Airbnbs or bed and breakfasts are usually more our cup of tea, but the four humans of our family…read morerecently squeezed into a double queen bedroom at Hampton Inn Rutland for the camaraderie of staying with other ski team families. It was a blast and the hotel was quite pleasant for the genre (mid-range, family friendly).
Pros:
- There's a nice common room downstairs with a fireplace, where we were able to gather with a big group of friends and share dinner. It's also where breakfast is served in the a.m.
- Breakfast service begins at 6 a.m. -- great for those who need an early start.
- My kiddos love "Hotel Breakfast" as they call it, and this was no exception. There are two DIY waffle irons with lots of wonderfully unhealthy toppings; hot mini omelettes, sausage, and potatoes; muffins, bagels, toast; cold cereal and oatmeal; fruit salad and whole fruit.
- We either had very quiet neighbors or the walls are reasonably well soundproofed.
- There's a small, heated pool. It's hyperchlorinated as most hotel pools are, but a nice place to congregate and relax with friends after skiing.
- There's a small, but adequate gym -- and a conference room should you need it.
- The hotel adjoins a shopping complex that includes a Hannaford's supermarket, an Office Depot and a Michael's. Convenient for friends who had to find poster board for a school project due the following Monday. And we picked up fruit trays and dessert for our team dinner.
- The hotel is dog friendly! We traveled without our pup this time, but did get to hang with some great guest canines. This is a massive plus in our book.
- Beds were quite comfortable and staff were nice! Two people even dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus to say hello to the kids at dinner. :)
Cons:
- The elevator was out of order during our stay, so those of us staying on the third floor with lots of ski gear to carry up and down got a GREAT workout.
- The pool is quite small, more of a cooler-than-usual hot tub than anything else -- so don't expect to swim laps.
- There's no fan or ventilation in the bathroom. After four showers, it gets pretty steamy.
Neutral:
- It's about 30 minutes from Killington Mountain. There are more proximate, dog friendly hotels (e.g. Killington Mountain Lodge) and Airbnbs, but Hampton Inn Rutland may be better priced.
- Our room temperature defaulted to 68 or 69 F. I love that it's eco-friendly and it was a good temperature for putting on ski gear -- but we usually keep our home a bit warmer than this. You can change the temperature of course, but ours kept defaulting to the cooler setting at night.
- We're not big TV watchers, but for those who are, I think you need to sign in to Netflix, Disney+, etc... with your own account logins. The hotel does not have its own subscriptions.
Overall, this was a great, budget-friendly place to stay with a group!