Staff Spotlight: Family Getaway in Missouri
I’d been searching for somewhere to bring my family on vacation before the summer was over, but nothing seemed quite right. A little while ago, someone came in to visit the office from JMak Hospitality, a company that has a catalog of luxury, boutique hotels around the world. I was flipping through their brochure and saw the Caribbean, France, Turks and Caicos… and Missouri? I reached out for more information, and the owners let me know that they’d love for my family to come and try out their resort.
It was 4.5 hours from us here in St. Louis, near Tablerock Lake, about an hour from Springfield, MO. Once you get there, you really aren’t able to leave. The closest anything is an hour away. However, that wasn’t an issue once we got to the resort.
Stonewater Cove is an all-inclusive property made up of 25 upscale cabins in the woods. Our room was stocked with all sorts of amenities, and had a huge bathtub and a rainfall showerhead with three different spouts. We had one bedroom for my husband and I, a sofa bed for one of my sons, and they brought in a blow-up mattress for my other one.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all included, and they have a fabulous menu for all three. No joke, our breakfast in the morning came with an appetizer! Their chef came from National Geographic tours and made incredible food. They do have a kid’s menu with safer options like chicken fingers, steak, and burgers, and adults were allowed to order from that menu if they wanted to. We did not go hungry – there were times when we were like, “Do I have to eat again?” However, it was so good every time that the food was definitely a highlight of the trip.
There are some included activities such as kayaking and fishing, and you basically get to help yourself. They have all the bait, poles, oars, etc. out so you can go grab whatever you want. Some activities are an additional cost, but they were so worth it for us because in addition to knee-boarding, tubing, fishing… they taught my sons how to waterski!
There’s a lake that you can swim in with a deck, so it was like a pool. There are waterfalls all around the resort – the landscaping all around the property was so beautiful. They even have a spa on site (I had to check it out, of course!). It was in a treehouse, and instead of being in a dark room it was in a natural, pretty place with views all around.
It was just such a neat alternative for a family vacation – I thought of it like an upscale family camp. We would be around the campfire at night and they would come and bring us trays of ingredients to make s’mores.
The clientele there ranged from little kids to teenagers to couples celebrating anniversaries. The people there work so hard, it was almost like being on a cruise ship. We had a fabulous trip and would definitely go back!
Interested in a luxury vacation close to home? Contact Brentwood Travel for more information!
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