Hi all,

I am looking for a place for our honeymoon, as follows:

quiet, quaint, romantic town
great skiing
decent restaurants in the area
not flashy, more rural
looking for a luxury condo - hot tub, wood fireplace, kitchen (ski in, ski out - maybe?)

any suggestions?

Well, when I first read your title I was going to suggest The Little Nell in Aspen, but Aspen is definitely not quiet and certainly flashy.

So I am going to suggest one of my favorite places, Crested Butte. The town is charming, quiet, quaint and romantic. It's definitely not flashy and is in ranching country. Visit www.skicb.com and check out the hotel/condos Mountaineer Square. They are brand new built by the ski resort and are ski-in and ski-out. I don't know their amenities but know they are nice. The resort often has ski packages as well.

Crested Butte has some fantastic dining. The only problem is that Crested Butte the town is a 10 minute drive down the mountain Mt. Crested Butte where the ski resort is. There is a free town bus that ferries people back and forth.

You may also want to consider Telluride. The town is cute, there's a gondola from the town ot the ski mountain. I don't know much else about the town as I've never been there in winter.

Stay away from Heavenly at LakeTahoe. No charming, cute quaint town to be found.
I would also stay away from Jackson Hole. i wasn't a huge fan of the skiing htere and the mountain is far away from the town, a lot farther than Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte.

You may also want to look into Park City.

Love Little Nell in Aspen but the town is super flash..
Telluride is perfect for you..Lake Tahoe as well.
I like the Four Seasons at Jackson Hole.
Another thought is Lake Louise in Banff at the Fairmont.

I think Telluride is a great idea. I also think Aspen is a great idea--I think the popular image of it, and the reality of going on a ski trip there, are different. You do see women in furs but it's also a charming, historic town where a lot of normal people live. In fact I don't think it's much "flashier" than Telluride--plenty of celebrities have homes in Telluride now. And you have 4 ski mountains to choose from, with easy free transportation from town. However, you're best best for ski in/ski out is at Snowmass, which is an easy bus ride from Aspen town but 10 miles away. There is some on Aspen Mt but I wouldn't plan on skiing that mountain all week. (Snowmass is my fave). That said I'd give Telluride the edge for scenery. Aspen gets the edge for variety of skiing and restaurants. I haven't skied Crested Butte or Jackson so I can't comment on that.

Steamboat's another possbility, but the town isn't as charming nor the restaurants as good as Telluride or Aspen. It definitely has the rural factor. Someone suggested Park City--I'd say definitely no. Way too much sprawl/new development--I don't think it's quaint (save for Main St) or romantic. The variety of skiing is great, though. Sun Valley is a possibility but I like Telluride and Aspen/Snowmass more.

A lot depends on the month you're going, too. Some of these areas are bad bets in December but good in March, or vice versa.

Just want to chime in regarding the places we've been. I do think there's more "flash" to Aspen than say, Park City, but it's a really nice town with fantastic skiing and fabulous dining. I personally don't like staying in Snowmass because it's just a ski village, as opposed to a town, but my husband (the skier) and his friends like to stay in Snowmass and don't mind driving into Aspen to eat.

I love Park City, Main Street is great, but I completely agree that outside of Main Street, quaint it's not. Heavenly Valley - the polar opposite of quaint!

You might like Breckenridge. Old town, decent shopping and restaurants, very good skiing, close to Denver, all kinds of accommodations. We stayed at a new condo/timeshare development that was ski-in/ski-out and we really liked it. I was afraid it was too "remote" from downtown Breckenridge, but it was a 5-minute drive, not a problem at all.

Have you considered Whistler?

If you just stayed at the Little Nell, you wouldn't see the "flash" of Aspen!! I think Aspen would be a neat honeymoon.

Go to Europe........better yet make that Italy!

Great Food, romantic, and if you still want to get up and ski.....

-john

Sun Valley might be a good option. It's small and fairly quiet.

Wengen, Switzerland or the Dolomites

If you want to stay in the US, then Sun Valley or Crested Butte.

If you are on the east coast -- Mont Tremblant. (All your requirements and great French food too!)

hey all,

thanks so much - lots of great suggestions...

so far, i think crested butte is the most appealing.

one no one mentioned that i'd be interested to hear any views on is big sky montana

thanks...

I can't help you on Big Sky, but Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana (formerly Big Mountain) seems to fit your requirements. It's easy to get to from the Kalispell airport. http://skiwhitefish.com/

Mammoth Mountain in California would fit the bill for great skiing in a rural area, but is slightly lacking in quaintness, IMO. www.mammothmountain.com/

Both Big Sky and Whitefish Mountain Resort are great places to ski. There aren't any lift lines, the skiing is usually fantastic. We have wonderful snow in MT...light and powdery. And you never have to stand in line.

But neither Big Sky nor Whitefish Mountain Resort are situated in quiet, quaint, romantic towns. Big Sky is a resort area without a town. The restaurant selections are pretty limited.

Whitefish Mountain Resort is similar in that there is a resort/ski area seven miles outside of town. Whitefish (the town) is a great town to visit, but you'd have to drive to the ski hill (6 or 7 miles). Or you'd have to stay on the mountain. It's similar to Jackson Hole in that you can stay on the mountain or you can stay in town and then drive every day to ski.

Big Sky isn't really close to a town. You'd fly into Bozeman and then drive the 40 miles to Big Sky.

I love both places, and I'd rather ski in MT than ski in Colorado or Jackson because I don't like spending obscene amounts of money to stand in line waiting for a lift. You can really just ski right on to the lifts in MT.

But I'm not sure either one fits your criteria. Montana is great if you just want fantastic skiing, and you don't need all the extra stuff (quaint town, varied restaurant selections, nightlife, etc.) I love it here.

Also, flying into Montana is usually pretty expensive.

In posting earlier, I thought about Big Sky for you but as kureiff posted, there is no quaint, romantic town. In fact, there really is no town, just a ski mountain (of course, it is an awesome place to ski, best in North America IMHO and I've been everywhere mentioned so far except Whitefish) with some amenities at the base area. Restaurant choices are quite limited. The closest town is 30-45 minutes away, and it's not quiet, romantic or quaint. However, if you are serious skiers and since it's your honeymoon (you should be busy off the slopes, right? and don't need other attractions/distractions, Big Sky could be your place. We stayed in a great ski in/ski out cabin with a hot tub. I will search for the name and post it for you.

Would you consider Europe? There are so many Austrian and Swiss resorts that would fit your criteria, and skiing in Europe is not significantly more costly than many US ski resorts. It is your honeymoon after all- make it special.

http://www.bigskyresort.com/Lodging/...dge_Cabins.asp

We stayed in Powder Ridge Cabins.