Pesach Program Discussion Master Thread

[YitzyS]

They promised the meat would be Beis Yosef, but it ended up being chalav Yisroel

And glatt kosher milk

[zh cohen]

And glatt kosher milk

But you have to wash for the rolls...

[YitzyS]

But you have to wash for the rolls...

And don't bring Matzo into the swimming area because it's gebroks

[Something Fishy]

And don't bring Matzo into the swimming area because it's gebroks

Apparently matza was the least of their problems in the swimming pool.

[chff]

I was by a program, advertised as luxury, instead of WiFi there was black and white analog TVs in the closet

[Euclid]

I was by a program, advertised as luxury, instead of WiFi there was black and white analog TVs in the closet

Sounds like they had a top notch hashgacha

[Moshe123]

You assume the vast majority of the people that went there cared much about the actual kashrus. It just needed to be כשר במרכאות.

[zh cohen]

Responses from Elan:

His constant mentioning that anyone who has something to say should give their name (and have a profile picture) is pretty disgusting. Is he trying to insinuate that the OP wasn't really there?

Some people are private, and don't want the whole world to be talking about them.

[amaaretz]

Don't intend to beat a dead horse, but since we've managed to get this far with nobody making this point, I volunteer as tribute:

HG claims that after he approached the hotel with the email coming from their domain (as he told Brenner) or a similar domain (as is shown on the picture he shared) [hmm, which is it?], the hotel was all too happy to rely on the technical breach of contract and turn to regular business instead of dealing with him.

You would think that if a business was having their domain impersonated, to divert funds *from them*, they would be *leading* the collaboration with the FBI. They certainly wouldn't tell him to have a cookie and go away. Not sure how this isn't being mentioned

Additionally, with all the discussion here, has anyone even reached out to the hotel to verify? Because if this is all a scam from HG, and boy does it sound like one, surely no one from the hotel would corroborate the story. And if they do, doesn't that change the narrative quite a bit?

Again, sorry for revisiting. Just gnawing at me, and not sure how this wasn't mentioned before.

[Dan]

His constant mentioning that anyone who has something to say should give their name (and have a profile picture) is pretty disgusting. Is he trying to insinuate that the OP wasn't really there?

Some people are private, and don't want the whole world to be talking about them.

AFAIK, that group doesn't allow reviews until they verify the OP was a guest at the program and meet several other criteria. That was discussed in Brenner episode 2 when a caller said the group didn't allow him to post a review last year and the group admin responded that there were other reasons they didn't post the review.

[amaaretz]

AFAIK, that group doesn't allow reviews until they verify the OP was a guest at the program and meet several other criteria. That was discussed in Brenner episode 2 when a caller said the group didn't allow him to post a review last year and the group admin responded that there were other reasons they didn't post the review.

He was casually like "it was because of the sex addict and drug comments" and just moved on like it's no big deal

[AsherO]

You assume the vast majority of the people that went there cared much about the actual kashrus. It just needed to be כשר במרכאות.

Whoa! That’s harsh!

[Dan]

[Dan]

[Dan]

[Dan]

All I can say is thanks to @Mimi for continuing to make delicious Pesach food at home, despite getting offers to go to programs.

[Moshe Green]

You assume the vast majority of the people that went there cared much about the actual kashrus. It just needed to be כשר במרכאות.

...
Yes, you may not have anywhere to eat in Tel Aviv and you may have to bring your own food even when your in Israel (depending on where you are going). But don't knock out the list just because you want the tastiest vacation or can't be bothered to check out a Hechsher to see if its really reliable or not.

[Moshe123]

It's funny to see many complain about the lack of variety of foods.

Lol. Talk to any chassidish etc. family with chumros....

[jye]

All I can say is thanks to @Mimi for continuing to make delicious Pesach food at home, despite getting offers to go to programs.

IIRC You went to Four Seasons Whistler one Pesach and had a positive experience. Agree that there is nothing like home though.

[Dan]

IIRC You went to Four Seasons Whistler one Pesach and had a positive experience. Agree that there is nothing like home though.

I worked at programs in 2014 and 2017. They were great experiences, but based on all these stories it seems like I dodged a bullet. Whistler and Rabbi Weinberg were indeed amazing.

And there really is no place like home. Though investing in a Pesach kitchen certainly charged the dynamics of that.