Ski-in/ski-out for a large group? 14 people

[knolan12]

Hi Divas,

My friends nominated over the weekend to plan a ski trip for all of us next winter. It's potentially a large group, 14 people, with a mix of new skiers, haven't skied in a while skiers, intermediate, and advanced skiers. I'd love a ski-in/ski-out place so that folks can easily go in and our during the day for breaks, be done for the day if others aren't, etc.

Bolton Valley is mine and my husband's favorite place to stay and where the group said sounded good because of the affordability compared to larger resorts. However, it looks like anything right at the resort for rentals maxes out at about 9 people. Ideally, I'd like all of us in one place so we can cook meals and hang out in the evenings easily.

Any other recommendations in New England I can start looking at? We all live in the Boston area and would be driving up.

Thanks!

 

[MsWax]

Sugarloaf has a LOT of on-mountain rentals. BW has some as well, but much less. I'd guess Sunday River has some as well, but I'm not as familiar with that mountain. Maybe Saddleback too?

 

[elemmac]

Ski-in/out can be tough due to the number of people...I used to do yearly trips at Sugarbush or Jay with 10-20 people. We pretty much always stayed off mountain due to wanting to all stay together, do large family-style dinners and have a larger place with enough bedrooms. While not ideal, we always made it work...normally took a couple cars to the mountain in the morning, stayed for the day, and made the trek back.

We'd mostly break off into smaller groups to ski, and often meet up for lunch (generally would pack sandwiches, snacks, etc). Somehow managed to coordinate when some people wanted to leave early, and others staying till last chair.

But if you're pretty set on ski-in/out: I would start with...AirBnb, VRBO, Evolve, FlipKey, Booking.com...etc. I would just put in the number of people, leave the dates blank, and search the map. Browse around to see what you can find at various mountains.

Small tip for booking: Many times a large vacation rental will have a name like "Sunday River Trailside Retreat" on a booking site, and if you just Google that...you can often book directly through the owner. Or...AirBnb often lists the property manager as the owner...search the property manager's website on Google...it's often cheaper to book direct instead of through a third party site.

I'll shed a little light on Sunday River, since it's my home mountain. Here's it's map when searching AirBnB for 14 guests...all walking distance to trails (albeit the $314 and the $625 options are a little bit of a haul). The 3 in the middle are all in "Viking Village"...great location and super easy walk over to the trail:

 

[Jilly]

The Loaf has slope side.

 

[Tvan]

You could just buy this one at Stratton. It has 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, ski in / ski out in the Tamarack area... perfect for beginners. 71 Tamarack Road, #9, Stratton, VT 05155

$5.7MM. Not bad split 14 ways.

In all seriousness, Stratton has some lovely properties that are ski in / ski out. We usually book through the resort (and there are only 2 of us) but you might have luck on Air BNB or VRBO. Stratton is a great resort for folks who might want to ski a short day and then browse in the village, where there are some great restaurants and shops to browse.

 

[knolan12]

Appreciate all these suggestions, thank you!

 

[liquidfeet]

Some mountains in NE have slopeside hotels. Be sure you book when the terrain next to the hotel is open.

For instance, Killington has the Killington Grand. You do have to walk across the bridge, though.

Jay Peak, Sugarbush, and Stowe each have a hotel at the base,

Here's a list that includes some hotels right at the base:
New England ski-in ski-out hotels

 

[AJM]

I'd suggest one of New Zealands infamous Club Fields but probably not viable ! Good luck in your search x

 

[liquidfeet]

Here's a list that includes some hotels right at the base:
New England ski-in ski-out hotels

Now that I look more closely at that link, I see that unfortunately, despite the title of that article, there are a bunch of listings that are not ski-in/ski-out hotels mingled in with the hotels.

And if you scroll down to look at the listings, they don't tell where the place is - the resort/ski area is not listed alongside the name of the inn/hotel/condo/cabin/whatever.

Odd way to make a list.

 

[knolan12]

@liquidfeet Probably a way to capture that SEO traffic haha Appreciate you sharing!

@AJM I mean now you're talking! haha Maybe if this one goes well, I'll propose a "bucket list" trip to add to the future destination list

 

[marzNC]

My friends nominated over the weekend to plan a ski trip for all of us next winter. It's potentially a large group, 14 people, with a mix of new skiers, haven't skied in a while skiers, intermediate, and advanced skiers. I'd love a ski-in/ski-out place so that folks can easily go in and our during the day for breaks, be done for the day if others aren't, etc.

You might consider two places for more flexibility. Could have one place that's ski in/out that's got a big enough kitchen and dining room for everyone. Plus another place for the people who are fine spending the entire day away and just going back to sleep.

Good luck with the planning!