Luxury Lodging in Vermont: Twin Farms in Winter
An exerpt from the Ski Lodges: The Innkeepers of the Tradition of the New York Times Travel Section, Sunday, February 1, 2009
By Amy Virshup
To get to the top of the mountain at Twin Farms Resort, you can take a poma lift. But the better way up is the resort’s Alpina Sherpa, a souped-up snow machine and trolley that can ferry nine people uphill at a time. And the runs are guaranteed to be wide open: The resort, on 300 acres in Vermont, encompasses the former Ski Sonnenberg, a modest, six-run, 350-foot vertical ski hill, which it now runs as a private mountain. Guests seeking bigger thrills can head to Suicide six in Woodstock or the Killington Skyeship gondola. On site, the resort also offers cross-country skiing, snowshoe hiking and ice skating, all with equipment provided so you don’t even have to remember your skates. The resort’s 20 rooms, each with at least one fireplace, range from suites of about 1,000 square feet in the main 18th century farmhouse to individual cottages that, at the largest – the ski-in ski-out chalet – run 3000 square feet. All have internet wireless access and satellite television and come stocked with coffee, tea, and snacks.
Weekend rates start at $1,300 a couple a night and go up to $3,000. Lower weeday rates are available through March 15 in honor of the resort’s 15th anniversary (from $900 to $2100 a night).
For that all guests get all meals, all beverages (including alcohol and wine from Twin Farm’s 26,000-bottle cellar), ground transportation to and from area airports (Burlington, VT; Lebanon, NH; or Manchester, NH) or to one of the nearby mountains if they want to go off campus to ski (Twin Farms doesn’t make snow so sometimes that can be a necessity). For breakfast the kitchen will, more or less, cook whatever guests want (and the morning’s juices include not just orange, grapefruit and cranberry but selections like mango, carrot, or papya). Those looking to be social can eat in the dining room; those looking for privacy can dine in their rooms or in front of one of the resort’s many fireplaces.
What’s not allowed? Children (except on special family weeks) and pets.
