Recommended Lodging/Skiing near Burlington Vt?

[doctorbonez]

Hello,

I'm taking a business trip in early february up to Burlington and would like to take my SO with me so that we can stay an extra day to ski.

Any recommendations for a cheap but romantic place to stay in northern Vermont that is within a 30 min drive of skiing (Ill be driving up from NYC). Its a mid week trip, so I'm hoping to find some good midweek ski and stay specials.. but haven't been able to find any centralized sources of information.

Thanks!

 

[thetrailboss]

Boy, where do we start? In order of "closest to Burlington" to most distant:

Bolton Valley Ski Resort (dead midweek, slopeside lodging, etc). A good choice. 30 min to Burlington www.boltonvalleyvt.com

Stowe (quite expensive, but many options and good atmosphere). 45 min to Burlington. www.stowe.com

Smuggler's Notch (family resort, quite remote, slow lifts, not much snowmaking, good terrain). 45 minutes. www.smuggs.com

Sugarbush/Mad River Valley (talk to KingM about his place). Nice area! Mad River is natural skiing and Sugarbush is a full service, large resort. 45 min to Burlington. www.sugarbush.com www.madriverglen.com

Good luck!

 

[doctorbonez]

thetrailboss, thanks for your input!

Bolton valley looks promising because it is pretty close to Burlington..

They have some pretty good ski/stay deals, unfortunately they don't have too many pictures of their facilities. Anyone know if the lodge is cozy/romantic? Or is it pretty commercial? How are their trails? My SO is a relative beginner, so we are looking mainly at the green circle trails..

If anyone else has good ideas for off nice mountain lodges, give me a holler!

 

[JD]

The place is oldish and kind of dated, but it is probably the best choice for beginners.

 

[thetrailboss]

thetrailboss, thanks for your input!

Bolton valley looks promising because it is pretty close to Burlington..

They have some pretty good ski/stay deals, unfortunately they don't have too many pictures of their facilities. Anyone know if the lodge is cozy/romantic? Or is it pretty commercial? How are their trails? My SO is a relative beginner, so we are looking mainly at the green circle trails..

If anyone else has good ideas for off nice mountain lodges, give me a holler!

Bolton is high up on the mountain -- one of the highest base areas in the east. It is a self sufficient village with some older lifts and buildings, but the facilities aren't too bad. I'd consider it romantic, especially if you go night skiing and have your honey in one arm and the view of Burlington and Lake Champlain, glimmering in the starlight, behind you as you ride up the chair. The only downside is the drive up to it, which can be nasty in bad weather :x .

Their website should show the terrain...good selection and some nice beginner stuff as well. They also have an EXTENSIVE X-C and snowshoe center.

Enjoy!

 

[thetrailboss]

Though if money were not an issue and you were willing to drive a bit further, Stowe's new Spruce Peak area is quite nice (beginner terrain) and you have a lot more lodging options. It also is equally, if not more, romantic. But also, anyplace is romantic if you make it romantic :wink: . e.g. The Peak Double at Pat's Peak last Valentine's Day with Ms. Trailboss under my arm.

 

[rotorite86]

Hi all. I have been browsing this forum for a few months, seems like a great group of people.

Anyway, I finally decided to join when I saw this thread, as I am very familiar with Bolton Valley - have a condo up there.

For romantice setting, as someone else said, its a great place. The Lodge is very nice, and slope side - and the views on the lifts are amazing (especially at night). The James Moore Tavern (if it is still called that) is a nice resturant/bar. It has a good menu, and is very nice, fireplace included. Also, from the resturant, you can view the slopes. I suggest eating here, or grabbing some groceries in Burlington before you head up, as there is nowhere else to eat for miles. Someone said the facilities are outdated, but I think they are perfectly fine. They aren't state of the art, but they are definately acceptable.

I was just there on Monday, and as of right now, most of the mountain is open. The few Double Diamonds in the woods are closed, but mostly everything else is open. It was a tad icey, but where in New England isn't? I believe they have had snow since then anyway. Have fun!

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Bolton not highest base in east

Trailboss...your statement "Bolton is high up on the mountain -- highest base area in the east" is not correct. A rare occurance in your many posts.

For the east the honor actually goes to Ski Beech in NC at 5506', in the northeast the honor goes to Plattekill in NY at 2500', in New England the honor goes to Saddleback in Maine at 2450'....Bolton comes in at a very respectable 2150'.

I hope you don't mind the correction.

 

[thetrailboss]

Re: Bolton not highest base in east

Trailboss...your statement "Bolton is high up on the mountain -- highest base area in the east" is not correct. A rare occurance in your many posts.

For the east the honor actually goes to Ski Beech in NC at 5506', in the northeast the honor goes to Plattekill in NY at 2500', in New England the honor goes to Saddleback in Maine at 2450'....Bolton comes in at a very respectable 2150'.

I hope you don't mind the correction.

Yes...you are right...they have the highest base elevation in the state I believe :wink: . Thanks for the correction and please note my amendment.

I take it that you will be at the 'bush tomorrow after the storm? I'm personally feeling kind of...'cough, cough' sick, and think that I will have to take Monday off...a bad case of ski-itis! :wink:

 

[ski_resort_observer]

sounds bad

TB...sounds pretty bad, think you should definately take Monday off so as to not infect your co-workers.

As far as tomorrow I am not sure as they are predicting 35-45 mph winds up here. Just might hunker down and wait for the Pats to beat the Steelers as it is my one day off of the week.