quote:

Originally posted by mland520

Say it isn’t so! Where have they all gone to? The Nevele and all the rest? My husband and I had some memorable times at the hotels in the Catskills. But we have lived in Dallas for over 20 years now, and have only made one trip back to upstate NY where we were both born and raised, and that was over 8 years ago!

Many hotels were taken over by the Hasidic (very Orthodox) Jews..
and are used as schools and camps/bungalow colonies…

others have been out of business for awhile (like the Concord and the Pines) and just sit there rotting away.

Yes, the Nevele is still there, HOWEVER it is not family owned anymore. The Nevele is corporate owned now and does not have the Kosher food anymore at the meals; it’s barely Jewish style food, but word has it they are very generous with the bacon at breakfast! LOL!
(from an actual trip report on tripadvisor.com) And the worst part is that most of the reviewers state that the food is almost "unedible", or other choice words…
The Fallsview is owned by the same company, used to be family owned as well. Even though it IS strictly Kosher, it’s hard to book there, as they save it for Glatt Kosher groups who don’t want the Nevele..
…special groups they hand pick…

The other hotels went by the wayside. Grossingers closed in 1986, and the Concord in 1998… in many cases, closings were due to owners passing away (as in the recent Raleigh hotel closing this last year, after Mannie Halbert died), and the children not wanting the hassle of running the place.

due to "changing tastes"………cheaper airfares to Florida and abroad, cruise deals, and of course, the competition from Atlantic City. IMO, if they had got the gambling there right after AC did in 1978, they could have saved the area! (They’ve been waiting over 30 years for that gambling, though) (even when I worked there in 78, there were rumors about slot machines hidden away in the back room of the hotel)
(SOME progress has FINALLY been made, as they do have slot machines at Monticello Raceway now, but the federal approval for the table games is being stalled…..2 years away , I hear?!) But the Catskills will never be like it used to be…

ellen