Why is ski lodging cheaper out west than it is in the east?

[KustyTheKlown]

A fun side-topic would be what are the cheapest places you ever stayed at on a ski trip?
I've done a bunch of hostels in my day, some still around, some long gone. In the '70s I stayed in a motel in the Denver area for $10 per night and day-tripped to Winter Park. As recently as February 2015 on visit to Park City I slept 150 yards from the Payday Express chair in the men’s dorm of the Chateau Après Lodge for $40 a night including a decent continental breakfast. It's an old property and I thought they'd have torn this place down by now, but I just checked and it still operates; dorm beds are $60 now.

i've really combed the bottom of the barrel all over new england. the two roadway inns in rutland used to be like $70, now i think they are 'transitional housing' and not rooms for travelers. i still stay in the dog-shit white river junction quality inn for $100 a night.

out west, salt lake city for sure the worst for me some $50-60 type motel6 places. pretty bad places in enumclaw washington "near" crystal.

on a big sky trip, i stayed in west yellowstone. a total winter ghost town. an hour's drive thru a desolate stretch of yellowstone park to get to skiing. after a few days i cracked and got an airbnb in someone's house in big sky. that drive early AM was brutal. not worth the savings, that one.

 

[Zand]

damn shame about the hillside inn

Could always count on it being $74 after mid March. Stayed there many times. When they got bought I discovered Chalet Killington which was a little bit more but I think still under $100 and had a cool old school ski lodge feel to it. And i didn't have to worry about getting back after spending at least the price of the room on drinks at Baja Burrito lol.

 

[crank]

Jackson WY lodging prices benefit in that winter is their low, well lower anyway, season. Same holds true for Whitefish MT. Other places as well I think.

We've also gotten great deals staying around Sandy, UT in business hotels over holiday periods.

I was impossible to find a sub $100 deal last season even staying in Rutland.

I have considered joining one or two of several ski clubs that have lodges in VT. Your sleeping costs will come way down, but you will be sleeping with strangers... although then you may become friends with the strangers and find some new ski buds.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

i've really combed the bottom of the barrel all over new england. the two roadway inns in rutland used to be like $70, now i think they are 'transitional housing' and not rooms for travelers.

lol, last season I book two places in Manchester, one for me on a weekday trip and the other for a weekend with the significant other. Both pretty cheap.

My weekday trip was first and the place looked way worse than the pics. It was partial housing for immigrants and part section 8. A few cars on blocks, filthy couches outside in front of rooms, and some makeshift outdoor cooking setups.

An uneventful stay but after I checked in I drove across town to look at the other place, since pics proved deceiving. Fortunately it was very nice with a newly repaved lot, a very nice breakfast setup, and all ski groups/families. The owner was rightfully very proud of the place.

 

[4aprice]

Very interesting subject. With places to stay in Cottonwood Heights UT, Lakewood, CO and the condo in Granby, CO we have had to stay in hotels much less frequently then before. Right now I'm only looking at 2 weekends stays in hotels for this up coming season, both here on the east coast. One off them is fairly expensive but seeing as its just the wife and I and we've enjoyed staying there before the $ is not an issue. That would be the Black Bear Inn at Stratton VT. Nice hot tub, walkable to the village for meals and drinks, worth it for 1 weekend a season. Got to admit one amenity we look for when booking for skiing is a nice hot tub. The other stay I got booked is the Holiday Inn in Lincoln NH in March. Not in the range of the Black Bear but in the range of what Jim K said he was seeing in his travels post pandemic. Interestingly enough I just for fun checked the price of a night at another place we have stayed that we really liked at Steamboat, the Holiday Inn on Rt 40. It's price was right in line with the Holiday Inn at Lincoln NH. Even though our Condo at Granby is an hour and a half from Steamboat I could see overnighting there in the future for multiple days at the Boat. Will also be exploring more when we get out there for our winters in the future so I will be doing research on where to stay as I plan my trips.

 

[oldfartrider]

Many of the long time owners of B&Bs and Inns sold out in the recent real estate boom. The new owners have a big mortgage to pay. The best deals r the places with long time owners.

 

[heiusa]

I have considered joining one or two of several ski clubs that have lodges in VT. Your sleeping costs will come way down, but you will be sleeping with strangers... although then you may become friends with the strangers and find some new ski buds

I belong to a ski club, our club has a house at the base of Pico Mt. The way our house is set up you do not need to sleep with strangers, if you do not want to. It does depends on how full the house is that weekend / week. As you stated, after being a member for over 20 years, I know most of the other members and have made many friends. Another benefit to the club is ride sharing and access to discount tickets. As with every plus, there will be minuses, I have to pay dues, clean my room, etc.

The plus is that it is a nice house that feels more like a large Air BnB and the cost to stay cant be beat;
Member - $ 28.00
My Guest - $ 44.00
Junior Member (5 - 17 yrs) - $ 14.00
Junior Guest (5 - 17 yrs) - $ 22.00

Obviously each club is different, but for me it is worth checking into if you want a convenient and low cost option near a ski that you enjoy visiting frequently. I have access to Pico, Killington [5 minutes], Okemo [40 minutes] and Sugarbush [60 minutes]

Here is a link to the NY ski club council if you want to find a club that works for you: http://www.metnyski.org

 

[BodeMiller1]

If you play the Hotel reward game you can get nice places like Marriot, Comfort Inn (The one in N. Conway is nice). There's a hotel over the boarder of NH going into Maine on route 2. Town and Country Inn. You can hit NH and Western Maine from there. As mentioned, you just can't stay right on the mountain.

Always liked Indian Head, always great time. Just stay on the other side of the road away from the noise.

 

[BodeMiller1]

i've really combed the bottom of the barrel all over new england. the two roadway inns in rutland used to be like $70, now i think they are 'transitional housing' and not rooms for travelers. i still stay in the dog-shit white river junction quality inn for $100 a night.

out west, salt lake city for sure the worst for me some $50-60 type motel6 places. pretty bad places in enumclaw washington "near" crystal.

on a big sky trip, i stayed in west yellowstone. a total winter ghost town. an hour's drive thru a desolate stretch of yellowstone park to get to skiing. after a few days i cracked and got an airbnb in someone's house in big sky. that drive early AM was brutal. not worth the savings, that one.

Let's face it sometimes the low rent places are more fun. Until there not...

 

[KustyTheKlown]

If you play the Hotel reward game you can get nice places like Marriot, Comfort Inn (The one in N. Conway is nice). There's a hotel over the boarder of NH going into Maine on route 2. Town and Country Inn. You can hit NH and Western Maine from there. As mentioned, you just can't stay right on the mountain.

Always liked Indian Head, always great time. Just stay on the other side of the road away from the noise.

how are the rooms, pool, wifi, and restaurant at town and country? its slightly pricier than my usual haunts in gorham but may be worth the difference. i am thinking of basing in gorham from 12/26 - 31 and skiing a mix of SR, loon, loaf, saddleback. its so cheap to stay in gorham. town and country is like $550 for 12/26-31. the lesser motels are like $400s. cant really beat it xmas week for value if you're happy to drive a little, which i am. 30 to SR. 40 to cannon. 50 to loon, 2 hours to loaf/saddleback. decent enough eats in gorham for a few days too.

i have rooms in rutland, near sugarloaf, and near tremblant reserved those dates too. all more expensive. i usually dont have time to get to loaf/saddleback. too far for a regular weekend, and extended ski trips are out west after xmas. i stopped booking airplane trips for xmas. too expensive, crapshoot for conditions, and 12/21-25 is for girlfriend who has her bday and xmas to celebrate those days. used to always do 12/22-31 out west. had some great trips and some stinkers that time of year.

 

[oldfartrider]

I stayed at the Town and Country pre Xmas a few years ago and it was reasonable. Decent place too but once January rolled around the rate went up significantly. It’s primarily a snowmobile motel.

The cheapest place I’ve found for Sunday River is the Bethel Village motel. A no frills place owned by a little old lady. It’s amazing when you call and make a reservation they don’t event ask for cc.

 

[ss20]

A fun side-topic would be what are the cheapest places you ever stayed at on a ski trip?

Oh I win. Hands down. Bank error in your favor to the max. Got a 2 bedroom, 2 story condo in the village at Sugarbush. $13 for 2 night. Website glitched but they honored it. The lady at the check-in desk said "wow you guys won the lottery". I did not call/email beforehand and verify, just went in with my receipt of $13 and that was that. Karma's a biatch though because I activated the smoke alarm cooking steak and my buddy and I woke up half the complex as we couldn't figure out how to turn it off for about 10 minutes Great time.

 

[Tonyr]

My guess on why western ski hotels were cheaper, for the most part, was to entice people from outside the area to visit, specifically to get the big east coast metro areas to go out west rather than drive to Vermont. When you factor in the cost of plane tickets plus the hotel, things seem to even out on the overall trip costs east coast or west coast up until recently.

I was looking to go to Big Sky or Jackson Hole over President's week, while there were some deals to be had from a hotel perspective, direct flights during that timeframe both places were well over 1k per person, no thanks on that. I have noticed some western hotel rates have gone up substantially over the past couple of seasons specifically the Cliff Lodge and the hotels at Alta. Although slopeside lodging in the east has gotten outrageous too.

 

[Tonyr]

Oh I win. Hands down. Bank error in your favor to the max. Got a 2 bedroom, 2 story condo in the village at Sugarbush. $13 for 2 night. Website glitched but they honored it. The lady at the check-in desk said "wow you guys won the lottery". I did not call/email beforehand and verify, just went in with my receipt of $13 and that was that. Karma's a biatch though because I activated the smoke alarm cooking steak and my buddy and I woke up half the complex as we couldn't figure out how to turn it off for about 10 minutes Great time.

Was it to stay at the Claybrook? A two bedroom there is very expensive lodging, good for you if so!

 

[thebigo]

Judsons on ME 27 in carrabasset was $50 cash per night when my wife and I were at UNH with the ASC all for one pass. One night we checked in to find her pillow stuck to the sheets via a pool of dried blood. To this day, she reminds me everytime I book a hotel.

 

[Hawk]

I guess this might be the wrong conversation for me. I don't really rent rooms that often but I haven't had a room south of $200 a night in about 20 years. My wife has very expensive taste. LOL Actually I enjoy nice places with all the amenities and a good bar. When I actually stay somewhere it is a vacation and I don't want to f-around with long drives or shitty service.

 

[nhskier1969]

Was it to stay at the Claybrook? A two bedroom there is very expensive lodging, good for you if so!

I am going out to Keystone middle of January. I reserved a 2 bedroom suite in the Keystone village. I have another couple staying with us. Total per nightly cost is $299. Cost comes down to $150 per night splitting it with another couple.

 

[Tonyr]

I am going out to Keystone middle of January. I reserved a 2 bedroom suite in the Keystone village. I have another couple staying with us. Total per nightly cost is $299. Cost comes down to $150 per night splitting it with another couple.

We stayed in the Red Hawk Lodge within River Run Village a few years ago. I can't remember what the cost was but it wasn't too far off from what you are paying. If you end up with a nice condo, which we did, it is a great deal. We had a less than 3 minute walk to the gondola each day. We are going up to Sugarloaf over MLK weekend and the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel was around $250 per night which I thought was a good deal for that weekend too.

 

[thebigo]

We are going up to Sugarloaf over MLK weekend and the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel was around $250 per night which I thought was a good deal for that weekend too.

That is a good deal. What room style? Rented a one bed suite with Murphy and pullout over the eclipse weekend, total is around $1800 for three nights. More than I would typically spend but family wants to see the eclipse and the wife will no longer settle for cheap rooms.

 

[Tonyr]

That is a good deal. What room style? Rented a one bed suite with Murphy and pullout over the eclipse weekend, total is around $1800 for three nights. More than I would typically spend but family wants to see the eclipse and the wife will no longer settle for cheap rooms.

It's a 2 queen room. I booked it pretty far out in advance.