Visit Solair, but not on Weekdays; Berkshire Vista 2008?

I received this comment from a reader on another post about visiting Solair on a weekday.

"My girl and I planned to go to Solair yesterday (we're late 30s). Took the day off to relax and hopefully sit by the pool. Sent an email to confirm that we would be coming and got a response that we were not allowed to visit unless it was a weekend or holiday. Needless to say, we won't be visiting. No big deal, but wow, not a way to encourage the younger crowd. C & D"

That's unfortunate.

The weekday restriction is surprising. While some smaller membership-oriented clubs don't have the staff to support weekday guests, Solair gives off the appearance of being able to.

If you've read my posts about Solair in the past, I have mixed feelings. My wife and I are younger than you and did not feel out of place. I like the facilities, the safety and the true nudist atmosphere. That comes at the trade-off of not liking the membership push and what I've heard nudist singles say about being denied.

Membership focused clubs are good for the members but tend to isolate everyone else. There are other membership focused clubs that I've passed on to visit open clubs. Membership is just not for me.

Northeast alternatives

If you are in the area, SunRidge is 45 minutes south of Solair. SunRidge is a lot smaller but I'm pretty sure they can support weekday guests. It's a nice place if you just want to lounge by the pool all day. It's a nice place to bring a picnic lunch too.

Then there's Berkshire Vista in western Mass, maybe 2 hours from Solair. Berkshire Vista definitely allows weekday visitors and has discounts for staying overnight on weekdays. The downside is that their 2008 future is uncertain. This is on their homepage today: "We are NOT closing! We will operate in 2008 and beyond. Info will be released in the upcoming weeks." Naturist Journal has more details already here that point to Berkshire Vista scaling back.

In Eastern PA lies Sunny Rest Lodge, a really, really nice place with better facilities than the 3 above resorts. We just visited on a weekday and will be writing a trip report soon.