Seven Tips for Planning a Teenage Birthday Trip with Crystal Springs Resort in New Jersey

We place great emphasis on gifting our children experiences and believe birthdays are the perfect time to celebrate the gift of friendship with a special trip. For a recent celebration, our daughter wanted to go away for the night with some of her closest friends. We immediately thought of one of our favorite resorts, Crystals Springs Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey, and knew it would be the perfect place to celebrate.

We’ve been to Crystal Springs in the summer (yes to all the golf! The gardens! The outdoor activities! The pool complexes!) and in the winter (yes to the Cozy Corner! The snow tubing! “Glice skating”! Swimming outdoors in the winter!) and decided Crystal Springs is perfect any time of year.

“New Jersey’s favorite resort” and the largest golf resort in the Northeast, Crystal Springs Resort consists of two separate resorts, located less than five minutes apart. Between the two resorts, there are six golf courses, almost a dozen dining options, two spas, three pool complexes, and literally 365 different activities for the whole family to enjoy. The Grand Cascades Lodge is the larger resort with 250+ rooms and suites, two pool complexes, the Reflections Spa, several dining options, and plenty of outdoor sports. The Minerals Hotel has close to 200 rooms and suites, a massive indoor sports club, pool complex, dining options, and the Elements Spa.

This week on the blog, we wanted to share some tips for planning a special celebratory trip for teenagers and why we think a resort like Crystal Springs is the perfect spot.

Note: We enjoy staying at the Grand Cascades Lodge and reference amenities at the lodge in this post. To learn more about the Minerals Hotel, check here. Also, we avoided including photos of our daughter’s friends to respect their privacy.

Seven Tips for Planning a Teenage Birthday Trip:

1. Consider the location and travel time: We’re fortunate to live in the Northeast with easy access to many wonderful places to explore. We knew we wanted a shorter driving time (there’s only so much “teenage” music we could handle in a small space), and Crystal Springs is an under two hour drive for us (it’s also an hour from Manhattan, two and a half hours from Hartford, Connecticut, and just under four hours from Boston). 
2. Splurge on the lodging: Once our daughter mentioned wanting to go to Crystal Springs, I knew we’d be booking the Angel Falls suite. I had previously stayed in this two bedroom, two bathroom suite with a full kitchen, spacious living room, and balcony with fireplace overlooking the mountains with girlfriends. It is the perfect set up for larger groups. For this visit, the adults stayed in an attached separate room, which gave everyone peace of mind that we were nearby, but also gave the adults and kids their own spaces. The Grand Cascades Lodge offers a variety of suite options (from a one bedroom suite to the deluxe, six bedroom Grand Villa) and Minerals Hotel also has a few suite options, which work well for groups of four to six up to 15 people!

3. Plan meals ahead of time: Crystal Springs has almost a dozen dining options at both resorts, including several outdoor spots during warmer months.  We ordered everyone tacos and chips and dips from the Biosphere Taquiera for lunch and planned a take out pizza party from the Springs Bistro for dinner, more economical than a formal dinner in the Bistro or Crystal Tavern. Both options allowed the group (of teenagers) to relax in an informal setting rather than one long table in a busy restaurant on a Saturday night. Crystal Springs also offers plenty of spots for treats, like gelato from the Taquiera and coffee and sweet treats from Rosebud Roasters year round, warm drinks and treats in the winter from the Schnapps Schack, and summer favorites from the Vista 180 Cafe in the summer. Several dining options at both Crystal Springs resort allow for reservations, which we recommend on busy weekends and for large parties.

4. Organize a couple of anchor activities: In addition to the lodging, we knew Crystal Springs would be a perfect fit because the resort offers so many daily and seasonal activities, several of which are included in a stay. We visited in the winter and the famous “glicing” rink was open for ice skating (which we did during our last visit) and curling, which the group LOVED. Of course, the Biosphere pool complex is a huge hit any time of year, but especially during colder winter months. Perennial favorites include resort scavenger hunts, s’mores by the outdoor fire, movies in the pool, glow mini golf, visits from the local petting zoo (pony rides, goat yoga), tons of arts and crafts activities, and nightly entertainment– our group loved the magician mentalist. The Minerals Hotel offers a sports club (rock climbing and exercise classes), game lounge arcade, and Backyard for tons of hands-on competition.

5. But allow for plenty of “free time”: Some of the best memories are organic ones that are unplanned. We made sure to give our daughter and her friends space and time to do their own thing (which was usually sing-a-longs to Pandora and selfies). Both resorts at Crystal Springs offer plenty of lounge areas throughout the beautifully manicured lawns, gardens, and grounds, including the Amphitheater and the Wild Turkey Nature Trail at Grand Cascades Lodge. 

5. Set boundaries: We were clear on the invitation what was included in the trip, when we would leave and return, and what we would be doing. We knew the girls might see that Crystal Springs has a fabulous spa and want to book appointments. We made sure the group understood they could not book their own activities or spa appointments and needed to stay together.
6. Communicate with parents: We sent a formal invitation in the mail and also followed up with an email to parents, asking for contact information and any medical concerns. We reiterated our expectations of the group staying together and including everyone in each activity (we asked for preferences ahead of time and also updated the group with the weekly activities list when we arrived). We love that Crystal Springs offers a variety of activities for so many interests and that so many activities are included in a stay. Our group could pop into something for a few minutes and then move on to another activity without concern for wasting time or resources. 

Check out our adventures at Crystal Springs in the summer and in the winter. And be sure to follow along on our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and X. 

Disclosure: The resort was kind enough to include the curling experience as a gift to our daughter. All opinions expressed are my own.