Ten Acres Lodge - A Stowe Vermont Bed and Breakfast

Coming up on Feb. 6th is the 14th annual Snowshoe festival, sponsored by the Green Mountain Club.  The day is promoted as ” an invigorating day of free snowshoe demos, guided snowshoe hikes to local peaks and trails, workshops, nature walks, gear displays, raffle, hot chocolate, and more.”  This is a great organization that promotes hiking in the summer and snowshoe in the winter.  If you enjoy beautiful scenary, fresh air and good company, check this out.  Find more information at www.greenmountainclub.org

We still have rooms that weekend at Ten Acres Lodge so if you want to take in the festival, give us a call to book a room.  Still plenlty of snow on the ground with more on the way!

The annual Stowe winter carnival is around the corner.  It’s great fun for everyone and offers a variety of activities.  Snowvolleyball, snow golf, ice carving demos (this art form is truly amazing) kids activities, ski races and more.  It’s from Jan. 18 – 29.  Check it out and consider staying with us at Ten Acres Lodge!

Visit here for more info www.stowewintercarnival.com

We’ve been lucky to have hosted a couple of groups recently.  They are great fun for us and give us a lot of satisfaction.  I’m proud of the work we’ve done and thought I would share some recent reviews we have gotten for these two groups.  See below:

Review 1:  We held an annual staff retreat at Ten Acres Lodge. It was a laid back, relaxing atmosphere, staff were very helpful and accommodating. Frank and his team were willing to work with us on our team building exercise which helped our creativitiy and ultimately, our productivity. Ten Acres was like being away at a friend’s ski house; they let us take over but took very good care of us at the same time.

Review 2:  We celebrated my wife’s 50th birthday at Ten Acres Lodge. Most of my wife’s family hails from New Jersey. 15 or so people (men, women, children and dog) arrived in a gigantic rented RV while anther dozen or so family and friends came from all over new england. We descended upon the lodge on Friday evening and left on Sunday morning. We had wondeful breakfasts and enjoyed lovely rooms (we took most of the rooms in the Inn, the cottage and the building on the hill). Everyone loved their rooms-all of which were large and comfortable, were tastefully furnished and boasted big screen TV’s.
Frank and his lovely wife also catered a dinner for 30+ people on Saturday night. The food was delicious, served in a friendly manner and affordable. The sit down diner was enjoyed by all. We then partied into the night in the main lodge, enjoying the fireplace and the music. The big TV in the bar was a big hit with the teenagers in the group as they played Beatles Rock Band into the night. Everyone had a terrific time.
All in all we could not have found a better place nor could have had a better time than what we experienced at Ten Acres Lodge. The owners were gracious, constantly helpful and did everything they could to make us feel at home. We will be back.

This is a great place for holding a team meeting or to gather the family for a celebration.  Give us a call and let us know if we can help!

I call this picture “Dusk at Ten Acres”.  Its one of my favorite pictures of Ten Acres Lodge.  Some days during the winter, the sky can be so clean and pure and it shows up in all its glory at dawn and dusk.  A friend of mine, Jim Armstrong, took this picture.  He’s a pro and his pictures are also used on our site to show the rooms.

This picture has caught the eye of many people including a advertising firm which asked for my permission to use it in a nationwide ad campaign.  Needless to say, we were honored.

Stowe mountain has opened and is off to a great start.  The base is building up nicely and the skiing is great.  We’ve had about 18-24 inches of fresh snow in the last few days with more to come.  As one business person put it, “it’s white gold”.  Snow is so important to our little town and the winter Gods have seen fit to bless us with plenty of white stuff.  If you decide to come up, let me know and we’ll try and get a skiing package for you that fits your needs.

Yes, it’s true.  I am not a skier, yet I own a B&B in a ski town.  Why?  Because Stowe is so much more than a ski town.  As this article points out …

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/ski/2009-12-08-resorts-for-non-skiers_N.htm

You’ll note that Stowe is one of the few listed in North America.  It is also the only one on the east coast.  There is so much to enjoy during the winter, even you aren’t a skier.  Read the article and plan a great holiday getaway in Stowe and at Ten Acres Lodge.

Even though it may not seem like it if you live in the northeast, winter weather is coming…and fast.  For anyone who knows me, you know I’m not a big fan of snow and cold but even I’m ready for the white stuff!  The forecast for Stowe looking over the next ten days is more of a classic winter pattern with frequent snow showers.

If you are discouraged about the current conditions…fear not…snow is coming.

Soon, we’ll have a webcam set up where you can see out our front window so you’ll be able to check out the conditions for yourself.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I took a call today from a potential guest and it reminded me of how popular xc skiing is.  Our location at Ten Acres Lodge is just 1 mile away from one of the premier xc centers of all of North America…Trapp Family Lodge.

Many of our guests during the winter are skiers and I was surprised how many of them do cross country.  They tell me (who ever “they” are) that this form of skiing is easier to learn than downhill.  It can be a workout that’s for sure.  Last year, Trapp’s added snowmaking to many of the trails.  That may come in handy as the snow has been late to come this year.  Overall, this year has been cooler than most but November has been above normal.  Interesting to note is that we had two nice snowfalls in October.   

While the snow has yet to cover the ground, I did hear an interesting prediction of the upcoming winter season.  This guy, with accuweather, said we would have a below normal Oct., warmer than normal Nov., then the rest of the winter would be colder than normal with plenty of snow.  So far, he’s been on target. 

The other sign that we are headed for a snowy winter?  I’ve seen more squirrels around here than ever before…no doubt getting ready for winter.  Or at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Hope to see you soon at the Lodge!

Bandit welcomes your Dog to Ten Acres Lodge

We love dogs…always have.  But we also know some people aren’t crazy about pet friendly rooms.  We’ve been thinking for awhile now, how can we satisfy the needs of all of our guests?

Since we have two distinct buildings the solution was to create a space that would not disrupt guests but accomodate those guests that want to travel with an importnat member of the family.  So, after much thought, we are announcing that we have two dog friendly rooms in our Hill House!

Since all the rooms there exit to the outside and there are no common areas, we have designated rooms 21 and 25 our dog friendly rooms.  These are at the end of the building and should not pose any problems to others.  There is a $15 charge for having a dog in these rooms.  We ask that they be crated during the day or be assured they will be quiet.  On weekends and certains holidays and the summer, we even have someone who can “pet sit” for you if you like…our daughter, who will jump at the chance to take care of your pet while you’re away.  We may even have a special surprise or two for your dog when they visit Ten Acres.

I know in the past few years we have turned away many people wanting to travel with their pets.  We now feel we can meet the needs of all of our guests.  The cottage continues to be pet friendly and is an option as well.

Whether you travel with a dog or not, Ten Acres remains a place where you can get away from the craziness of life and relax.  We hope to see you soon.

As Thanksgiving approaches, it reminds us that snow and skiing are fast upon us.  For many, this is the time of year they look forward to most.  Of course the economy has put some plans on hold but we have some great specials to help offset the costs of a ski holiday.  Consider our stay three nights and get the forth night free.  Or our weekend packages that include lift tickets and dinner.  Perhaps choose one of our specially priced rooms for $99/night.  There are many ways to save when you choose Ten Acres Lodge.  The skiing at Stowe’s Mount Mansfield is always seen as among the best in the eastern USA. 

For those of you considering a ski trip over Christmas week, there are still rooms available but they are booking fast.  If you want to experience the magic of Christmas in a New England village, don’t delay in booking your room.

I will be providing updates on snowfall and other things going on to Stowe in this blog.  You can also find us on Facebook under Ten Acres Lodge or on Twitter @vtinnkeeper.

Hope to see you when the snow flies!

The few remaining leaves are starting to fall from the trees.  The colorful display of Mother Nature gives way to thoughts of winter and …Skiing!  While there is no snow on the ground, we’ve already had two snowfalls (before Oct. 15th!)  At one point, some guests told me there was 6 inches of snow on the mountain.  Of course that has melted away but it gets everyone thinking about the upcoming ski season.  Staying at a bed and breakfast in Vermont for a skiing getaway makes for an unforgetable experience.

At Ten Acres Lodge, we are introducing some great money saving packages for winter.  Whether you ski or not, these packages will offer the value that everyone is looking for these days.  You can visit our web site for details.  To get the dates you want, the room you want at the price you want, book early!

Also, follow us on Twitter at @vtinnkeeper to get updates on the weather, snowfall reports and accurate descriptions on conditions.

I should mention that this past foliage season was extremely colorful…one of the best I’ve seen.  I will be updating my foliage video soon so look for that on our web site or on youtube.

We hope to see you this winter.  We’ll have a fire going in the fireplace for you!