We didn't know anything about Double Diamond Resorts, but we were intrigued with the company's ad in this weekend's edition of the Wall Street Journal touting its latest resort development -- in Sullivan County, New York. This part of the northeast has been economically depressed over the last 25 years. The Catskill Mountains, especially the area known as "The Borscht Belt" (for the many famous Jewish comedians who populated the nightclubs in the area), stopped being much of a destination in the 60s and 70s. The famed hotels became shabby, many closed, and the few notable golf courses, like the famed "Monster" at the Concord Hotel, fell into some disrepair. Many closed.
It was good to see someone making an investment in the Catskills, and we wanted to know more. The trouble is that DDResorts.com, the Double Diamond web site, says nothing about the new venture - the only information it supplies is about its four resorts in Texas and one in Pennsylvania. All we know about the new resort community is from the ad: 2,000 acres and gated; a "green development," which we take to mean environmentally pristine; a 70-acre mountain lake; "world class dining"; and a Nicklaus Design 18-hole golf course. Note that Nicklaus Design is different than a Jack Nicklaus Signature course. Jack doesn't design the courses designated as Nicklaus Design, but he does give the plans the once or twice over.
We hope the development of the Sullivan County resort itself, just 85 miles north of the Washington Bridge, is more coordinated than the initial marketing. The Catskills area, long in the economic doldrums but within easy driving distance for weekenders from New York City, can certainly use a boost.
