Absolutely, but it's not religious.  At the Sabbath supper our son commented, "I feel so at home here. Everyone is so nice." All mensches, my grandmother would have said.   

Rooms to Make a Mother Proud
Spacious rooms easily accommodate two queen beds, a TV on a long bureau fit for storing a week's worth of clothes, a generous walk-in closet, and a small bathroom with shower and tub.  Not exactly "lavishly furnished and multi-featured" as promised on their website but what more could a mother ask? As part of Kutsher's recent refurbishment, half of each housing wing was redone in a pastel color scheme.  The very long lobby connecting a tower and several two- and three-story room blocks has been dolled up with several new chandeliers, mauve marbleized wallpaper, rose-colored accessories and plenty of seating for Canasta and Bridge games.

What still needs work are the recreation facilities. Some, admittedly, will never be renovated if the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs approves the eagerly anticipated casino on Kutsher family property.  It's anyone's guess if Blackjack can replace Zero Mostel.

Speaking of him, Kutsher's turns up surprisingly name-brand acts in its striking night club. At our visit, the 41st Annual Tannen Magic Jubilee was in-house and we were treated (free tickets for those who signed up in the lobby beforehand) to a remarkable display by the "Louie Award" honoree, André Kole, whose award was delivered by Broadway's top-selling magician, David Copperfield.  Throughout the summer, fall and winter, particularly over the major holiday weekends, guests can expect to see comics like Laine Kazan or Alan King, a chanteuse like Julie Budd, or long- ago acts like The Drifters. For our 11-year-old, having a reserved table in a navy blue-lit nightclub resembling the inside of the solar system, watching a terrific magician, was amazing. "Mom, it's a steal, too," he commented. "We didn't even have to pay." Sounding, amazingly, like the Jewish great grandfather he never knew. 
 

So Much to Do, So Little Time
It's not every resort that has its own indoor skating rink (with rental skates in every size) and its own kids clubs for ages infant through teen. Near the classic indoor gym where kids club plays soccer on rainy days, Kutsher's windowless nursery facility operates from 9 to 11:45am, 1 to 2:45 pm and then again from 7 to 8:30pm, allowing new parents time to enjoy a few rounds of golf and some R'n'R.

Experienced daycamp counselors as well as foreign students work under the exuberant tutelage of recreation director Lenny Gross. Lenny, himself a Kutsher camper 40 years ago, knows how to keep babies happy and preteens moving.  Several of his staff have CPR and 1st Aid Training; pool staff hold Lifeguard Certification. When I interviewed Mrs. Helen Kutsher, wife of founder Milton Kutsher, about the resort's pioneering daycare, she explained that they'd always had a nursery for staff children so they could retain their best workers. A few of her Front Office staff admitted to being left in Kutsher's daycare at least 42 years before!

In a dimly-lit playroom adjoining the nursery, are the 3 and 4-year-old Fidgets and a larger play space for the Day Camp (ages 5 to 10 years), the group that roams the property taking advantage of the tennis, pond, hiking trails, the worn outdoor playground, shabby minigolf and shuffleboard near the too-deep pool.  All children's facilities are open and used almost daily year-round (certain midweek periods Kutsher's is open for seniors only.)
 

What is "All Included"?
At Kutsher's it means activities, lectures and three formal sitdowns -- like at grandma's house.  At specific hours, families are summoned to assigned tables, where the same young waiter or waitress will call you by name and remember if you preferred the grapefruit half or the orange juice -- the side salad or the mashed potatoes -- with your entrée.  If your family group has little ones, feel free to bring them to the children's dining room where Kutsher's counselors will feed and amuse them while you dine in style.  The food is all Kosher but the cuisine is not; the nouvelle Continental flair allows the less traditional guests (or those who married into a Jewish family) to have grilled salmon instead of stuffed cabbage.  Alcoholic beverages are available.  For an extra feeÂ… true, but they are available.

Kutsher's totally reasonable rates for a 3N Thursday to Sunday winter package run $336 per adult based on two adults per room; children 11 to 16-years pay $141, the 4 to10-year-olds pay $108 and the toddlers 3 and under pay $84 extra.  Rates include food, food, food and recreational facilities, use of the glass-walled indoor and outdoor pools, nightly entertainment in The Stardust Room and Deep End Lounge (ask me later about the rabbis convening over drinks in one corner), use of the fitness room and the supervised children's (of which there are many) and teens' (of which we saw few) programs.  Nearby, for a fee, families can try their collective hands at golf (on a course which visionary Milton Kutsher founded 28 years ago), snowmobiling, fly or ice fishing and other Catskills activities.

With or without a casino, Mrs. Kutsher and her son, general manager Mark Kutsher, run a family resort and they plan to keep it that way.  From makeup classes to afternoon debates on current affairs and politics, to yoga, bicycling and boating when weather permits, to parking the kids with enthusiastic counselors, Kutsher's is about doing stuff as family, whether together or apart. 

Ask Mrs. Kutsher how the unique destination envisioned by her dearly departed husband will fare against competition from chain resorts opening throughout the Northeast, and she sighs, "A Hilton never had a Milton." 

Details, Details
Reservations can be made through your travel agent or by contacting Kutsher's Country Club (800/431-1273, 845/794-6000).  For Shortline bus information, fares and schedules, call 800/631-8405. When you inquire about service to Monticello, New York be sure to ask about private minibuses going to the Woodbury Commons premium outlet stores or to the nearby mall for rainy afternoon excursions.

More info on Kosher Hotel programs
Many other resorts and hotels have moved in on this niche, most only for the Passover season, and others with the option of kosher room service food, year round.  Kosher Delights, an online Jewish magazine has tons of information on other hotels with Kosher programs.