I felt compelled to write this review, since the reviews I found on various websites for The Cirque at Copper Mountain portrayed a very different experience.
My family stayed here in late March 2021, and it seemed like the entire resort was understaffed or staffed with people who have perfected the IDGAF attitude. Here's my personal assessment of The Cirque.
Pros:
+ Proximity to the lifts in West Village, as long as you're an adult who can carry your own equipment
+ Kitchen stocked with basic cookware, allowing guests to make their own meals
+ Covered and secure parking
+ Lockers for storing skis/snowboards
Cons:
- It's actually quite a trek for young children to get to the Magic Carpet areas. Be prepared to carry your children, their ski equipment, and your own ski equipment to the base.
- No on-site parking for babysitters if you're a young family and need childcare. The 72 y/o babysitter the nanny agency sent me bitched me out because I couldn't secure parking at The Cirque for her. Instead, she had to park at the Alpine lot at the entrance of the resort and take the bus. I desperately tried to speak with the front desk at check-in and then Guest Services over the phone to secure another alternative for her to no avail. It was a very stressful first evening. Getting yelled at by someone I was paying $35/hr for something out of my control on one side and getting shrugged at on the other side was NOT the reason I booked this vacation.
- No on-site childcare, leading to the situation above. What kind of "family-friendly" resort doesn't offer on-site childcare AND doesn't allow for parking permits for babysitters? Our stay was a full year since the beginning of the pandemic. You'd think they figured out how to safely care for children by now. The preschool my son goes to figured it out a couple of months into the pandemic.
- The pools and hot tub were closed, even though they were advertised as open when I booked the vacation. The official reason is the pandemic. However, given how empty the resort was, I would say it was due to lack of staffing and not wanting to deal with pool maintenance for a small number of guests. I have been to other ski resorts this season that did have their pool areas open.
- No cleaning, even though it's a pandemic. Your trash will just pile up in the hallway.
- Extremely dated appliances and furnishings. The appliances remind me of my childhood, and I'm now an adult with my own child. High end prices for low end effort.
I did also relay my disappointment during my stay to Guest Services, the person at check-out, and a survey that I was invited to fill out after our stay. Needless to say, the people I actually spoke with just shrugged and I didn't hear anything after sending the survey with suggestions to improve. Since they aren't going to do anything, my only option is to share my personal experience to prevent others from making the same mistake. The lack of effort in maintenance of the grounds and customer service was painfully palpable in every aspect of our visit.
Copper has great skiing, so we'll might be back for that. We've learned our lesson, though. Next time we'll be staying over in Dillon or Frisco, where there is on-site parking for nannies/babysitters, regular cleaning and amenities. Hopefully, there will also be less "dead eyes" and "yea, whatever" attitude.
Alternatively, Colorado has many ski resorts to choose from. Don't settle. read more