The Last Italian Remaining Resort in the Catskills

The Last Remaining Italian Resort in the Catskills

7/17/2017

Villa Vosilla... the Last Resort

by Rich Monetti (on the GEEK)

Every summer, as the sizzle perspires from the cement, urban thoughts of running streams, flowing grass and cool mountain breezes inherently materialize around every New Yorker and only subside with the arrival of fall. But few would consider the very nearby setting today that many Italian families once made an affordable respite and desired vacation getaway. A sentiment reflecting the desolation this upstate destination of a bygone era now suffers. Nonetheless, a holdout remains and is the subject of The Last Resort.

So for those completely at a loss in the younger generations, the only introduction that suffices with a question: What the hell are the Catskills “Exactly. Right now there’s one Jewish place and three Italian places. I used to go to a place called Villa Maria," said Filmmaker Dante Liberatore. “The whole setting was an extension of little Italy for Italians. It meant going to a place with people just like themselves and reminded them of home in Italy where they could catch the mountain breeze.”

Unfortunately, the Catskills sunk as Americans were no longer grounded by the high rates of travel. “When the airlines went through deregulation, prices fell dramatically. This giving people so many more options – who really wants to go to the mountains and look at trees,” said the Yonkers born writer.

Still, who does a movie about the Catskills. “After finishing my previous project on Arthur Avenue, the producer wanted to do another Italian themed film. So I said, why don’t we go see if there’s any Italian resorts left in the Catskills,” said Liberatore....

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Accordion Players at Villa Vosilla

Bocce tournament

5 Comments

fran morris

1/5/2020 10:47:01 am

I used to go with my family to an Italian resort in the Catskills called Angeloini's Is there anything on this resort today? Thanks

Barbara R Bonanno

11/30/2020 11:16:27 am

Does anyone know who to contact at the Catskill Italian American Society? I'm thinking of the building in the village of Catskill, down at Point, past Dutchmen's Landing. We have a handmade wooden boat - a model size....called "Italia"... made by an Italian American named Fulia. It is electrified with lights inside and outside of the model and is inside of a glass case. To give you an idea of the scale ...the life savers handing on the boat are real Life Saver candies! Anyway....we would like to donate it to anyone who wants it...if the Catskill society is no longer viable we are happy to give it to anyone who would appreciate it.

Anna Bellveri link

12/20/2020 02:19:30 pm

As a child in the early 1960's,.my family took us every year for a week long summer vacation to the Pollace's Resort in the Catskills.As we got older,in the mid 1960's,we went to a resort called Hand's Cabins and later to Lake George and of course,dinners at Mario's good Italian restaurant. I remember with great fondness the Italian-American resorts with the cabins,pools,the dining hall with great food,and activities as a child I was 6 years old in 1964 and we always went with family friends and their children.In retrospect today,life seemed so much more simpler then and sadly,those family vacation get-aways by car to resort destinations not very far away are now a thing of the distant past.

John Weil

9/24/2021 08:40:51 pm

As a 17-year old teenager in the early 1970s I worked in the Catskill Mountains at a resort called, Villagio Italia.

A friend and I drove up for weekend work in the summer. We did that for a couple of years. We were both waiters and made far more money waiting tables with a relaxed crowd on vacation than we did at restaurants on Staten Island where we lived. It was worth the long drive and gas money.

At eighteen and nineteen we began to have a lot of fun, too. The Catskills resorts at the time were mostly known as a family vacation destination. But there were a lot of girls our age visiting with their families. And single older women flocked to the resorts. We were very much in demand. Most of the other waiters were married or old enough to be our dads. So we were popular.

I also got to hike through the forest, use the snow mobiles when not in use by the tourists, ski on site on a bunny slope (with ski tow) and I was given a room and two meals a day.

Villaggio Italia attracted lots of different people. But as other readers have commented, Italians and Jewish people for some reason, seemed to make up a large percentage of the crowd. Every one was there to have fun and spend money. They were all very generous.

For a kid used to a minimum wage of $2.25 an hour bringing home $250.00 in tips for weekend work serving breakfast and dinner was a thrill. Back then they paid us $1.60 an hour, too. That was the legal tip offset. In short, the money, the fun and the nice people made resort a wonderful memory. Thank you Catskills!

Jimmy link

11/23/2022 07:51:09 pm

I worked for the bar starting in 73 and was there for years. The brothers chef and the mantra opened Regina's in Kinston and I went there after that. Maybe we knew each other?

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The Last Remaining Italian Resort in the Catskills

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