"I came for my second time- initially last year just my wife and I, then year we brought 3 of my wife's family members, so 5 of us. I stayed in the Bluebird last year, this year in the Ponderosa, a large, 3 bedroom home, 4 baths, 2 fireplaces. We left feeling possibly the Bluebird is nicer for 2 people, but all told- their accommodations are top tier. There's so many ways to break down the positives: the Ponderosa had amazing bedding, beautiful bathrooms, fireplace where they bring unlimited wood. The room leaning is done by several people- they do it quickly and completely. They replenish everything, every single time- twice per day (turndown).
Activities: I had some trouble here: I didn't do a good job pre- trip as far as filling in the schedule, and before we left, my wife and I knew we didn't like our tentative schedule. We should have called back and just said "wait: we want a do -over", but we didn't. Had to spend some time changing everything around- and to be honest, we met resistance there- "sorry sir, this is booked.." " sorry, can't accommodate you".. but I'd say in the end, it all worked out. Skiing this year was included- last year it was extra, that was amazing.
Food is top notch: 3 amazing, 5 star meals per day, I could go on and on, but I'd run out of adjectives. Our favorite is lunch, then breakfast, dinner possibly least favorite.
The best part by far is the people- both other guests, and guides who work there. Conversations held before dinner with guests is like nowhere I've ever been. You make friends for life there- that happens only here.
The location is gorgeous, utopian almost.
A few people who really stood out as A+, amazing employees/guides:
Candace at the front desk/orientation: widely loved, great personality, a joy
Ace: bartender- what a great guy, very talented
Eleanor and Lucy- two servers who stood out to us
Amy from activities from Connecticut: our second year having on amazing experience with her; truly fun, adventurous, bursting with personality and we get happy just knowing she'll be with us for an activity- makes everything 10x better
Loren: beautiful person inside and out- always a professional, reserved but once you know her, an absolute joy to be around; we'd request her whenever we could; deserves a promotion
Karson: he spend half a day just with me, took me skiing, helped me out there, brought me back- I was thoroughly impressed with his personality, professionalism, warmth
Negatives: couple tiny ones- if you don't get a good schedule on your pre-trip meeting, it's tough to re-do it while you're there. I had several sort of negative conversations where everything I wan't to do was a "no", everything booked, I was shut out of this and that; you need to nail it on that pre-trip interview, otherwise backtracking is tough- I learned that
-I felt they were out of a lot of things, or downgraded from last year: out of basically all berries, bananas and fruit all week; stopped giving out slippers; dinner early and late was added? was not a positive, too much to get into here; no New Year's Eve spread of appetizers; also every time (5 nights) I saw down for pre-dinner drinks and the "snack".. they were completely out of the snack- every single time
Overall it's 5 stars- we'll be back; build great relationships, did activities, dined and loved our stay."
A Tripadvisor traveler review
Jan 18, 2026