Interesting article.

[SkiDog]

thought some of you might like this...I know these are the cream of the crop, but for a "Fancy" vacation...they might be the ticket

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7090499/

M

[tirolerpeter]

Yes, those are some fancy digs. And, I would be happy to try some of them if I won the Lottery. One stay at most of them would likely blow my ski budget for the season. While all those amenities are wonderful, I do go to ski country to actually ski. I consider myself lucky if a place I stay at has a nice hot tub. Beyond that, a decent place to eat is all I need to have a great time. Case in point: A couple of years ago I caught a deal ($79/night) at the brand new Marriot Residence Inn located right next to the gondola going up from South Lake Tahoe to the Heavenly ski area. It was beautiful. The accomodations were "regularily priced" at $350/night. You could buy a "quarter share" for $250,000. I guess they wanted us to fall in love with the place and the location and consider buying although, we didn't have to endure any kind of sales pitch to get the low price. While the room (a sort of efficiency apartment) was very nice, the place annoyed the crap out of me. You couldn't park your own car. You had to hand it over to the "valet" who then buried it in the underground garage to which you had no access. If you wanted your car, you had to call ahead, and then wait while they dug it out. I don't consider it a "luxury" to be standing in the cold next to my locked car, while the valet is letting two or three other groups into their cars. Then, after making you wait, he/she expects to be tipped for letting you into your own car. Since my wife (who doesn't ski) was with me, and needed access to the car several times during the day, and then again with me each evening when we went out to dinner, we had to go through this "Luxury" waiting game three to five times a day. It got rediculous. BTW, we didn't find out until we got there that this "luxury parking" was an additional $15/day.