piper_chuck
Guest
We were at Douglas Jan 15-25. Ski conditions were great. After talking to a bunch of people while riding up the lifts, we decided to not bother skiing at Beaver Creek or Breck, Vail had plenty of options. Here are some of our thoughts about Douglas and the area.
If you like having a wood fireplace, choose Douglas, the other buildings have gas fireplaces. They provide the wood and fire starter blocks. The wood pile is in the garage and they have a cart to haul it to your room. If you run out of fire starters, the front desk will give you more. I found that the blocks were often not enough to get the fire going so I supplemented them with local newspapers, which are free at the office.
The Marriott shuttle goes back and forth to Lionsgate from 8-5 and Vail Village from 5-9. In the morning they were running at least two busses which leave on the half hour or when they are full so the wait was usually not very long. We found this great for skiing, but did not use it after hours. Parking is free in the town garages at Lionsgate and Vail Village after somewhere around 3:30 so we drove over when we were going to eat. Our first grocery trip was to Safeway which is on the other side of I-70. On another run we checked out City Market. Both had what we needed, but when we go again, we'll probably go to City Market, it seemed to have a better selection.
Restaurants we went to at Vail included Almresi, Sweet Basil, and Beyond Sushi. We enjoyed all of them.
We had three non-ski days. On those days we drove to Leadville, Glenwood Springs, and Breckenridge. All three were worth the trip. Hertz upgraded our rental to an AWD Hyundai Santa Fe so snowy roads were not a problem.
The drive on Route 24 to Leadville was very scenic. One of the places we stopped for pictures was the Camp Hale site. It was humbling to think of the men training there so long ago. We got to Leadville around lunch time and ate at the Silver Dollar Saloon. The food was great. If you're the type who likes talking to people, sit at the bar. The bartender was really friendly and we learned a lot about the history of the place. My wife had a couple drinks, but I was driving so I had water and a sarsaparilla. On the way back we stopped at Thai Kitchen in Minturn. It was a small family business, had great service and food and was a welcome change from the inflated prices of the Vail restaurants. We also stopped at Eagle River Whisky, sampled what they had and bought a few bottles to take home.
The Glenwood Springs trip was primarily to go to Iron Mountain Hot Springs. As Craig suggested, the drive was very scenic. We both loved the hot springs. They maintain a bunch of small pools, think large outdoor hot tubs, which overlook the river. The water temps ranged from 97 to 107. We could only stay in the higher temp ones for a few minutes and eventually ended up in one that was at 99 for 20 minutes or so. They have a locker room with showers for changing and provide a locker for each person that is controlled by a chip on your wrist band. They also provide towels.
We enjoyed walking around Breckenridge. Vail Village has a bunch of shops and restaurants, but it's modern stuff that's been made to look like a European village. In contrast, Breckenridge is an old town that morphed into a tourist location. We parked at one of the small lots on Ridge street and it was only a couple dollars for several hours. Lunch was at Flip Side. Their onion rings were amazing and we both got shakes which were also great. On the drive in, we took a side trip to Sapphire Point Overlook which had a great view. We also swung by High Line Railroad park and got some pictures of the steam engine and snow plow they have on display.
If you like having a wood fireplace, choose Douglas, the other buildings have gas fireplaces. They provide the wood and fire starter blocks. The wood pile is in the garage and they have a cart to haul it to your room. If you run out of fire starters, the front desk will give you more. I found that the blocks were often not enough to get the fire going so I supplemented them with local newspapers, which are free at the office.
The Marriott shuttle goes back and forth to Lionsgate from 8-5 and Vail Village from 5-9. In the morning they were running at least two busses which leave on the half hour or when they are full so the wait was usually not very long. We found this great for skiing, but did not use it after hours. Parking is free in the town garages at Lionsgate and Vail Village after somewhere around 3:30 so we drove over when we were going to eat. Our first grocery trip was to Safeway which is on the other side of I-70. On another run we checked out City Market. Both had what we needed, but when we go again, we'll probably go to City Market, it seemed to have a better selection.
Restaurants we went to at Vail included Almresi, Sweet Basil, and Beyond Sushi. We enjoyed all of them.
We had three non-ski days. On those days we drove to Leadville, Glenwood Springs, and Breckenridge. All three were worth the trip. Hertz upgraded our rental to an AWD Hyundai Santa Fe so snowy roads were not a problem.
The drive on Route 24 to Leadville was very scenic. One of the places we stopped for pictures was the Camp Hale site. It was humbling to think of the men training there so long ago. We got to Leadville around lunch time and ate at the Silver Dollar Saloon. The food was great. If you're the type who likes talking to people, sit at the bar. The bartender was really friendly and we learned a lot about the history of the place. My wife had a couple drinks, but I was driving so I had water and a sarsaparilla. On the way back we stopped at Thai Kitchen in Minturn. It was a small family business, had great service and food and was a welcome change from the inflated prices of the Vail restaurants. We also stopped at Eagle River Whisky, sampled what they had and bought a few bottles to take home.
The Glenwood Springs trip was primarily to go to Iron Mountain Hot Springs. As Craig suggested, the drive was very scenic. We both loved the hot springs. They maintain a bunch of small pools, think large outdoor hot tubs, which overlook the river. The water temps ranged from 97 to 107. We could only stay in the higher temp ones for a few minutes and eventually ended up in one that was at 99 for 20 minutes or so. They have a locker room with showers for changing and provide a locker for each person that is controlled by a chip on your wrist band. They also provide towels.
We enjoyed walking around Breckenridge. Vail Village has a bunch of shops and restaurants, but it's modern stuff that's been made to look like a European village. In contrast, Breckenridge is an old town that morphed into a tourist location. We parked at one of the small lots on Ridge street and it was only a couple dollars for several hours. Lunch was at Flip Side. Their onion rings were amazing and we both got shakes which were also great. On the drive in, we took a side trip to Sapphire Point Overlook which had a great view. We also swung by High Line Railroad park and got some pictures of the steam engine and snow plow they have on display.
