I want to take my girlfriend somewhere nice in March for her birthday.  A friend of hers went to the Pocono Palace Resort and has been raving about the place.  I admit the idea of an all inclusive resort is appealing.  However, I went online and based on the reviews at yelp.com and pictures of the place it looks like I am paying $1,000 for a weekend to stay at a 1970's resort with crappy food and crappy activities.  I do not want to pay $1,000 to have a horrible time with bad food and bad housing.  Has anyone been here before?  Anyone with any other recommendations or words of wisdom?  We are in our 30's and want to have some fun!

I am open to suggestions as to where I can go for the weekend with a $1,000 budget.  Looking for something nice and different to celebrate time away together.  Has to be no further than 2 hours from Philadelphia by car.  I just think for $1,000 I can do a lot better than the Pocono Palace.  Thought of going to Atlantic City, but we have been there many times and would like to try something different.  Been to Baltimore many times before too.  Thought of going to a romantic bed and breakfast, but we do not want to be locked inside of a room all weekend - would like some fun activities to do during the day and night.  

Thanks,
Ken

$1000 budget for a weekend for two w/in 2hrs of Philly?

I'll probably catch flack for saying it, but NYC.

Get a decent hotel in midtown, do MOMA, do the Museum of Natural History, walk the Highline and the Brooklyn Bridge, go for a nice dinner and drinks somewhere.  Maybe see a show - jazz, comedy, rock, whatever.  Maybe an evening helicopter tour of NYC.  Shop, catch a movie at the Sunshine on Houston, go to a dive bar in the EVil, go to the Museum of Sex.  If you can't find fun activities and awesome food in NYC, anytime of the day or night, I don't what to tell you.

NYC has a lot to do/see and some excellent food, but I spend too much time there as it is.. I don't see how you'd do a weekend there for $1k..

Do you two like to skii/snowboard? My wife and I went to Bear Creek for our anniversary and had a lot of fun. We got the deluxe king suite w/jacuzzi.. the room was a lot nicer than I expected.. very nice for a weekend get away with the misses they had a spa, resturant/bar, indoor pool and of course all the outdoor winter activities.. check them out, we're looking forward to going back: Bear Creek Mountain Resort

NYC for $1000 is easily doable.

Also, consider taking her here...

http://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/bedford-springs

We've been half a dozen times or so, one of my most favorite places to go.

If you look around you can often find a deal on a hotel. My wife and I did the Hilton on E. 42nd for about $150/night all in just a week or two before Christmas.  I lived and worked there for almost 15 years.  Manhattan can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be, and there's a lot of awesome and memorable stuff you can do for free - walk the Highline, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park. The museums aren't free, but they aren't terribly expensive either.  Planning is key.  No, you're not going to be eating every meal at Le Bernardin on a $1000 budget, but there's a lot in between that and McD's.  

Suppose you're correct that just seems like a tight budget to stay in midtown for the weekend IMO. When my wife and I went for a get away  (arrived Friday around lunch time, left Sunday after lunch) we spend more than double his budget. But we also went to see Jim Gaffigan (think that was $250 +/- tickets, drinks) Hotel was close to 1k w/parking, room service and taxes.. We did find an excellent little Italian restaurant off Lexington Ave called Bella Blu.. food was phenomenal but very expensive. And of course the wife had to do some shopping.. It was fun and all, but we had a lot more fun at Bear Creek and it cost less than half the money..

Hershey Hotel. Overpriced IMO, but she'll rave about how nice the rooms were. Get your couples chocolate massage, take her shopping in the outlet stores, take her for breakfast to the Hershey Pantry. She'll have fun which is what counts.

I wouldn't spend a dime in nys at all.

I would suggest looking in Va beach, Myrtle beach etc.. warming and at least they are not communist states.

NY is not open for business unless you want to support the communist way.

Don't want to be locked in a room all weekend?- what better excuse for romance.  Although I haven't been there yet myself, we've been wanting to go here for a weekend away Stroudsmoor Inn.  If you're still considering the Pocono's, they have several options that would include your room and a meal or two.  One of my hunting buddies goes a few times a year, when they do their seafood buffet and says that it's killer.

http://www.glasbern.com/

only about an hour from philly....place is simply amazing and you won't be dealing with the intellectual lightweights from nyc and nj that frequent the pocono resorts
plus if you want entertainment the casino in bethlehem is about twenty minutes