What area of Poconos?

We are thinking of renting a large house over Christmas for a family reunion . Most of our family lives in the east so what part of the Poconos (towns) would you recommend? There seems to be many areas, we%26#39;re not skiers, just want a big place to relax, maybe near a place where we could go out to dinner, shop etc. If you could steer us to some towns not terribly far from the Philadelphia airport that would be very helpful.

What area of Poconos?

We have rented in Towamensing Trails, a gated community in Albrightsville, and also in Arrowhead Lakes near Mt. Pocono off of Rt. 940. You might want to do a google search of realtors in the pocono area and see some virtual tours of available rentals if you haven%26#39;t done so already. Both of the areas I mentioned aren%26#39;t more than 2 hours from the Philly airport. There are other developments that offer rentals as well. Most of the realtors offer properties of varying sizes, so you should be able to find one to fit your needs.

Either development I mentioned would be close to shopping (the Crossings Outlets are right off I80, and you will also find many smaller, more quaint shops. The American Candle Factory in Bartonsville is neat also. As far as restaurants, we enjoyed Baileys Steak House in Mt. Pocono on Rt. 611.

Have a good trip.

What area of Poconos?

We, too, rented at Arrowhead Lake a few years ago and loved it - the house we rented was a newer A-frame with top-of-the-line everything, including a wall-to-ceiling stone wood-burning fireplace in the living room and hot tub on the deck. I can%26#39;t recall what it cost for a week, but I do remember it was very reasonable.