Ruby

We are going to Colorado skiing in Feb. combining business and pleasure. We have 3 kids ages 9, 6 and 2. What ski resort would you recommend for a long weekend in Feb.? We are flying into Denver. We also would love recommendations on lodging too! Thanks.

Skier

Hi Ruby: Steamboat has been rated the best for families by several magazines, among them Skiing Magazine and Family Circle. Do a text search above on Steamboat and you will find more info on lodging etc.

grasshopper

Ruby, my favorite family resort is Keystone. Check out their website. And condo rentals are reasonably priced, convenient and very comfortable. A resort shuttle takes you everywhere you want to go. If you are going off the regular shuttle route they even have a bus you can call and it will pick you up and deliver you door to door; free!

Lexma90

Both Steamboat and Winter Park's kids ski programs have been highly rated, though all of the ski resorts have good kids programs. Steamboat is also a great town & has a very nice mountain for grownup skiing. The only drawback is that it's a little further from Denver, about 4 hours. Another nice feature of Steamboat is that the dropoff area for the little kids (your 2-year-old) is separate from the older kids, which makes drop-off time for the younger ones a quieter, more relaxed endeavor. I can't make specific recommendations on lodgings; most of them are NOT ski-in, ski-out, but very close. Many places have shuttle vans to the slopes, which my kids (2 & 6) love - the vans, I mean!

Winter Park (which I haven't skiied at in years) is closer to Denver, about 1 1/2 hours, but it's more just the resort, and there's not really a town there. The same is true of Keystone, though their shuttle service will shuttle you all over the ski resort.

Another possibility is Breckenridge. Lots of beginner runs (though harder stuff too), big kids program, and the town is nice, a nice variety of restaurants, and accessible. Here, the little kids drop-off at Peak 8 is the same place as that for the older kids, so we take our kids to KinderHut, which is a separately-owned & run child care for younger children that's located at Peak 9 (which also has an older kids' program). If you're interested in Breck, you can e-mail me directly with more questions; I have only a couple of lodging suggestions.

bly

Ruby: I would start checking lodging at the resorts now - if you're looking at the President's Holiday - many of the hotels require a 7 night stay. They may be flexible on this because of the economy and slow down of travel, but when things start picking up the min. night stays will go up again. I would probably look at Winter Park or one of the Summit County resorts (Breck, Keystone, Copper) They're close to Denver (w/i 2 hrs) lodging near slopes, good children's programs.