Condo Facelift Completed - Clean and Green

Just prior to Christmas, we put the finishing touches on the renovation of our Mountainside Condominium at Sugarbush, completing a year's worth of modifications and upgrades. For those familiar with Mountainside Condo Complex, you will find no other unit in the complex like ours, and for those who have rented from us before, we trust that you will be pleasantly surprised. NOTHING was left untouched.

Here is a tick list of what we accomplished during the last year:

• The old kitchen walls were busted out and an island installed, to give more space and an open floorplan. The kitchen ceiling was dropped slightly to define the space.
• All new, solid-wood cabinetry was installed in both kitchen and bath.
• Natural stone countertops and backsplashes were installed in both kitchen and bath.
• All new, ENERGY STAR appliances replaced our vintage 70's "dinosaurs".
• New stoneware, flatware, glassware and utensils; in quantities like a normal home, not your typical rental condo!
• Wherever possible, but especially in the kitchen and common space, we installed new (and very expensive...) LED lighting.
• Cork flooring replaced 70's linoleum in both the kitchen and bath.
• New carpeting was installed throughout the remainder of the condo. It's a new product from Mohawk - very soft, very stain-resistant and made 100% from recycled plastic bottles!
• All new thermostats throughout the unit that we calibrated for elevation. This is a great tip for anyone not living at sea-level...take the time to calibrate your stats...they are factory adjusted for sea-level and work much better if calibrated!
• New windows and patio doors were installed to keep the winter outside.
• The old wallpaper was stripped, the walls re-surfaced and a fresh coat of paint applied throughout the unit. We stuck with warm, neutral colors throughout, except for a splash of red in the kitchen.
• All interior doors were sanded and refinished to remove 25 years of ski scratches!
• While it doesn't show in the following photos (the photos were taken before the work was 100% complete...), we re-upholstered the ORIGINAL sleeper sofa and living room chairs (those chairs are so comfortable, we refused to part with them!).
• In the bedroom, we installed a new king bed and added a workstation with direct Ethernet connection and WiFi.
• We've added cordless phones. No more standing in the kitchen to talk!
• In the living room you will now find a flat-screen LED LCD TV with a Blu-ray player and surround sound system.
• New, all-weather patio furniture (far more useful in spring-fall...).

Is that enough work for one year? And now for some photos...

Now:

New, modern kitchen...	Efficient layout...
Open floorplan...	Freshly painted...

Then:

Vintage 70's appliances...	Less living space...
Tiny kitchen...	Showing it's age...

Best Lift Ticket Pricing - Mad River, Sugarbush and Beyond

The holidays are over and we're now in the midst of a great ski season! How do you come to The Mad River Valley and get the best value for your skiing dollar? This question comes up virtually every time we take a reservation or get a lodging inguiry. The intent of this blog is to summarize what we know to be your best options for the various local resorts. While there are way too many options available to provide a comprehensive review, we hope the following information will be helpful to your vacatiuon planning:

If you're looking to sample all the skiing The Valley has to offer, the Ski The Valley ticket is the way to go. You can use the ticket interchangeably at Mad River Glen, Sugarbush and Ole's XC. While these tickets have a 2-day minimum (3 day on weekends), prices range from $49/day for midweek tickets to $56-67/day for tickets including weekends, depending upon how many days you ski. You can only purchase these tickets from us as part of a discounted lodging package as specified on our website!

New this year, a number of local businesses offer some freebies and discounts if you show them your Ski The Valley ticket. Details may be found on our Chamber of Commerce website.

For those of you who, like us, love Mad River Glen, there are a number of discount options. The very best offerings must be purchased in advance and are no longer available for the 2010/2011 ski season. KEEP THIS IN MIND FOR NEXT YEAR!!! They are The Mad Card and The Family Mad Card, costing $139 and $189, respectively. For these prices you get 3 unrestricted lift tickets and other discounts. The Family Card even gives a FREE season pass for ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN under age 12! Hopefully you purchased yours! Details may be found on the Mad River Glen website.

If you didn't purchase your Mad Card, all is not lost! You can also purchase vouchers for discounted tickets from us at $35/day for midweek and $60/day for weekends. That's ~$5/day off their already reasonable ticket booth pricing, and we offer lodging discounts to boot! Mad River also has a 3-day weekend lift ticket for $130, which you can purchase from us or them.

To ski and ride Sugarbush, your very best tickets are purchased directly from the resort via their eTicket Online program. These tickets range from $61-74/day, depending upon the number of skiing days. These tickets require 48 hour advance purchase and are non-refundable.

While not as highly discounted as eTickets, you can also purchase tickets from us, ranging from $63-78/day, depending upon the number of skiing days. Tickets from us can normally be purchased with 24 hour notice, and are refundable up to 9 AM of your skiing start day. With either type of ticket purchase, a lodging discount is offered as summarized on our website.

Want to try some skiing just outside The Valley? Bolton Valley would be a nice alternative, just 25-30 minutes north on the road to Burlington. Bolton is uniquely located, and can sometimes be fully functional when our local resorts are on wind hold. They also have night skiing, if you still have the energy...

We offer our guests vouchers for Bolton Valley that are good for $20 off the ticket office price any day of the week with no restrictions!

If you are interested in going a little further afield, we can also offer you vouchers for skiing at Stowe that are good for a 25% discount off the ticket office price, valid Sunday-Friday, excluding holidays. From our inn, you can be at Stowe Mountain Resort in about 45 minutes.

We hope you find this information useful in your skiing holiday planning. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call us.

Happy Skiing!!!