The Abandoned Pennsylvania Resort Too Huge To Save And Too Costly To Clear
Some places turn into time capsules after the crowds disappear. This abandoned honeymoon resort still hints at a flashy era of heart-shaped beds, mirrored rooms, private villas, and big romantic getaways in the mountains.
The story is strange, sad, and fascinating all at once. Who could look at a crumbling couples-only escape and not wonder about the thousands of trips, photos, and memories once made there?
This is not a place to enter or explore beyond public roads. The property is private, posted, and best appreciated safely from a distance.
Still, the scale makes it hard to ignore. Pennsylvania turns this forgotten resort into a haunting reminder of when the Poconos ruled American honeymoon dreams.
A Resort Built For Romance
Long before couples flew off to tropical beaches, they packed their bags and headed to the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Summit Resort opened in the late 1960s with one clear mission: romance, and lots of it. It was one of seven couples-only resorts operating in the Poconos during the region’s golden era as the Honeymoon Capital of the World.
Think heart-shaped everything. Heart-shaped bathtubs, heart-shaped beds, mirrored walls, private pools in suites, and fireplaces that set the mood on chilly mountain evenings.
The Fantasia Suites and Montserrat Heart Villas were the crown jewels of the property, offering honeymooners a level of luxury that felt straight out of a Hollywood film.
For 35 years, couples celebrated their new beginnings here. Anniversary guests kept coming back year after year, building memories in a place that felt totally removed from the real world.
Can you imagine spending your honeymoon in a suite with a heart-shaped tub and a mirror on the ceiling? That was the Summit Resort experience, and people absolutely loved it.
The resort operated until 2002, when changing travel trends finally caught up with it. But the legacy it left behind is still very much alive, written into the walls of every abandoned villa that still stands today.
When The Poconos Ruled Honeymoons
Back in the 1970s, the Pocono Mountains were the place to be if you had just said “I do.”
Seven resorts, including Summit Resort, competed for the hearts of newlyweds across the East Coast. The region earned its legendary title, the Honeymoon Capital of the World, and wore it proudly for decades.
Summit Resort fit right into that world. Its Arabian-themed nightclub featured live music that kept guests entertained long after sunset.
Outdoor pools, indoor tennis courts, and mini-golf meant there was always something to do between romantic moments.
Couples who visited in the early days describe the experience as magical. The resort had an energy that felt exclusive and special, like the whole world had been designed just for two people.
What made the Poconos so popular? Location played a huge role.
Easily reachable from New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, it was the perfect quick escape without needing a passport or a long flight.
Is it hard to imagine a time when a mountain resort in Pennsylvania competed with international destinations? That era was very real, and Summit Resort was right at the center of it.
Walking through what remains of this property today gives you a rare window into that golden age of American romance travel, and that window is absolutely worth peering through.
Why The Guests Stopped Coming
Nothing lasts forever, and for Summit Resort, the turning point came quietly but powerfully in the late 1990s.
Affordable airfare changed everything. Suddenly, couples could fly to Florida, Las Vegas, or the Caribbean for roughly the same price as a Pocono Mountains getaway.
The math just did not add up in favor of staying local anymore.
Newer resorts with indoor waterparks, modern spas, and updated amenities started pulling guests away from the older establishments. Summit Resort, charming as it was, could not keep pace with the shiny new competition rising around it.
By 2002, the resort closed its doors after 35 years of operation. The Farda family, who built the property, held onto it for years before eventually selling it in 2019.
Redevelopment plans have come and gone. A multi-million dollar entertainment village was proposed around 2014, which would have included a movie complex and shopping center.
That project never moved forward.
Pocono Medical Center later acquired the section of the property where the main building once stood and demolished it, with long-term plans for a future hospital. But that could be years away from becoming reality.
So what does that leave behind? Dozens of private suites and villas still standing, frozen in the 1970s, slowly being reclaimed by the Pennsylvania wilderness.
Have you ever seen anything quite like that?
Heart Tubs And Mirrored Ceilings
Few things say “welcome to the 1970s” quite like a heart-shaped bathtub surrounded by mirrored walls.
Summit Resort had them in abundance. The Fantasia Suites featured the classic heart-shaped tubs that became synonymous with Pocono honeymoon culture.
The Montserrat Heart Villas took it a step further, adding heart-shaped beds and deluxe tiled versions of those iconic tubs.
Some suites even featured private indoor pools, which guests lovingly called mini pools. Round beds with mirrors overhead completed the look, giving every room a cinematic quality that felt bold and unapologetically romantic.
These design choices were not accidental. They were deliberate statements that said this place exists for celebration, for joy, and for couples who wanted something completely out of the ordinary.
Today, some of those features are still visible inside the remaining villas. Explorers who have documented the property describe seeing the remnants of that retro style, cracked tiles, dusty tubs, and faded mirrors that still somehow manage to reflect the past.
Can you picture honeymooning in a room that looked like a romantic movie set? Thousands of couples did exactly that, and many of them still talk about it decades later with genuine warmth.
The heart-shaped tub is now a symbol of an entire era of American travel, and Summit Resort was one of its most enthusiastic champions.
What The Walls Still Tell
Graffiti covers some of the walls. Roofs have caved in on certain buildings.
Nature is doing what nature always does when humans step away.
And yet, the remaining structures at Summit Resort still manage to communicate something powerful about the past.
Visitors who have explored the property describe a strange mix of sadness and fascination. Decades of memories seem to linger in every crumbling corridor and overgrown walkway.
The bones of the resort are still there, telling the story of a place that was once full of laughter and celebration.
The basketball and tennis courts, though worn, are still partially visible. Some of the private villa buildings remain structurally intact enough to give a clear picture of what the resort once looked like at its peak.
Black mold has taken hold in several areas, and the decay is significant. This is not a place to wander through carelessly.
The property is private, and the owners are serious about keeping trespassers out, so always respect posted signs and boundaries.
But even from the edges of the property, the scale of what was built here is genuinely impressive. This was not a small operation.
It was a full resort complex, and the sheer size of it explains exactly why clearing or restoring it would cost an enormous amount of money.
What would you do with a place this big and this full of history?
Too Big To Fix, Too Storied To Forget
The sheer size of Summit Resort is one of the biggest reasons it has sat untouched for so long.
Demolishing an entire resort complex is not a weekend project. It requires heavy equipment, significant funding, environmental assessments, and a clear plan for what comes next.
None of those pieces have fully come together yet.
The main building, which housed the lobby, restaurant, nightclub, pool area, and entertainment spaces, has been demolished. Pocono Medical Center, based in East Stroudsburg, acquired that section of the property and cleared it for a future hospital project.
But that development is still years away from breaking ground.
What remains are the private suites and villas scattered across the property, dozens of them, spread out over a large area of land. Clearing each one individually would be a massive undertaking.
Redevelopment proposals have circulated over the years. The Tannersville Entertainment Village concept from around 2014 would have transformed the site into a shopping and entertainment hub.
That idea faded without becoming reality.
So the resort sits in a kind of limbo, too expensive to fully restore, too complex to quickly clear, and too historically significant to simply ignore.
For history lovers and curious travelers, that limbo is actually quite compelling. Where else can you find an entire abandoned resort complex that still holds the physical echoes of its glamorous past?
Not many places come close.
The Pocono Mountains Around It
Even if Summit Resort itself is off-limits, the Pocono Mountains surrounding it are absolutely worth your time.
Tannersville, PA 18372, sits in one of Pennsylvania’s most scenic regions. The mountains here are green and rolling in summer, blazing with color in autumn, and quietly beautiful in every season.
The area around the resort is packed with things to do. Hiking trails, waterfalls, state parks, and outdoor recreation spots are all within easy reach.
The Pocono Mountains have reinvented themselves beautifully over the decades, even as some of their original landmarks faded away.
Driving through Tannersville and the surrounding towns gives you a real sense of how the region has evolved. Modern resorts with waterparks and spas now anchor the tourism industry, but the old Pocono spirit of escaping the everyday is still very much alive.
The landscape itself feels like a reward. Wide skies, forested ridgelines, and the kind of quiet that city life rarely offers make this part of Pennsylvania genuinely restorative.
Have you ever taken a road trip just to soak in scenery and stumble onto unexpected history? The Pocono Mountains are perfect for exactly that kind of adventure.
Pair a visit to the Summit Resort site with a full Pocono Mountain itinerary and you have yourself a weekend that covers nature, nostalgia, and a whole lot of Pennsylvania character.
Plan Your Visit The Smart Way
Planning a visit to Summit Resort takes a little preparation, and that preparation is absolutely worth it.
First, the most important thing to know: the property is private. No trespassing signs are posted, and the owners actively enforce them.
Respecting those boundaries is non-negotiable, both for your safety and out of basic courtesy for the property owners.
That said, the site can be observed from public roads and the surrounding area, giving curious visitors a genuine look at the scale and character of what remains. Many urban explorers and history enthusiasts have documented the property over the years, and their photos and videos are widely available online if you want a closer look without stepping foot on private land.
Tannersville itself is a welcoming town with places to eat, shop, and stay. Make a full day of it by combining your visit with other Pocono Mountain attractions nearby.
Check current conditions and local guidelines before heading out, since the state of the property can change as demolition and redevelopment work continues. Bringing a good camera is a smart idea, because the scenery around the site is genuinely photogenic.
Go on a weekday if you want a quieter experience. Weekends in the Poconos can get busy, especially during fall foliage season.
Ready to treat yourself to a little Pennsylvania adventure? The Summit Resort story is waiting, and it is one worth discovering in person.