Lostone wrote:

Quote: Beautiful buildings with crappy, overpriced food and inferior service will not constitute progress. First of all, I agree with you. I think the management would, also. The questions would be: 1) In what way have you found the service to be inferior? I've heard much good and almost nothing bad about the service, both in helpfulness and friendliness, from surveys and people. B) By crappy, overpriced food, are you referring to what you can make, or find in other ski resorts? And are you referring to the food in the lodge, or places like the Grill and Sugarbush Inn? I think constructive criticism is always welcome.

I'm not Treehugger, and I don't play him on TV, but I have a few thoughts on this. I've onyl eaten at the SB Inn once, so I can't speak to SB's overall level of high end food/service, but I can't say that what I've seen on the mountain is promising. I think the concessionaire strategy employed at Allyn's Lodge this year has been a disaster. The options are sugar (candy or waffle form) or a grumpy hot dog server with frozen drinks (who'da thunk that drinks would freeze when left outside at 3000' in Northern Vt in winter?). Look at the SB Racquet Club or whatever it's called. The place looks like a disaster and hasn't had a dime invested in it for years.
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Every pass holder gets a coupon book good good for 1/2 off a meal at the Grill. A friend of mine brought three of those coupons (they have multiple season tickets) for a family dinner and the manager of the Grill insisted that they would only honor one per meal, despite the fact that there is NO such restriction on the coupon or booklet. Even though he reached out to tell Adam, the same thing happened a month later. What kind of crap service/instincts is that?

Granted, these are disparate obvservations/incidents, but as far as I'm concerned, they speak to a general inattention to F&B hospitality. More work needs to be done in that regard.

Tin Woodsman wrote:

I'm not Treehugger, and I don't play him on TV, but I have a few thoughts on this. I've onyl eaten at the SB Inn once, so I can't speak to SB's overall level of high end food/service, but I can't say that what I've seen on the mountain is promising. I think the concessionaire strategy employed at Allyn's Lodge this year has been a disaster. The options are sugar (candy or waffle form) or a grumpy hot dog server with frozen drinks (who'da thunk that drinks would freeze when left outside at 3000' in Northern Vt in winter?). Look at the SB Racquet Club or whatever it's called. The place looks like a disaster and hasn't had a dime invested in it for years.

Agree on Allyn Lodge's shortcomings....could be a little gem of a place to stop in. Too bad. I always liked mid-mtn food/rest/bathroom spots.

And a SB health and raquet membership is part of the amenity package for Claybrook owners....so perhaps at the tail end of the base development projects that property will get a deserved and overdue make over. Could be a great little gem, but they would also need a better short term membership package system (incl. more reasonable $$$ requirements) to attract more bodies.

I noticed there was an open house last weekend at this house:

http://www.markolfdesigns.com/bridgehampton.htm

Anyone go ? There is a new, higher price than last Spring, when I think it was $875k.

Anyways, was just wondering how folks who know think the Valley real estate is holding up. I understand inventory is not as tight as has been the case in the last 3-4 years.

At one point in late August there were 34 houses on the market in the $300-$400m range. Last year at that time the number was about 11. I think the change in the market is resulting in houses getting priced more "realistically"- though still not exactly in the "affordable housing" range. I think buyers get the luxury of time, opportunity, and negotiation in the current market, and don't have to try and snatch something up immediately at whatever the asking price may be.

Word I get is there are a bunch of properties on the market, and they are staying there, longer.

I think that when the prices went up, a bunch of people decided to cash in.

And that number is too high.

As for the white elephant, no... I... forgot to go to the open house.

I saw the signs for the open house when I was going up to say hi to Brooke and the guys at Mountainside. I was pretty sure it would be the white elephant. I really can't understand what the builder was thinking.

I saw a red Ferrari with 2 guys dressed for the 80's there. I think their names were Crockett and Tubbs.

Plowboy wrote:

I saw a red Ferrari with 2 guys dressed for the 80's there. I think their names were Crockett and Tubbs.

Was there Glenn Frey on the radio?

It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers blues......

At least it will blend in when we have several feet of the white stuff around.

ski_resort_observer wrote:

At least it will blend in when we have several feet of the white stuff around.

Wait - this isn't Aspen.

I'm a hick Vermonter so I don't know nutin about any of that stuff!

Tin Woodsman wrote:

Plowboy wrote: I saw a red Ferrari with 2 guys dressed for the 80's there. I think their names were Crockett and Tubbs. Was there Glenn Frey on the radio? It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers blues......

Along with the Willie Nelson one, and the Ted Nugent one.

smootharc wrote:

Tin Woodsman wrote: Plowboy wrote: I saw a red Ferrari with 2 guys dressed for the 80's there. I think their names were Crockett and Tubbs. Was there Glenn Frey on the radio? It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers blues...... Along with the Willie Nelson one, and the Ted Nugent one.

Phil Collins...... not so much.

ski_resort_observer wrote:

At least it will blend in when we have several feet of the white stuff around.

The first thing I would do is paint it a nice desert sand mauve and hang a Georgia O'keefe painting and cactus, lots and lots of CACTI! OOPS...wrong board. I meant to post on Taos.com. My bad.

Does this mean you are going to move it to New Mexico?

And.. and... Are you going to tell them?