Liberty Mountain Resort

I can't remember the last time that I have been to Liberty and that's because it's been years! I am not an "avid" skier, but I do enjoy hitting the slopes and every time I go, I ask...why don't I do this more often? This year I had the opportunity to plan a ski weekend for 2 and one of the main criteria was that the resort needed to be a reasonable driving distance from DC (meaning, no more than 2 hours:). Liberty fit the bill and after reviewing the site, I decided to book and have absolutely no regrets. ||My decision was also aided by the fact that I purchased an Epic pass and Liberty Resort is now part of the Vail Resorts family and my Epic pass could be used at Liberty. Read my Epic Pass review here. ||I booked a room in the Alpine Lodge with 2 double beds. Located on the 2nd floor, the room was very tidy and extremely clean! The linens were fresh and the bathroom was extremely clean. They provided the necessary toiletries including some luxurious hand lotion (available for purchase if you like it). Our room was also equipped with a mini fridge and a coffee maker. I wish the room would have been stocked with tea as well, but we had to go to the main lodge and get that. We had a private balcony with a side view of the main lodge. I'm sure this would be nice to enjoy when weather permits.||The Alpine Lodge is conveniently located in between the main lodge and the slopes. You can access the main eateries and lessons counter from the lodge without having to exit. The main restaurant, The Eagle & the Owl, located inside the main lodge (where you will also check-in), was just a stones throw from our room and where we ate all of our meals. We experienced some of the best service there even if the choices were a bit limited. Dinner and lunch were good, but breakfast was buffet and definitely lacking Our breakfast options were pancakes (Saturday only), eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and some bagels and pastries. The Sunday breakfast buffet definitely went downhill and the options were just an oversized quiche made of powdered eggs, potatoes, bacon and some quick breads. There was no a la carte breakfast option. I will say that the service from the wait staff and everyone in the restaurant was always top notch! Other eating options were limited and really on-the-go fast food and snack types. I will say that we didn't have a chance to sample McKee's Tavern because it closed before were were off the mountain...next time.||There is an indoor pool in the basement of the main lodge. We took a peak just to confirm that it is there and there's a hot tub in the pool as well. ||We decided to go ahead and hit the Bubly tubing on our first night and it didn't disappoint. Would you believe that this was my first time tubing...ever? I can hardly believe it and think that I may. have blocked it from my memory. Anyhow, the tubing was fun and fast and it was super cold. We took a shuttle from the Alpine lodge to the tubing station for an 8pm session. While we did buy our tickets in advance, it didn't really seem necessary once we were there and it wasn't crowded. I do like that they have a separate rest area for the tubers to relax, eat and recharge. There is food and snacks for purchase (pizza, chips, candy, soda, hot chocolate). The staff at the tubing station (indoor/outdoor) was just as welcoming and helpful as the staff at the lodge and throughout the resort. ||As far as skiing goes...it was as good as can be expected. Mother Nature wasn't really feeling it again this season and didn't bless us with the cold or snow that we would have liked for a January trip, but we made the most of it. Most of the trails were available as well as the tubing. We took a group lesson which is always a nice refresher. It started out very chaotic with everyone showing up for their respective lessons and the staff was trying to segment folks based on their self-assessments of their ski levels. I was moved around a little and an instructor was nice enough to let me join his group. We were a small group of 5. I had a very knowledgeable instructor with a great bedside manner. He was there to help me make some adjustments, but I didn't learn anything new and certainly didn't move on to the diamonds after my lesson:). Lessons are always great if you don't ski often and don't feel as confident at first and if you aren't traveling with a skier.||*Kids|The resort is great if you have kids who are learning to ski. There were a lot of kids when we went and lots of lessons taking place. The resort was very welcoming and there are even games to keep them occupied in The Eagle & the Owl (darts, foosball, and a sort of sand shuffle game). Kids are definitely welcome!||Pros|Close to DC|Exceptional staff|Comfortable accommodations|Trails for all levels|Lessons (if ya need 'em)|Indoor pool|Epic pass discounts (lodging, lessons, lift tickets)||Cons|Food variety (would be great if they had Mexican; Tacos and Trails (you heard it here first!)|Markets close a little early|Can't use Epic pass discounts everywhere (you have to ask)|Details (they let me buy a lift ticket even though I had an Epic Pass; no one...

I can't remember the last time that I have been to Liberty and that's because it's been years! I am not an "avid" skier, but I do enjoy hitting the slopes and every time I go, I ask...why don't I do this more often? This year I had the opportunity to plan a ski weekend for 2 and one of the main criteria was that the resort needed to be a reasonable driving distance from DC (meaning, no more than 2 hours:). Liberty fit the bill and after reviewing the site, I decided to book and have absolutely no regrets. ||My decision was also aided by the fact that I purchased an Epic pass and Liberty Resort is now part of the Vail Resorts family and my Epic pass could be used at Liberty. Read my Epic Pass review here. ||I booked a room in the Alpine Lodge with 2 double beds. Located on the 2nd floor, the room was very tidy and extremely clean! The linens were fresh and the bathroom was extremely clean. They provided the necessary toiletries including some luxurious hand lotion (available for purchase if you like it). Our room was also equipped with a mini fridge and a coffee maker. I wish the room would have been stocked with tea as well, but we had to go to the main lodge and get that. We had a private balcony with a side view of the main lodge. I'm sure this would be nice to enjoy when weather permits.||The Alpine Lodge is conveniently located in between the main lodge and the slopes. You can access the main eateries and lessons counter from the lodge without having to exit. The main restaurant, The Eagle & the Owl, located inside the main lodge (where you will also check-in), was just a stones throw from our room and where we ate all of our meals. We experienced some of the best service there even if the choices were a bit limited. Dinner and lunch were good, but breakfast was buffet and definitely lacking Our breakfast options were pancakes (Saturday only), eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and some bagels and pastries. The Sunday breakfast buffet definitely went downhill and the options were just an oversized quiche made of powdered eggs, potatoes, bacon and some quick breads. There was no a la carte breakfast option. I will say that the service from the wait staff and everyone in the restaurant was always top notch! Other eating options were limited and really on-the-go fast food and snack types. I will say that we didn't have a chance to sample McKee's Tavern because it closed before were were off the mountain...next time.||There is an indoor pool in the basement of the main lodge. We took a peak just to confirm that it is there and there's a hot tub in the pool as well. ||We decided to go ahead and hit the Bubly tubing on our first night and it didn't disappoint. Would you believe that this was my first time tubing...ever? I can hardly believe it and think that I may. have blocked it from my memory. Anyhow, the tubing was fun and fast and it was super cold. We took a shuttle from the Alpine lodge to the tubing station for an 8pm session. While we did buy our tickets in advance, it didn't really seem necessary once we were there and it wasn't crowded. I do like that they have a separate rest area for the tubers to relax, eat and recharge. There is food and snacks for purchase (pizza, chips, candy, soda, hot chocolate). The staff at the tubing station (indoor/outdoor) was just as welcoming and helpful as the staff at the lodge and throughout the resort. ||As far as skiing goes...it was as good as can be expected. Mother Nature wasn't really feeling it again this season and didn't bless us with the cold or snow that we would have liked for a January trip, but we made the most of it. Most of the trails were available as well as the tubing. We took a group lesson which is always a nice refresher. It started out very chaotic with everyone showing up for their respective lessons and the staff was trying to segment folks based on their self-assessments of their ski levels. I was moved around a little and an instructor was nice enough to let me join his group. We were a small group of 5. I had a very knowledgeable instructor with a great bedside manner. He was there to help me make some adjustments, but I didn't learn anything new and certainly didn't move on to the diamonds after my lesson:). Lessons are always great if you don't ski often and don't feel as confident at first and if you aren't traveling with a skier.||*Kids|The resort is great if you have kids who are learning to ski. There were a lot of kids when we went and lots of lessons taking place. The resort was very welcoming and there are even games to keep them occupied in The Eagle & the Owl (darts, foosball, and a sort of sand shuffle game). Kids are definitely welcome!||Pros|Close to DC|Exceptional staff|Comfortable accommodations|Trails for all levels|Lessons (if ya need 'em)|Indoor pool|Epic pass discounts (lodging, lessons, lift tickets)||Cons|Food variety (would be great if they had Mexican; Tacos and Trails (you heard it here first!)|Markets close a little early|Can't use Epic pass discounts everywhere (you have to ask)|Details (they let me buy a lift ticket even though I had an Epic Pass; no one...

Our experience of staying at the resort was horrible!! I made my reservation months in advance and even called and paid extra to get a king-size bed and have champagne and chocolate strawberries placed inside the out room since it was my HUSBANDS birthday, and it was our first time as a married couple celebrating his birthday weekend. I called hours before arriving, and during my phone conversation, the person I spoke to said that my room was ready but failed to mention that I was going to be in a handicap accessible room. Upon check-in, the front desk staff did not say that it was a handicap room; we discovered the room type when we went inside. I called the front desk and asked why our room type did not get mention; he basically said that is not something they do. I asked to be moved I was told everyone has checked into the type of room that we had booked and they were also sold out. We checked in at 4:00 PM Also, I mentioned that the tv stand was dirty, in which he sent housekeeping to our room to have it clean. After I came off the phone I decided to inspect the room myself, and I discovered that the pillowcases were dirty, the bathroom sink was dirty, coffee maker dirty and the floor did not get vacuum properly. The two young ladies who came to clean was very nice and very apologetic. We made dinner at ike’s restaurant in which was mediocre. My husband discovered he had a hair in his food after he had finish eating. At that point, I just decided that it was just time to check-out a day early (we were only staying for two nights). We went to the front desk, and told the young man that we wanted to check out a day early, he asked if everything was okay. So I mentioned the room situation he seen apologetic and appears to be very genuine. He noted our reservations as well said we were going to get a discount. Upon check-out, the gentleman that was at the desk failed to mention anything about our experiences if I did not mention that we had issues he would have said anything about the notes on our reservations. He emailed me my receipt in which the discount was not applied. I had to go back and said what was mentioned last night, which was obviously was written on my reservation, but I guess he overlooked it. The hair in the food was not brought to their attention because the first issues that we had to seem to have not taken seriously, it was pointless to have wasted my time and energy to mention something again! Did I mention that it was a manager who I spoke to on the phone, as well as who checked us out? He also did not seem like he cared about our horrible experiences. I have already made mention to several of my friends and family not to stay at...