We just came back from a weekend at Taboo Muskoka....

We just came back from a weekend at Taboo Muskoka. I went with my husband and two little kids. This is my first time at a Muskoka resort so some of the cons I will mention may be "normal", however are definitely things that need to be improved.

I will start with the pros:
- Gorgeous views, absolutely breathtaking. The nature in the resort is so beautiful, the smell of pine everywhere is amazing. Clean beach and gorgeous sand.
- Beautiful modern rooms with comfy beds, full cable smart tv, nice bathrooms and tasty coffee
- The food (when actually available) is good
- Great for families with small kids. Warm pools, shallow clean beach, playground, and multiple other activities

The cons:
- Food is the biggest issue on this resort. There is one EXPENSIVE restaurant that turned us away on our first night as we didn't have a reservation. You'd think that when a hotel has a check in time of 4pm, when you arrive to eat at 5:30pm at the only restaurant on site you will be able to eat. But no, and no one mentioned it to us upon reservation or arrival. The only other food option on premises is a food truck and a shop at the golf course section of the resort that serves very small portions for incredibly outrageous prices. Think $14 for a plain burger without a side or a drink. We did get into the boathouse restaurant twice the next day breakfast and dinner (we made a reservation). Breakfast was delicious but the cheapest option is $20 per person no hot food or $28 with hot food. We don't usually eat breakfast at all but we had to feed the kids and that was the only place. We spent a whopping $70 on breakfast. Dinner was delicious as well and it cost us $140... we ordered the cheapest stuff.
We were there for 2 nights and really didn't want to take a one year old and a 4 year old on a drive into town every time they were hungry. An in between type of sit down restaurant with some quick breakfast, lunch and dinner options is really missing here. Especially that there are lots of families with small kids. It really did feel like a rip off.
- Staff - pleasant but not overly eager to accommodate. No one mentions things such as: reservations for dinner are strongly recommended, that there are beach toys and pool noodles available for kids, that there is an amazing deck with a swimming area behind the hotel etc. We had a general feeling of "here's a fake smile, leave me alone"
- Timing: nothing is really on time. Bonfire is supposed to start at 8pm but didn't start until 8:15, pools are supposed to open at 8am but are still disgustingly dirty at 8:30am
- Hotel condition - even though the rooms inside are nice (only issue was the AC, impossible to regulate. Aimed directly at the bed it was either blowing full on freezing air or is an oven - no in between) and the general feeling of the hotel is pleasant it's in need of major maintenance.
Our balcony was in a terrible condition with old Muskoka chairs with exposed wood that had splinters written all over it and spider webs all throughout. Couldn't let the kids out there at all. The pools look like someone hit them with a hammer in certain spots and it was very unsafe for the kids and in general not appealing. Dirty cabana areas with rust and stains.

It would also be nice if someone mentioned that the bonfire did not actually include marshmallows or smores. Nowhere is it mentioned that you need to bring your own if you want some and it is marketed as if it is part of the experience. I really don't mind bringing my own marshmallows but we didn't know and imagine the disappointment on my 4 year old's face when some of the other kids had it and he didn't.

In general we had a good time but we spent a whole lotta money on an experience that felt pretty average. We felt that for the money that we spent we could have gotten a better service and have been more comfortable in certain situations.