 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
I am being sent to Denver at the end of Jan for work (I know, it's a tough life!  ). My flight is already paid for, so I've extended my stay for an extra week from 3rd -10th to take advantage of the mountains.
Colorado obviously has a large concentration of good resorts but they all seem really pricey and I am struggling to find decent accommodation on my budget.
In Europe I normally expect to pay around £350-400 for a week including flights and fully catered accommodation, but in Colorado the cheapest I've seen so far is in Winter Park, self-catered and excluding flights - but at £200 exclusive of flights and meals it doesn't look like good value for money at all. Especially when the hotel in question has really bad reviews on trip advisor.
Any thoughts - where am I going to find decent value for money? Is Colorado just ridiculously expensive? Do I need to lower my expectations? Or would I have better luck waiting and looking for a last minute deal?
Cheers in advance!
Ken
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ken_1969, come one, do some research !
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The Pound is at a longtime high against the Dollar. You must be able to find something at a reasonable price.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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ken_1969, there was some good advice somewhere on Snowheads about ways of reducing costs on lift passes in the US - which cost serious money. I can't give you a reference but you could no doubt search for it - I think there were some advance purchase on-line kind of deals, but as I have no chance of skiing in the US in the foreseeable future, having mortgaged my first born for an apartment in France, I didn't pay much attention.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I'm not so fussed about lift pass prices - I've been quoted £271 from Worldski for the two of us, which is a bit more expensive than I've paid in France before, but not by a huge amount, and given the reputation of the US for better maintained and less crowded pistes that's a price I'm prepared to pay.
But after a week of research (yes, Nickski, believe it or not I did actually get off my butt and do some serious web and telephone hunting) the accommodation deals I was coming up with just didn't seem to be in line with what I was expecting. As I said, having not skied the US before I felt maybe I needed a reality check as to what is a "reasonable price" in the States.
Anyway, I have now gotten down to £360 for a double room in a hostel/hotel in Winter Park with breakfast included, which works out at £180 each for 7 nights.
I paid extra for a direct BA flight for the missus seeing as she's going to be travelling alone on the outbound side, and so we can fly back together on the same flight - so with the total for her flights of £500 it is not too unreasonable as a package.
It's still nowhere near as good as my recent experiences of the French Alps - fully catered I have been paying under £400 per person for flights and accommodation. I guess I was really just expecting that given the strength of the pound against the dollar, and that we were only paying for one flight, that we would get a hell of a bigger bang for our bucks.
Bed & Breakfast accommodation at £430 all in is not that great by comparison but at least having the trip partially subsidised by my company it is a good opportunity to taste Stateside skiing without breaking the bank.
Do you think there are better deals still to be had? Am I missing some really cheap opportunities somewhere?
I also now have the fun of booking a second ski trip - some of the guys from the office are up for heading out to Denver early so we can get three days skiing in elsewhere in Colorado the weekend before. It's a dirty job but...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Try Salt Lake City. Plenty of reasonably priced accommodation there and ski resorts are a short bus ride away.
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ken_1969, i live in winter park and work for the ski resort as an instructor. obviously i'm not completely versed on pricing of the various hotels. i do know the owner of the rocky mountain hostel. i have never stayed there, however, i have been inside the place. it is neat, clean and seems to be well run. like any resort area, the properties vary wildly. if you are coming alone and don't mind a hostel then i think the rocky mountain hostel would be fine. i do know of several motels in the town of winter park that are priced under $100.00 per day. you can always find a decent dinner in town for $25.00. i think this sort of pricing is fairly typical of any ski resort town in the west with the exception of pricier areas such as vail or aspen.
the cheapest way to stay is to rent a two bedroom condo and split the cost among several folks. i'm certain that at the time of year you are coming condo rates will be relatively low.
hope that helps a bit.
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ken_1969,
If you can swing a car through work, extend the hire for the week and stay down the valley somewhat...also, when in town prior to the holiday check out the deals on lift passes in the supermarkets and gas stations, you might be able to make up a bit there
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The only thing I've found pricey in CO (Aspen 12 years ago, Breckenridge last year) has been lift passes. Accom and food, no probs.
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I hope your booking direct with the hotels etc rather than going through a UK tour operator?
I found this site useful when I did something similiar:
http://www.econovail.com/
regards
Greg
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ken_1969, Try Expedia.com it has a good search engine, and you can quote your budget, and check avaliability, much cheaper than a tour operator.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Expensive, ....... errrrrrr, that should be the least of your problems, with the current rates of exchange £'S RULES.
Just came back after a 2 week holiday from Breckenridge, best snow I've ever skied on BUT 2 words ... High Alitude!
Excellent for the snow, I took it for granteed and it ruined the last few days for me as Oxygen level in my blood wuz down to 50%.
Be prepared ... it's COLD as well.
Best advice I can suggest is stay (sleep) low and ski high if possible. Also Vail has better runs of off-piste options. Get a car a visit other resorts.
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Rusty Guy, thinking $100 per night in a motel (presumably without dinner for which he adds $25) is cheap answers your question. I'll be staying in a hotel on the edge of Verbier (Le Chable) half board for about £32 per night per person half board.
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You know it makes sense.
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snowball, ummm i think i said under $100.00. there are motels in most ski towns for $65.00 to $85.00 and that isn't per person.
my understanding is that we have something somewhat novel in colorado...........snow
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Frisco has some cheap (<$100) lodging and it's a short drive to all the Summit County ski areas. It might also be a bit crowded at that time of the year, but not nearly as bad as the week between Christmas and New Years.
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Poster: A snowHead
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ken_1969, Some years ago I stayed at the Wayside Inn just a few miles outside Breckenridge, and can recommend it. It's best to have a car with you for getting around, but if you do fancy a night in Breckenridge with some drinks, the main road past the Motel does have an evening shuttle bus service to/from Breckenridge.
You will see that the rate for more than 4 days for a 2 bed room in early Feb is $70 dollars/night including continental breakfast.
Hope the above helps.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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ken_1969,
Check out my Winter Park review in trip reports. I stayed at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge, just across the road from the ski area. It cost $93 per night breakfast inc. in January 2005. - And I got a free room upgrade! You can still get rooms at something like that rate for the last 2 weeks of Jan 2007, according to their web site.
With the current exchange rate it's a steal.
It's also a comfortable hotel with its own microbrew.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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...did a quick search for those dates (not looking for special deals, just put them into the Winter Park website)
For 7 nights you can get it from £283 to £1094 for the room. (normally 2 double beds)
If you want to break it down, that's £20-£78 per person per night.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Good thread.. can I ask the silliest question... where should we look for reasonably cheap and cheerful in Aspen... if there is such a thing or somewhere best to look. Any tips really welcome. Thanks, Paul and Margaret
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