Vermont Ski Lodging: How the Green Mountain Base Towns Differ

Killington bills itself as the largest ski resort in the East, with a vertical drop of 3,050 feet and more than 20 lifts. Its base area is a strip of restaurants, bars and lodging along Killington Road, not a Vermont village. Killington Grand Resort Hotel is ski-in/ski-out, connected to the Snowshed base by a bridge. Travelers who want a village base can stay in Woodstock, about 20 minutes east, or Ludlow, about 25 minutes south near Okemo.

The Woodstock Inn & Resort has 142 rooms on the Woodstock village green, rebuilt by Laurance Rockefeller in 1969, and its own small ski area, Saskadena Six, as well as a Nordic center. The Inn at Long Trail, built in 1938 on Route 4 where the Appalachian Trail crosses the road, is a lower-priced option with an Irish pub.

The Mad River Valley has two ski areas, Sugarbush and Mad River Glen. Mad River Glen is owned by a cooperative of its skiers, does not allow snowboards and still runs a single chairlift. The towns of Warren and Waitsfield have independent inns and B&Bs that serve skiers in winter and visitors to the valley's farms the rest of the year.

The Pitcher Inn, a Relais & Châteaux inn in Warren village, has 11 rooms, each designed around a Vermont theme. In Waitsfield, Hyde Away Inn was built in 1949 as one of Mad River Glen's original lodges, and The Inn at Mad River Barn is 1.7 miles from Mad River Glen.

Jay Peak, in the Northeast Kingdom a few miles from the Canadian border, advertises the deepest snow in eastern North America, and its location has long drawn skiers from Quebec. Jay Peak Resort is largely self-contained, with its own hotel and condominiums, a golf course and the Pump House indoor waterpark.

For a smaller inn, Montgomery and Montgomery Center are a short drive from the mountain. Phineas Swann, an 1880s Victorian 7 miles from Jay Peak, includes a full Vermont breakfast, and The Inn on Trout River has 11 rooms and a restaurant.

Okemo Mountain Resort, owned by Vail Resorts, is above the village of Ludlow, which has inns and restaurants a short drive from the lifts. The Governor's Inn, built in 1890, is 1.4 miles from Okemo, and The Inn at Water's Edge is on Echo Lake, under 5 miles away.

Farther south, Manchester is near Bromley Mountain and Stratton. The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa in Manchester has operated as a hotel since 1769, and The Johnny Seesaw's has been next door to Bromley since 1924. Manchester's lodging serves shoppers, golfers and summer visitors as well as skiers.

The Vermont ski season usually runs from late November through early April, and demand peaks over the holiday weeks from Christmas to New Year's, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Presidents' Week and February school vacations. Jay Peak, farther north, often stays open into April after the southern resorts close. In summer, mountain biking takes over at Stowe and Killington, and visitors keep coming through the foliage season in early to mid-October.

Late January and early March are usually the easiest times to book in every corridor, between the holiday rush and spring break, and rates then are well below holiday levels.