Breckenridge was my first experience skiing out West, as I grew up skiing in the Northeast, mainly Vermont, Massachussetts and upstate New York. You probably could have thrown me onto any mountain west of the Mississippi and I would have been in heaven, comparatively! But even objectively, Breckenridge really is a great mountain and good for skiers of every level. Not overwhelmingly huge, but big enough that in 2 or 3 days you can cover a lot of ground and check out most of the slopes.
I'm an intermediate/advanced skier, so I wasn't too bothered that the super-expert bowls way at the top of the mountain were still closed. They look incredible though - something like 14,000 feet, but we stayed below 13,000 which still made for some solid 20-25 minute runs. The snow was great; packed powder with practically no ice or grassy patches.
As far as nightlife goes, we went out to the Breckenridge Brewery the first night which was a friendly, mellow scene with good bar food. We also hit the Breckenridge BBQ which we left after about half a beer... way too frat-like and annoying! Finally we settled in happily at the Liquid Lounge, a cool, loungy place with a great DJ and a pool table, and a slightly older (i.e., later-20's to mid-30's) crowd. Ask for Shane; he will hook you up! :)
(by the way, I think this site has a good overview of the Breck bar scene)