My family has never done a winter vacation. Looking for a great place, near slopes that will house 6 adults and 3 kids economically. Open to anywhere (Colorado, Utah, doesnt matter. Any suggestions/recommendations would be helpful as I am starting from no experience. Looking to go anytime from Christmas eve thru New Years Eve. I know that is a very costly time, but its the only time we are all available to go. Most of us are novice skiers/snowboarders. Looking for ideas on specific accomodations. Would like a Condo or house but open to any good ideas.
Consider Deer Valley. It's in Utah and their ski school has been ranked #1 in North America. Upscale but very family friendly. No snowboarders in Deer Valley but you can drive 8 minutes to Park City and snowboard.
Have fun!
Sipapu in New Mexico!! Very family friendly, inexpensive, different types of lodging plans and special holiday programs. Skiing, snowoarding, and X-C too. Scenic anytime of year.
The time you're looking at is going to be very expensive. We lived up in Colorado for several years and were used to the crowds during the holidays. Having said that, going at Christmas is such a beautiful time. Our very favorite place is Vail...very family friendly, wonderful ski school, lots to do and see. Try the East side of Vail for a condo...a little farther from the town, but the bus is very convenient and free to take into town. It runs every 5-10 minutes. You really do want to stay as close as possible to your slope area, because driving will be a hassle especially if you're not familiar with driving in the snow...also everyone is skiing at that time so there are alot of folks coming in for the day parking, etc. Lines are also a bit longer during the holiday season mainly on the weekends. Breckinridge is also great...and very very family friendly....Keystone, Winter Park are good as well. The other cool location in Colorado is Steamboat....great skiing, ski schools, family friendly ...more of a rustic feel to it but a great family vacation. If you start checking now, you should be able to find something to suit you. Since it'll be your first time going you'll learn alot and it will make your second trip easier. We too are looking at going for a holiday trip since we don't live there anymore. By the way, Vail is one of the resorts that stays very holiday decorated thru February and longer. The places that are very pricey to go are Beaver Creek and Aspen...although both lovely.
Winter Park and Keystone, both in Colorado, are very family friendly. I found Winter Park to be the least expensive area, although we never went at Christmastime. There is a very convenient grocery store if you are staying in a unit with a kitchenette. They offer kids lessons, a childcare if you need it, and there is also a tubing hill for sliding down.
I'm from Utah and lived there most of my life. I just moved to Houston, TX last August. I would HIGHLY recommend Skiing there. There are multiple ski resorts and based on your skiing level, you can make your choice. Alta or Snowbird ski resorts are in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Alta is a great family ski resort and has all levels where Snowbird is mostly for middle to advanced level. In Big Cottonwood Canyon you have Brighton and Solitude ski resorts. Both are smaller ski resorts but have all ski levels.
Park City and Deer Valley are going to be your most expensive resorts but are great skiing. Wolf Mountain ski resort is just on the outskirts of Park City and is pretty good, too. It has all levels of skiing. Also in Ogden canyon there are few but I haven't ever been to those to ski.
So my recommendation would be Alta in Little Cottonwood canyon. Just below the canyon there are hotels and restaurants so it may be a better deal money wise unless you want to stay at the resorts up there.
If I can help you from there let me know.
Check out www.homeaway.com. We have used this site to rent beach houses. They have houses and condos all over the place. That is going to be a peak time anywhere that you are going to go skiing, so expect higher prices. Renting a condo or house you save alot of money in the long run. You don't have to eat out every meal. Plus there are so many more conveniences that a hotel doesn't have. Have fun!
We like Snow Shoe Mountain in Virginia. I like going to Colorado but Virginia is cheaper.
My husband and I love Lake Tahoe.
We stay at the Ridge Tahoe. It is ski in/ski out.
There is a restaurant on site and pizza place at the edge of the resort.
We went on our second skiing trip with kids and we stayed in Breckenridge, Colorado, which is a really pretty town and we stayed very central in The Village at Breckenridge. They have 2/3 bedrooms with living room with log fire, balcony, kitchen. It is kind of old fashioned but it was a ski in/ski out and it had a great ski school right beside it for the kids. We have gone there twice and loved it both times. Hope you have some luck.
