Where to crash, cheap

[billski]

I know this has been brought up before, but OppositeGeorge's post happened about the same time I had picked up this "room$aver" rag at the State of NH rest area. I was looking at the "walk-in" rates (no reservations.) They are pretty low and as long as you have their phone number you can check before you go. Most offers on this page expire end of December and have exclusion periods. Seems like just north of White River Junction, near Dartmouth is a good place to find a cluster of inexpensive motels. I've included a scan of one of the pages:

I have always seen it, but never figured it had anything of "value." Remember, there are new offers with each publication. Most rates posted are for weeknights, but the good news is that they work well if you're solo.
BTW, the internet offers are not near as inclusive as the publication.
If you want a hi-res scan of this, drop me a PM, I realize that the "fine print" is unreadable.

If nothing else, it gives you names and towns where some of the finest cheapos are found.

Here's George's very useful post:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/21161-im-looking-go-ski-trip-3.html#post213749

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Thanks for the props, Bill!

Those are some sweet deals in the Rutland area, especially the RRI and Best Western. The Brattleboro deals are very good too (but remember what I said about the Quality Inn...) Good call!

FYI, I've also seen these books in the Vermont State Welcome Center before Brattleboro on I-91, as well as in the CT Rest Area on 91 just north of the Wilbur Cross merge. Sometimes you'll see them at truck stops/travel centers, too.

 

[billski]

two more pages:

two more pages:

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Also, this discussion on kzone had a couple new-to-me suggestions.

(And that Hampton Inn in Colchester -- a phenomenal place to stay for that price. Hopefully they'll do the Ct. Ski Council discount again this year -- last year it was either 69 or 79 -- I forget -- and worth every damn penny.)

 

[millerm277]

Those are some sweet deals in the Rutland area, especially the RRI and Best Western. The Brattleboro deals are very good too (but remember what I said about the Quality Inn...) Good call!.

The Best Western in Rutland is a nice one, good rooms, quiet, and a pretty good free breakfast.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Just saw this unbeatable deal on snowjournal.com: $99 for one midweek night @ the Hampton Inn in Littleton NH plus two lift tickets to Jay, Burke, Cannon or Bretton Woods. The catch -- the deal expires 12/25 so that pretty much leaves us this week to take advantage. But with this storm due, it could be a great excuse to play hooky.

 

[Razor]

We travel down south a lot and use those visitor center booklets all the time. The deals are incredible, usually $20-30 less than the cheapest available rate. We call on the way to see if they have a room available at that rate and usually have no problem.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Bumping this to share two recent discoveries.

Finally got around to staying at the Turn of River Lodge near Killington last night. Called before I went up -- they quoted dorm-style beds @ $25/night and a single in a private room with shared bath @ $35/night -- both prices are inclusive of all taxes. I think these are below normal prices but it's obviously slow right now. Still, there were at least four of us there.

I sprang for the single, figuring at least that would mean I'd have a door to shut. The whole place was spotless, including the two shared bathroom/shower combos on the second floor. My private room, surprisingly, had its own TV with remote and lots of basic cable channels and a phone and alarm clock. Strong WiFi throughout the building. All the lights in the room were regular wattage and it was plenty bright. Heat was plentiful, sheets were nice and clean, twin-size bed was comfy enough and came with two pillows. Breakfast was a joke (English muffins, jelly, butter, milk and cold cereal) but what do you want for $35? This place would go to the top of my list for the Killington area, if I didn't already have several club lodges nearby to pick from. Still, it's a great deal and well worth checking out for those who want a clean value close to the mountain.

Second: I'm at the LaQuinta Inn and Suites in St. Albans right now. Nice place, and it puts my second-favorite Northern Vermont Ski Lodge, the Burlington Motel 6, to shame. It's really very nice, and priced accordingly -- this morning the room was listed at $99 plus tax, well, okay, $89 with an AAA discount. Too rich for my blood, BUT I made 'em an offer of $45 on Priceline.com and they bit. After taxes and fees it comes to $56 for the night. For WiFi and real beds and cable with a zillion channels it seemed worth the extra $10 or so over what a Motel 6 stay would've run. And most importantly for this slow starter, it's a good 20-25 minutes closer to Jay -- that'll come in handy tomorrow morning. So I guess the lesson there is that even though in the Northern VT region there are few deals to be found using the normal online travel sites, try Priceline and you might just get an excellent discount off the ridiculous rack rates. Look at this site for lots of good info on how to get the most out of Priceline.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Bumping this to share two recent discoveries.

Finally got around to staying at the Turn of River Lodge near Killington last night. Called before I went up -- they quoted dorm-style beds @ $25/night and a single in a private room with shared bath @ $35/night -- both prices are inclusive of all taxes. I think these are below normal prices but it's obviously slow right now. Still, there were at least four of us there.

I sprang for the single, figuring at least that would mean I'd have a door to shut. The whole place was spotless, including the two shared bathroom/shower combos on the second floor. My private room, surprisingly, had its own TV with remote and lots of basic cable channels and a phone and alarm clock. Strong WiFi throughout the building. All the lights in the room were regular wattage and it was plenty bright. Heat was plentiful, sheets were nice and clean, twin-size bed was comfy enough and came with two pillows. Breakfast was a joke (English muffins, jelly, butter, milk and cold cereal) but what do you want for $35? This place would go to the top of my list for the Killington area, if I didn't already have several club lodges nearby to pick from. Still, it's a great deal and well worth checking out for those who want a clean value close to the mountain.

Second: I'm at the LaQuinta Inn and Suites in St. Albans right now. Nice place, and it puts my second-favorite Northern Vermont Ski Lodge, the Burlington Motel 6, to shame. It's really very nice, and priced accordingly -- this morning the room was listed at $99 plus tax, well, okay, $89 with an AAA discount. Too rich for my blood, BUT I made 'em an offer of $45 on Priceline.com and they bit. After taxes and fees it comes to $56 for the night. For WiFi and real beds and cable with a zillion channels it seemed worth the extra $10 or so over what a Motel 6 stay would've run. And most importantly for this slow starter, it's a good 20-25 minutes closer to Jay -- that'll come in handy tomorrow morning. So I guess the lesson there is that even though in the Northern VT region there are few deals to be found using the normal online travel sites, try Priceline and you might just get an excellent discount off the ridiculous rack rates. Look at this site for lots of good info on how to get the most out of Priceline.

Wow nice..I enjoyed your extensive post from several months back. I've stayed at my fair share of gross motels and I look for chains whenever I can even if it's a budget chain like quality/sleep inns. As for the shared sleeping quarters/shared bathrooms of the Turn of the River lodge..I don't think I could deal with that sort of thing..as I like my privacy..but it's good that hostel like accomadations exist in ski country..I don't know if the Vermont ski dorm by Stowe still operates..I drove by it last week and there weren't any cars in the lot..

 

[riverc0il]

I have stayed at Turn of River Lodge before during a Bush/MRG mid-week jaunt when I lived down in MA. It was the cheapest place I could find within an hour of the MRV (just about an hour each way from ToRL). The place is great, I agree. I went mid-week and asked for a bunk for the night. They ended up putting me into a four person room with one room mate at the "bunk" price of $25. Sensational value and especially sweet mid-week if that is regular practice.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Wow nice..I enjoyed your extensive post from several months back. I've stayed at my fair share of gross motels and I look for chains whenever I can even if it's a budget chain like quality/sleep inns.

Yeah, for some reason in the Burlington area there's a ton of gross-but-still-not-cheap motels. FWIW, I haven't tried it but the Quality Inn in Colchester/Burlington always gets solid reviews and seems to have a current Room$aver book coupon for $49.99/$54.99 midweek/weekends.

As for the shared sleeping quarters/shared bathrooms of the Turn of the River lodge..I don't think I could deal with that sort of thing..as I like my privacy..but it's good that hostel like accomadations exist in ski country.

Everybody's got a different threshold for that sort of thing. Last night was so uncrowded though that I never had to wait for the bathroom or shower. And the place stayed clean. With the private room it was more like staying at a friend's house than hostel situation, really. But then again, this was mid-week, mid-April...

Anyway, there are still a handful of ski dorms/hostels here and there. There's a list here -- dunno how good it is. There's also a hostel or two in the Lake Placid area, and occasionally you'll see a reference to one you've never heard of before. I think I'm going to start making a list of these places so if anybody knows of any PM me.

I don't know if the Vermont ski dorm by Stowe still operates..I drove by it last week and there weren't any cars in the lot..

Yeah... does anybody know what the deal is with that place? They've had that "No Vacancy" sign up for at least three years, it seems. And no internet presence. It's a shame that a place like that might be sitting empty in mid-season.

 

[Mildcat]

I stayed here about a month ago.
http://www.riverbankmotel.com/rates.html
It's in Lincoln NH right next to Clarks Trading Post. For $34 per night I wasn't expecting much but the place was spotless and had a fridge and microwave. IIRC i think they even had discount tix to Loon and Cannon.

 

[Talisman]

Having a list of decent places to sleep in ski country as a 'sticky' would be benificial.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I stayed here about a month ago.
http://www.riverbankmotel.com/rates.html
It's in Lincoln NH right next to Clarks Trading Post. For $34 per night I wasn't expecting much but the place was spotless and had a fridge and microwave. IIRC i think they even had discount tix to Loon and Cannon.

Wow $34 a night in 2008...incredible..

 

[hrstrat57]

Having a list of decent places to sleep in ski country as a 'sticky' would be beneficial.

Huge agree with this! Emphasis on cheap please.....

 

[ski220]

..I don't know if the Vermont ski dorm by Stowe still operates..I drove by it last week and there weren't any cars in the lot..

It's been closed for the last 3 or so years due to not being "handicap compliant". Maybe the progressive state of Vermont will decide to close the Taft lodge or the Long TRail for similar reasons,

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Priceline comes through again: $47/night for three nights @ the Burlington/Williston Courtyard by Marriott (vs. AAA rate of $116!) Excellent business hotel accomodations just about 45 minutes from da Bush, for 2 bucks over what Motel 6 is asking. It'll be a bit of a haul to Jay Saturday morning but not having to move Friday night makes up for that.

The more I use Priceline the more I like it.

 

[riverc0il]

It's been closed for the last 3 or so years due to not being "handicap compliant". Maybe the progressive state of Vermont will decide to close the Taft lodge or the Long TRail for similar reasons,

The very unprogressive state of NH has similar regulation issues and when one of the AMC huts was redesigned a few years back, they were forced to do so with handicap compliance. As I recall, a group of people assisted a handicapped person in a wheel chair up the trail (for some reason, I think it was the Greenleaf Hut via OBP) just to prove a point. I thought the whole thing rather silly myself as if you could get up to the hut, a few stairs probably is not going to stop you either.

 

[MichaelJ]

Galehead. Yes, they hauled a person in a wheel chair up the Gale River Trail to prove a point that if they could get there, they could navigate the hut. Wide doorways, accessible toilet stall, handles instead of knobs on the doors, and a ramp out front to the porch.

I agree with your statement in regards to the ramp, but not about the other interior items, which would even be useful to someone not necessarily confined to a wheelchair. I think overall it was a waste of money, but some of it was a good idea.

To my knowledge nobody else fully mobility-limited has been up there since.

Oh, and the ADA laws on public accommodations are Federal legislation; the states are merely the enforcers. Many, many places are grandfathered, but if you do anything classified as a major renovation, you have to comply.