Lodging

Excellent country inns and B&Bs can all be booked through Sugarbush Chamber of Commerce (800-828-4748 or www.madrivervalley.com), Sugarbush Central Reservations (800-537-8427) or call the inns directly. The chamber Web site offers info on current availability and online reservations for 23 properties.

It is easy to be spoiled at The Pitcher Inn (496-6350; 888-867-4824; $$$$), a Relais and Chateau member property in Warren. We especially liked the Mad River, Mountain and Trout rooms. Many rooms have fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and steam rooms. Full breakfasts are served in the light-filled dining room, where gourmet meals are served at night. Afternoon tea and treats are served in the library. Drinks are served in the comfy downstairs lounge and adjacent games room. Owners Win and Margaret Smith are also part owners of Sugarbush.

The Inn at the Round Barn Farm (496-2276; $$–$$$$; above), a mile from Rte. 100, across the covered bridge on East Warren Road is one of the country's best B&Bs. The farmhouse has been turned into an elegant, spacious, peaceful 11-room bed-and-breakfast with children discouraged. The Richardson Room with Vermont-made canopied bed, skylights, gas fireplace, oversized jetted tub and steam shower is tops. Outback are 30 km. of Nordic tracks.

Tucker Hill Inn (496-3983; 800-543-7841; $–$$), two miles from the lifts, has 18 rooms and a steakhouse restaurant. The Waitsfield Inn (496-3979 or 800-758-3801; $–$$), in the center of Waitsfield Village, started life in the 1820s as a parsonage, was a sleeping-bag dorm for young skiers in the '60s and '70s and is now a quaintly elegant 14-bedroom B&B.

The Sugartree Inn (583-3211; $$) has award-winning breakfasts and a collection of rooms, ranging from large with canopied beds and/or fireplace to small; all are most pleasant. The inn is only a quarter mile from Sugarbush's slopes.

The Featherbed Inn (496-7151; $$; above right), on Rte. 100 only a stone's throw from the resort access road, is a restored 1806 house and cottage with nine spacious individually decorated guest rooms, all with private baths and luxurious featherbeds, plenty of space to spread out and to-die-for gourmet breakfasts.

West Hill House B&B (496-7162; $$–$$$) is an 1850s farmhouse with eight guest rooms, all with private baths—most with jetted tubs—fireplaces and DSL Internet access. Beaver Pond Farm Inn (583-2861; $–$$) is right on the cross-country trails of the Sugarbush golf course.

The 1824 House Inn (496-7555; $; left) has eight rooms just north of town, with featherbeds and an outdoor hot tub. It's chef-owned and offers intimate, gourmet dinners, by reservation only, to both lodgers and the public.

The nicest full-service hotel property is the Sugarbush Inn (583-6114; 800-53SUGAR; $$ ) on the access road. The inn and its 42 rooms are well-kept but nondescript. Closer to Sugarbush resort you'll find Sugar Lodge at Sugarbush (800-982-3465; $–$$), only a half mile from Lincoln Peak. It parallels good-quality chain lodging with a hot tub and lounge. The Weathertop Lodge (800-800-3625; 496-4909; $–$$), on Rte. 17 between town and Mad River Glen, is an affordable B&B.

The Inn At The Mad River Barn (496-3310; $–$$) has rustic but spacious rooms and some of the best lodging food in the valley (both in quantity and quality). To stay here is to step into a wonderful 1940s ski lodge. Families, and the budget-minded, will want to check into John Egan's Big World on Rte. 100 (496-5557; $–$$) or the Hyde Away Inn and Restaurant (496-2322; $–$$) on Rte. 17. Both are great spots for children and close to the slopes.

Skiers heading for Mad River Glen should check into the unfortunately named Battleground condos on Rte. 17 (800-248-2102; 496-2288).

Of the condominiums in the Village at Sugarbush, the most luxurious are the Southface Condominiums with hot tubs in each unit and a shuttlebus ride from the slopes. The Snow Creek condos are ski-in/ski-out, but plagued by the noise of snow guns out the back window. Paradise condos are newer but a good walk from the slopes; however, they have a free shuttle service. The Summit units are roomy, and Castle Rock condos are close to the slopes. Trailside, previously called Unihab, looks like boxes stacked on one another, and the small North Lynx condos, previously called Middle Earth, are 10 minutes from the lifts. Rates range from $145 for a one-bedroom in value season to $635 for a four-bedroom during holidays. Guests may use the indoor pool, tennis, racquetball, squash courts, aerobics, whirlpool tubs, steam room and Nautilus equipment at the Sugarbush Health and Racquet Club for an additional fee.

The Bridges Resort and Racquet Club(800-453-2922; 583-2922 ; $$–$$$$; right), with tennis courts and an indoor pool, is across the street from the Sugarbush ski area parking lot. These units are quieter than the mountain units and have wonderful amenities as well as a regular shuttle.

Accommodations Legend: (double room) $$$$–$200+; $$$–$141–$200; $$–$81–$140; $–$80 and less.