Stowe VT - Easter 2005

Best Things Nearby:
Stowe Mountain Resort (about 6 miles up the road), several restaurants, downtown Stowe

Best Things About the Resort:
The convenience of this resort to nearby restaurants, downtown Stowe, and Stowe Mountain Resort for skiing. If you don't want to drive to ski, the resort is one of the stops for the Stowe Shuttle. The resort also provided 10% discount coupons to many of the area restaurants.

Resort Experience:
We were very pleased with our unit at Village Green at Stowe. Our two-bedroom unit had plenty of room for our family of four. The kitchen was well-stocked with utensils and plates and even had salt and pepper (we are used to bringing our own since so many timeshares don't provide it). There was a small "mud room" area as you entered the unit where you could store your ski equipment. The two bedrooms are on the second floor of the unit. The master had a king size bed and the second bedroom included two twin beds.

Overall, we were very pleased with the unit, except for one minor flaw and one more significant flaw. The minor flaw was that there were no bathrooms on the first floor where the kitchen, dining, and living area were located. The more significant flaw was that the unit did not have a washer/dryer. The laundry facilities for the resort are located in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, access to the laundry facilites is only available from 8am to 5pm. They stated at check-in that in order to complete a load of laundry, they recommended starting by 3:30pm. Since we were out of the unit either skiing or exploring Stowe, we were never back to the unit before the laundry facilities closed. The only alternative is a laundromat in town.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

On the morning we were heading out of town, we stopped for breakfast at Dutch Pancake Cafe, located in the Grey Fox Inn. The selection of pancakes is amazing. They have normal buttermilk pancakes, but their specialty is a thinner Dutch pancake that isn't as sweet, which lends itself to the addition of other toppings/ingredients. They offer about 80 varieties. My selection was pineapple and almonds. The pancakes are huge (about 12 inches wide), but since they are thinner, they are manageable. The service was slow on the day we visited, but there was a large youth group dining at the same time, which may have contributed to the delay. Overall, the meal was enjoyable, the food good and unique, and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys their breakfast. The menu can be found at: http://www.greyfoxinn.com/dining/.

Gracies is a small restaurant tucked away downstairs in the corner building at Rt 100 and Rt 108. We are dog lovers; therefore, this dog-themed restaurant was well-received. They have a wide variety of menu items that should cover anyone's taste. Our group had a variety of items such as soup, salad, hamburgers, steak, and pasta dishes, which were all very good. Upstairs, there is a Gracie's Gourmutt Shop that sells Gracie's items, as well as breed-specific items. I don't know if it was the time of year we were there (end of ski season) or if it is always like this, but we were disappointed that the shop was not well-stocked. The restaurant menu, as well as online shopping for the shop, is available at the following address: http://www.gracies.com/index.html.

Stowe has a great diversity of ski terrain to satisfy both novices and experts. Since it was so late in the year (March 26th through April 2nd), the lower areas were beginning to show bare spots, and many of the beginner runs were closed for the season. If you are a beginner, I would recommend visiting in more prime time conditions to avoid the limited novice areas and the sometimes difficult conditions (bare/icy spots and heavy/slushy snow in the warm afternoons). Even with the limited novice runs, we found enough green and easy blue runs to satisfy everyone. The food service offerings are fairly limited and expensive. The parking is very close to the lifts; therefore, I would recommend packing a lunch and retrieving it when you are ready to eat.