Back in May, I came across an article highlighting a new waterfront vacation destination in Sylvan beach, New York. I live in Buffalo, NY so it was a two and a half hour drive. Sylvan Beach is located just north of Syracuse on Oneida Lake.

Since I had already booked our vacation plans for the summer, I reserved a weekend in September thinking it would be a great way to experience this new property while the weather was still good.

The Cove is located at 750 Pioneer Avenue, Sylvan Beach, NY 13157.

This is my honest review of our weekend!

• They currently do not have an online booking system so you have to submit a reservation request. I believe the website says they should have one in place late this fall.

• During the peak season, they only allow week long rentals, so your best bet to experience the property is to book in the shoulder season, so either May or September.

• 2023 dates: May 5-June 9 (minimum 2 night stay); June 10-August 26 (week long stay Sat-Sat or Sun-Sun); August 27-October 1 (minimum 2 night stay)

• I booked a two bedroom cottage. It had two full bathrooms, a king bedroom and two doubles, full kitchen, washer & dryer and living room. The cost for the weekend was $796.26. There are also three bedroom cottages available and the property is dog friendly.

• Make sure to book a free standing cottage even if it costs a little more. We were placed in a quad building and while I loved our unit, we were woken up in the middle of the night by the people upstairs.

• They will text you the code to get into your unit the afternoon of your arrival. I loved this feature and appreciated the contactless arrival. Each unit comes with two parking spots.

• You have to bring everything you would bring to a rental. Laundry detergent, paper towels, napkins, etc. They do provide the basics in a kitchen like silverware, cooking utensils, plates and a Keurig coffee machine. There is also a grill and bonfire pit included with every unit.

• You are given a voucher for a free bundle of wood for your fire pit, but nothing to light it with. Bring matches or some type of lighter. To redeem the voucher, you can call the Supply Store and they will deliver it to your cottage.

• The best part of the place is the pontoon boat! With every rental you are given access to a boat for the length of your stay. You will receive an email before check in to schedule an arrival appointment to get the keys to the boat. You MUST provide proof of an online boaters course and a drivers license before they will release the boat to you. FYI, the course takes anywhere from 3-5 hours so don’t wait until the last minute like I did haha.

• You are required to fill the gas tank of the boat before checking out, so make sure you check the hours of the fueling dock. If you do not fill the tank, they will charge you whatever their going rate per gallon is and it was almost double the cost of the gas at the fueling dock.

• We chose to cook at the cottage the first night and dine out the second night. Our dinner was great at the Spaghetti Factory located about 10 minutes from the Cove. There are other restaurants in town but we did not dine at any.

• There is a store on the property that has anything that you may have forgotten and also a food counter that sells coffee, a handful of food items and ice cream. We ordered breakfast sandwiches and coffee each day and both were good.

• There is a beautiful pool and unique playground area but we did not use either since we wanted to spend as much time on the boat as possible.

My absolute favorite part of the weekend was taking the boat out at sunset!

It felt like we had the whole lake to ourselves!

So would I go back? Yes! I think that the Cove has a really unique concept and that it’s a great little getaway. The shoulder season is very affordable and the perfect way to experience the property and the lake. I really enjoyed being there in September for the warm days and cool nights and I loved the quiet feel of the town after the summer crowds were gone. Add the Cove to your list if you’re looking for a relaxing lake getaway!

Feel free to leave me any questions or comments about our weekend!

x. julie