Villa Olivia

I’m only reviewing their Sunday brunch, we were there on Mother’s Day. I expected it to be busy & it was. Everything was… fine. But that is the problem if you’re paying $ 27+ and 19% gratuity (automatically added).
We were disappointed that there was no omelet station (they did have a carving station). No refills ever came for our coffee or soda. Twice when I went through the buffet they were out of bacon and sausage. The one time I went for juice no glasses were available. I took my nephew up for ice cream but after three tries with no one manning the station (apparently they were out of bowls) I gave up.
It seemed expensive for the experience.

The brunch is one of the best in the area.
The staff is very friendly and the ambience is something else. I will make this my favorite place to go

**SNOWBOARDING/​SKIING REVIEW**
I usually go to ski resorts further away with good trails to snowboard, but I wanted to teach my wife to snowboard somewhere close and thought this might be a good spot to learn. When I got to Villa Olivia, the staff were generally friendly but I felt the rented board was a bit substandard… her toes hung over too much which made it near impossible for her to turn. Needless to say, I could not really teach her to s-​curve. Apparently this was the biggest board they had for her.
There was enough snow packed on but it seemed that the park had not made any artificial snow, so the slopes were icy from midday. Along with my wife not being able to S-​curve, the ice made it even more difficult because she couldn’t control her speed on the slightest slope. There seemed to be several kids around getting lessons; one of the instructors seemed annoyed with anyone outside of the group… she made me feel like I was in the way. I can’t control people’s bad attitudes so I just let it go.
Towards the end of the day, I was going up the rope tow and tried to keep my distance from the kid in front of me. Another kid was right behind me and as I released the rope to keep my distance from the kid in front of me, the kid behind me got too close and tripped over my snowboard. I tried to make sure the kid was ok but the same instructor from before scolded me and made me feel guilty.
My wife and I felt extremely uncomfortable and we just left. Overall, my wife couldn’t learn, and I got a few nasty scrapes on my board from the ice that had formed. In addition, the slopes were boring even for the Midwest… I would not recommend this place.

(1) Snowboard rentals. They rent substandard equipment. See picture I posted of snowboard with two different types of bindings, one that worked fine and the other one that was impossible to operate. This makes it a lot harder for beginners because they need to get one of their boots off the board to move around.
(2) We encountered a teenager with snowboard and a lot of bad attitude towards the younger kids, saying things such as «can you not ruin the snow» as they went by. Like these kids could ruin artificial snow that has been packed into ice OR he’s not out there using the snow too. I suppose this is a problem at any ski place, but there is no one here to talk to the guy and make him leave people alone.

Worst experience. Greens and tee box in horrific conditions. We were on pace to finish 18 holes in 6 hours. Most holes, there were 4 groups waiting to play. Went to get a rain check for the back 9 so we can come back when it was more reasonable. Their «GOLF AND SKI OPERATIONS MANAGER», J. Poblocki, hinted that I was lying. I offered to drive out to talk to the people that were playing ahead of us (who were also upset). The customer service here is no joke. They need to go out of business.

I knew. I mean, I really knew. I have lived in this area for 8 yrs now, have played over a hundred rounds in the area, yet had never played Villa Olivia, because I knew. But curiosity killed the cat, and frankly, this golf course nearly killed my desire to want to play golf.
At best, it is gimicky, being a par 73, yet only 5500yds. At worst, it is a disgrace. The greens are THE WORST in the entire area, and it isn’t even close. Feel free to check out my photos of the condition. How a superintendent can allow this to happen to a course, and maintain his job, is beyond me. No wait, I know. It’s because Bartlett Park District isn’t paying attention to what they are doing here. Signage to let you know where to go for the next hole is nearly non-​existent. Cart «paths» are gravel with heavily eroded areas too. The safety hazards on this course are insane!
I beg of you, not to fall in to the trap I did, and play this course. It is one of the worst golf courses I have ever seen. And I can assure you, I will never be back.

Went for wedding august 22 very excellent services good food excellent sweet table and apertizer before you won’t starve and very nice ball room

Golf course is one of the worst in the area. Poorly maintained greens… the absolute worst I have ever seen.
There fees are not even close to being appropriate for the course condition.

Don’t come here. Terrible management.
For my wife’s baby shower the manager was very rude and charged her 6 extra people for the buffet when very clear who was in our party based on dress code.
Wasn’t worth to argue and cause scene in front of all our guests.
Very disappointing.
The manager can call me to apologize thanks.
630−802−1142

I am here for the sunday brunch hosted for my good friends baby shower reception
–the facility itself looks very nice and the servers are very polite
–sunday brunch is usually busy and i think there 3 other events going on
–the servers are attentive and are very prompt when asked for anything (although i think they should have been more proactive for asking if we need anything, been sitting for 45 minutes and no one asked me for any refills and our plates are still sitting infront of us cold)
–they have a nice center bar with open bar options but no tv, i know some people dont mind the no tv but i think with centralized bar you should at least have one (that did not affect my review rating)
Overall the brunch was ok the reason i gave the rating 3 stars was based on how the speed and availability of the food, ive been to the food area 2 times within 30 minutes and the bacon/​sausage was empty, the fruit /​cereal selection, and drink area was bare and looked like a mess. I know it can busy during brunch but im sure if upper management or the owners were present it would not have looked like this (if you know what i mean)
Lastly although i am only reviewing the brunch buffet today i would like to add that i have been here in numerous occasions for other events and they have always done a decent job (3−4÷5 stars)

VO is awesome! It totally beat my expectations for skiing/​snowboarding so close to Chicago! If you don’t have a lot of time to spend driving up to the bigger mountains like Devils Head in Wisconsin, definitely check this place out. I expected it to look like a bunny hill but it was pretty decent sized and had about 3 runs I was interested in.
Definitely take advantage of its proximity, also try to go during the week when there are fewer people. No more driving to Wilmot for me.

I seriously don’t understand why Villa Olivia has so many negative reviews. My brother & I were a bit hesitant after seeing the reviews, but we decided to check it out anyways (& we’re glad we did)!
Note: We only tried snowboarding & tubing here as it is winter so this review does not apply to the golf resort.
STAFF/​SERVICE:
All the staff here was quite friendly. My brother called beforehand to get an estimate on prices for lift tickets, tubing, board rentals, etc. They patiently and kindly answered all of his questions. My nephew & I took semi-​private lessons with Megan. She was really patient while teaching us new snowboarders the basics. Most of the staff (restaurant/​tubing area/​instructors) are quite young. However, I think that if you speak to them respectfully, they will do the same.
SNOWBOARDING/​SKIING AREA:
This is a great place to learn how to ski or snowboard if you are a beginner. Just note that there are no crazy hills for you intermediate to professional snow bunnies :)
TUBING:
I think it was about $ 20 to tube for 2 hours. It was a good time. There are two staff members on the top of the hill who asked how you want to be pushed down (forwards/​backwards/​spin).
PRICING:
Again, if you’re a beginner, Villa Olivia is a great place to start. The lift/​rental prices are cheaper than at Wisconsin. Plus, food was dirt cheap (just don’t expect gourmet food. They had the usual burgers, pizza, fries, etc).

If I would give this place NEGATIVE stars if possible! RUDE RUDE RUDE!!! Do not go here! I repeat, this pace has RUDE staff and SUPERINTENDENT, so rude that they LAUGH in your face if are having a problem. Spend your money where people are nice and deserving of your money.

My boyfriend and I had never been tubing or to Villa Olivia before so we decided to go last Wednesday. My boyfriend made sure to call and make sure there was tubing so we didn’t drive down there just to find out it wasn’t open… Well, low and behold we get there and were all geared up just to be told it’s not open Wednesday’s. The girl on the phone said they were open and we made sure to say Wednesday when we asked. We wasted an hour of our time driving and were both very frustrated. We came back the next day and had a very decent experience second time around. The hills were fun and the new magic carpet hill transportation was nice. We had a blast, but I’d advise the managers in charge of the slopes to better train staff on hours of operation. Lots of time and gas money could have been spared. We will be back in the future now that we are properly informed.

It would be great if you could gove zero stars. Made the mistake of coming here to golf one more round before the season ended. No one informed us until we were on the first hole they aerated the course so even when you were on the fairway you didn’t have a good shot. The greens were covered in sand, again we weren’t told anything about that.
There was an «outing» today that we weren’t informed about so when we tried to speed up the pace of play we were informed by the extremely slow people in front of us that we weren’t allowed to go ahead of them and if we had a problem to talk to the pro shop. We tried to talk to a manager and we were told he was out on the course. No problem, just have him drive out to us so we can talk about this issue, no one stopped by and we ended up finishing the round with no one from the course talking to us. When we stopped back into the pro shop we were told the manager knew but he had other things to do.
This place is horrible and from read in previous reviews im not the only one who thinks it.

Don’t let this place ruin your special day.
I wish there’s a «negative star rating» here. My friends’ wedding took place here. First, they were supposed to serve pork for the main course and they served turkey. I guess they’re trying to save money by fooling people.
Second, a THEFT occured. The cash for payment and checks as gifts to the newly weds were stolen. We caught the bartender wandering around the gifts and was caught by the bride’s mother opening the cash box.
The were also going in and out the newly weds room that was supposedly for them to keep their belongings during the ceremony as things were missing when it was time to pack things up.
The management apologized about the food and is continuing investigation about the theft.
Take your gatherings/​events elsewhere.

Reviewing the Sunday Brunch only.
Went here with the fam and what a treat! We were served quickly and their coffee was really fresh. The carving station had turkey, beef and the salad bar was huge. The hot entrée items were everything from eggs benedict to pasta, fish and other items. The variety is really good and everything was fresh and hot. Best part: ice cream station for the kids and adults alike. for under $ 20 it’s a great deal in this area.
We are there tomorrow for Easter Sunday, so I’ll update then!

My review is on the Friday Night Fish Fry.
Not impressed AT ALL.
Showed up around 6:30 with 8 people. While I knew we had a big party, it says on the flyer that reservations are taken for parties of 5 or more. When I got there, the hostess tells us that we HAD to have a reservation b/​c our party was over 5 people. Huh??? Where did it say that? Anyway — they ended up seating us at two tables — 5 and 3 at each.
Service was horrible. Staff just yelling at each other across the dining room to get another staff member’s attention.
Free refills on pop — NO WAY. Seriously — do places still do that… charge for EVERY refill?
Baked Tilapia — great option if you don’t want the fried stuff but it would have been nice if it was room and not room temperature.
Fried Cod — would have been nice if it was drained on a paper towel before they served it. It was really greasy!
All You Can Eat — You can get it on the fish but they aren’t giving you the fries and cole slaw to go with it. WHAT???
Salad Bar — Leaves MUCH to be desired.
All in all — AVOID IT unless what you read above is appealing to you…

Horrendous service and total waste of money. My brother came up with his family from Florida and I wanted to take them to a near by to have some winter fun and I should have took them to Wisconsin instead.
First off I brought my little cousin along because she the same age as my brothers kids and she lives in Bartlett and they gave us a hard time trying to get the residents discount of $ 5, residents make sure you have some proof of where you live.
Second the lift operator have a sick sense of humor by increasing the speed on the tow ropes cause my nieces and cousin to fall mid way up the slope, my cousin hurt her wrist on that fall.
Third, their only lift is so slow I think it goes backwards.
So if you want to take your family ski, I suggest going to Wisconsin, alpine valley isn’t too far and a thousand times better.

I went here for skiing, and I also considered it for my wedding (though decided against it, but it seemed like a very nice place!).
There’s some reviews here for skiing that don’t make it sound great, and of course it’s not fantastic — it’s in a flat part of a very flat state. Our land was not built for it. But for what it is, it’s pretty good! The only downside is the rope tows, but that’s just a reason to go to the bigger hill (with 4 person chair lift) sooner!
It’s a great place to go if you’re not a very good skier, if you just want somewhere local to practice before you go elsewhere for the season, or maybe if you’re taking kids who aren’t ready for a larger hill yet, anyway.
They often have some good deals (just yesterday I got a $ 20 lift ticket, and at the end of last season there was a $ 30 deal per person for families for lift ticket, rental, and group lesson, though I skipped the lesson part!), and Chicago’s only other options are much smaller (I think Four Lakes is really the only one) — you have to go to Wisconsin or Michigan for the most part otherwise.
They do also have snow tubing, but I’ve never done that.