Okemo Mountain Resort entices skiers and snowboarders with 2,200 vertical feet (671m) – the tallest in southern Vermont – of trails and glades, three terrain parks, the Nordic Center and a racing program. It’s a particular favorite with families and is less than a three-hour drive from Boston. Lodging options include quaint B&Bs and farms in surrounding towns meandering through the Green Mountains.
The wings of this country-style Inn – part of the Jackson Gore Village – almost wrap around the Coleman Brook Express chairlift at the Jackson Gore Base Area at Okemo. For a little more privacy, book a stay at the village’s Adams House or Bixby House. Ski storage spares the trouble of hauling gear to your room, while the on-site tavern is reserved only for guests and property owners.
At Main + Mountain, 13 hotel rooms encircle the bar, meaning takeout cocktails are on the menu. Memory foam beds and gear closets cover the basics in rooms tastefully decorated with understated plaids and evocative artwork. Okemo is less than 1mi (1.6km) away, while cafes, restaurants and shops are just steps outside the door.
Opulent wood, four-poster beds and claw-foot tubs in the guest rooms lace this romantic manor house with a period feel and land it on the Historic Hotels of America list and the National Register of Historic Places. The resort also offers multi-bedroom condominiums with contemporary comforts, such as a two-person jetted tub, vaulted ceilings, kitchens and gas fireplaces. A full-service spa, a rarity in the region, occupies the carriage house, and the Castle Library welcomes you to sip a cocktail by the fire.
The Pointe at Castle Hill hints at a rustic scene, with the occasional wagon wheel and antler chandelier, but its primary aim is for its 70 rooms and 26 suites to offer a relaxing, affordable option in Ludlow. You are also welcome at the Castle Hill Resort and Spa’s dining room, where French cuisine blends with American influences, though the town has a brewery tour worth of options to explore.
The white clapboard and dark window shutters of this colonial-style house are love at first sight for travelers with a soft spot for New England. The B&B’s ensuite bedrooms – each individually decorated and fully renovated in 2020 – continue the romance with plush down comforters and antique bed frames, and many have windows facing Echo Lake. In dining rooms that showcase parquet floors original to the 1878 home, you can enjoy a breakfast menu that includes pumpkin brioche french toast, biscuits with honey ham gravy, and coconut buckwheat pancakes.
This 60 acre (24ha) working farm has five private cabins, eggs and seasonal vegetables fresh from the barnyard, and is about 27mi (43km) from Okemo. Bright, airy cabins come with full-size kitchens, breakfast nooks and other cozy spaces that beg a day spent indoors while watching the snow drift over the fields. For those looking for a little more time out of their ski boots, you can help feed the animals, collect eggs and milk sheep.
Rooms at the Kedron Valley Inn often include four-poster beds, soaking tubs and views of the Woodstock town center. Nods to the home’s rich history include a post office safe from the late 1800s and a staircase discovered during renovations; it may have even served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The Ransom Tavern bakes some of the most authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas around, but start with traditional antipasti and a local beer or craft cocktail.
Cheery farmhouse and floral motifs greet you at this B&B, just a 10-minute shuttle ride from Okemo. Its six standard rooms and two family suites include private bathrooms and one with an extra-long jetted tub, while rustic barn doors and antique vanities preserve touches of the 1788 building and its history as a stagecoach stop. In the common room, chocolate chip, oatmeal craisin and molasses crinkle cookies fill a bottomless jar, but the Saturday evening chocolate cake is worth a detour.
Rooms and suites are spread over the main inn, carriage house and a second house at this former dairy farm, built in the early 1900s. Start your day with a full country breakfast, packed with granola, muffins, various egg dishes and sweet potato pancakes, to name a few. In the afternoon, have some tea and sweet treats, or curl up with a book and glass of wine in the B&B’s library, where a gripping read can be borrowed and mailed back once finished.