February 17 is pretty much right in the middle of school vacation time in New England meaning the New England resorts will be very busy. Not sure about when CO/UT breaks are.
That said, in Vermont I highly recommend Stowe. GREAT town. Lots to do in addition to skiing. The resort's website is www.stowe.com and the website for the general area is www.gostowe.com. There is a direct flight from Orland to Burlington on JetBlue which is great. We take it every year when we head south!
I've skied Colorado once and we stayed in Frisco which is smack dab in the middle of 3 resorts (Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper. Great location.
Park City in Utah is great. Many resorts to choose from. Lots of other stuff in town to do too.

Crested Butte, Colorado! the last great colorado ski town. The town is super charming and victorian. Lots of great restaurants. skiing is fantastic with little to no lift lines. Relatively easy to get to in the winter with direct flights from Dallas & Houston. Fly into Gunnison, and it's a very short 30 minute drive to town. There's plenty of blue and green runs for both of you.

Skip Jackson Hole Wyoming. Skiing was hard and very few greens, and little to no grooming.
Plus, the resort is out of town a ways.

Park City is easy to get to with flying into Salt lake City. the town itself is very charming if very, very busy. Three resorts to choose from with Park City, Deer Valley and the Canyons right there and a free bus that goes around town and between the resorts.

You should know that the weekend you are going is Presidents day weekend which tends to be busy at most ski resorts.

Sorry, failed to mention I am looking for a village like atmosphere where the slopes are right next to the village. (like Beaver Creek) To me, the village atmosphere is so much more charming.....

If you are looking something similar to Beaver Creek, then consider Vail or Aspen. From a skiing view point Snowmass, part of the Aspen complex, would be your best choice for skiing at your levels. You could stay in the Snowmass area, massive amount of ski in/out properties for convenience, and spend your evening in Aspen.

So Beaver Creek is an entirely new ski area/town/community. it is not an old mining town or Victorian town. That makes things very different there in that the ski resort and the town center are planned in concert together which is why the village is right next to the ski slopes.

You might look into Vail, super charming Swiss/Austrian style resort. I know nothing about the skiing.

Telluride - which is an old mining town, but has a gondola up to the ski area making it easy to get from the mountain village area to the town and back. the gondola is free and runs at night. But I've heard skiing at Telluride can be challenging. Someone else on these boards is a huge Telluride fan and can probably speak more to the skiing.

Crested Butte while it has a cute downtown is a few minutes from the actual ski resort, there's a free town bus that runs between the mountain and the town.

Park City has an actual lift that runs right into town. I wouldn't recommend either the run to the lift or the ride on the lift itself. But it's totally doable, I suppose. It's not hard, I just didn't like the lift.

Again, skip Jackson Hole. and Heavenly at Lake Tahoe.

Thank you so much for the responses. I really appreciate it. Does Stowe have a village next to the slopes? I just love it when you can see down the mountain and then walk around the village and grab something to eat, etc.

meant to say "ski down the mountain."

Vail. Not old, but definitely the village at the bottom of the mountain. Lots of greens and blues for both of you.

Pretty sure that is President's Day weekend whichwill be busy wherever you are.

Hubby skis Telluride and Durango all season. Durango is better for beginners, you can stay right at the slopes but it doesn't have that quaint town right there. It does have a great, quaint town, but it is about 25 -30 minute drive.

Telluride has phenomenal skiing, geared more to more advanced skiers but has its share of green and blue. The town is really nice, and is authentic old western mining town. You can stay in Mountain Village and get that quaint feel you want and always take the Gondola into Telluride. Or vice versa. Mountain Village has lots of accommodations that are ski in/ski out.

These replies are great and I think I have narrowed it down to:

1) Vail
2) Aspen (Snowmass)
3) Stowe - does it have a quaint village center with the slopes right next to it?

Also, I am not looking for the old western mining style towns but rather that quaint village feel with beautiful architecture. (sounds like Vail is up my alley with the Swiss/Austrian influence)

Any other thoughts?

Snowmass has practically no "town" identity to me.

I do 't know Stowe, but I really think Vail is what you're looking for. Aspen is great, but it's a much bigger town, and the skiing IN Aspen is geared to the more advanced skiers
Snowmass is 20 minutes drive from the town of Aspen.

Stowe, or any New England ski area, will be totally mobbed that weekend/week because it is school vacation week. The town of Stowe is a distance from the ski area although the newer Spruce Peak area has a bit of a village but I don't think it's what you're looking for. President's Day weekend will be mobbed everywhere in the country and very expensive. Having said that, you would probably like Vail more than Snowmass. I personally think Vail village is plastic but the skiing is great. Think about Park City, Breckenridge, Keystone too. Park City and Breck are old mining towns with lots of atmosphere close to the slopes. Keystone has a small "village" area near Breck. All 3 have great skiing. If you're looking for nightlife - Park City, Breck and Vail.

Since you're going to have to fly wherever you go, I'd definitely recommend going west, rather than to Stowe. The snow is likely to be better.

We like Vail and Aspen, but for a slopeside village, our favorite is Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia.

There are some great recommendations and here is my two cents:

I would consider Whistler/Blackomb, as they connect, have a cute village area - and are a huge area - and have plenty of runs that beginners can appreciate.

We loved Vail - skied there several times, but it's really built up. Telluride is a very cute town, as is Aspen, which is bigger but still a blast. Actually - Snowmass is a totally separate village - and you has plenty of beginner/intermediate terrain and there are buses connecting the 4 different resorts in the Aspen area - including Buttermilk (also a cute area - even more for beginners) and Aspen Highlands, which more advanced, and Ajax mountain in the town of Aspen.

And Deer Valley (next to Park City)has the perfect mid-mountain lodge - Stein Erickson's - and you can ski or take the trams to the bottom. see: http://www.steinlodge.com/ppc/cobranding

BTW - forgot to mention at at the Summit (where the cute little town of Frisco is located - about 20 miles before you get to Vail/Beaver Creek) - Breckenridge is a cute, victorian town - with a lot of runs in the mountain above. see: http://www.breckenridge.com/?cmpid=PPC116542956

More of a modern feel is a few miles away at Keystone. http://www.keystoneresort.com/

Beaver Creek was created by Vail owners and thus, you would probably like Vail's Swiss village look.
I think your ski passes will work for both resorts.
With New England schools closed for February break, Stowe will be packed with families. Save Stowe for another date in the future. Aslo considervStratton Mt.,VT for another trip. It's owned by same group as Vail and Beaver Creek and has a slopeside village.

I know you didn't mention Canada, so you may not be interested in this, but Mont Tremblant in Quebec may suit what you are looking for very well. The village is slopeside and they have a lot of lodging options and places to dine right there. If you are looking for the purpose built ski village experience, Mont Tremblant is very nice (at least I thought so---and I went there as a beginner 6 or 7 years ago).
However, snow in Eastern Canada is much like that in New England--not always plentiful and can be a bit firm. If you want more better chance of more snow (and no rain) I'd fly West.

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www.gostowe.com

www.tremblant.ca/index-e.htm

my favsfor the east

Vail Aspen if budget good

Crested Butte Telluride more western vibe

www.gobreck.com cute cost effective close to SIA

Park City in Utah

Beginners drive up to Blowing Rock NC and VA from FL

not bad cheapest I have done it had a very nice time

years ago and saved a lot... Have fun,

villageofsugarmountain.com

www.snowshoemtn.com/village

Beech all driveable closest to you nice for price

Personally Vail prettiest for me.

I wouldn't put Beech or Sugar in the category of "charming ski towns".

Crested Butte comes to mind, but I don't know about their beginner slopes.

Sugar and Beech and all the eastern areas will be OVERRUN that weekend. These areas are not large, so it gives "overrun" a new meaning. And talk about danger!!
And Starrs is right about the "villages". Sugar has NONE.
The ski season has already begun in Colorado and bodes well for the prolonged season.
Qwo does 'way too much texting. We are allowed more than 140 characters here!! LOL
Quebec skiing has always intriqued me and really might be a possibility.
I do think ease of getting to the mountain "counts"--the Colorado areas are easy. The Utah areas also, but the fare to SLC may be more than Denver.

Crested Butte has a lot of green runs suitable for beginners. Even President's day weekend, it's not crowded like other ski resorts. I suggested it earlier, but OP wants a ski resort that runs straight into a village and Crested Butte doesn't have that. Granted the base area has a beautiful new hotel and its a short 5 minutes from downtown via free town bus.

Jill, if you are okay with giving up ski-in, ski-out, I'd go to Crested Butte. Seriously.

Read what williams said above ^

I know folks who bought a place there (actually a series of places) they liked it so much. Consider

Crested Butte definitely has ski in and ski out. It's just the that the ski resort is a 5 minute drive from town. But it's no big deal to grab the super convenient bus and go from mountain to town and back again.

If you decide to go to Crested Butte, I'd be happy to offer more insider tips and restaurant recommendations.

Stowe is probably already sold out and crowded February would not be great for a beginner. Google images will have photos of ALL these places for you.

Why don't you go back to Beaver Creek if you loved it so much?

Jill,

Just so you know, that weekend is President's Day holiday weekend and the 2nd busiest ski period, only behind Christmas holidays.

There are 11 ski resorts within an hour's drive of SLC airport. 7 of those are only 30 - 40 min.

You better make your arrangements immediately if you must go that weekend. I would recommend coming a week or two before or after. Much better!

Jill, today's New York Times Travel secrion is devoted to ski vacations and might be helpful to you.
You can read it online.

If you haven't decided yet, I'd consider Telluride, CO. We live in MA and I would get as far away from the New England slopes as possible during Presidents week (our school break is Feb 20-24 this year). Stay in Mountain Village at Telluride and it's mostly green and blue runs. We've done a few trips there and you can easily spend 1-2 days just doing greens. Mostly ski in/ski out lodging. I find Telluride to be more difficult but did venture down some blue runs on that side. Telluride is a frontier town and Mountain Village has more of an upscale, European feel. A gondola takes you to Telluride for dining and shopping, although Mountain Village has the same, plus a grocery store. We love Telluride as there are never lift lines. A little difficult to get to (we fly into Montrose and take the 1.5 hour shuttle), but it's so worth it.

Hello Jill. Any update on your planning? So many choices. Also - in the northwest - a little "undiscovered" jewel - except for noted filmaker - Warren Miller some time ago - is Crystal Mountain - an hour plus outside of Seattle. http://www.crystalmountainresort.com/

and Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood in Oreon is a classic - where part of the movie - The Shining was filmed. And there are two other ski areas nearby - plus a little Village area close to Timberline. http://www.timberlinelodge.com/

BTW - didn't mention Squaw Valley in the beautiful Lake Tahoe area, (where they held the 1960 Olympics) and it has a cute village - http://www.squaw.com/ and nearby Alpine Meadows is also a fun place to ski.

At the other end of the lake - the south shore has Heavenly Valley - also a huge ski area (in 2 states) with not exactly a village but several casinos if you want to see some shows, gamble a little, etc. http://www.skiheavenly.com/?cmpid=PPC116089376

And while we only drove by beautiful Creste Butte one summer - the town of Telluride has more of a classic Ski Village as I recall.

Both could be fun - but take some work getting to.

Oops. My Bad: The Nevada side of Heavenly now has a village type area (Marriott?) , and on the Cal side - there is a ski in ski out hotel at the bottom. For more info - see: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/nevada/heavenly-valley/r10140 and http://www.cityconcierge.com/lake-tahoe/winter/heavenly-valley-skiing.asp

Thank you so much for all of the information. I really am so appreciative. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't know if he can get the time off work. So, if we can go, it would be a last minute decision. I am trying to do all the planning up front because if we do get to go, then we would have to know exactly what we were doing. I am still leaning towards Breckenridge. However, I am going to definitely keep this post handy because there are some other places that you have mentioned that I am going to consider.