This is a review of a family vacation we were able to take earlier this month. Several more installments, plus a post with special offers, are scheduled for the next three days. Would love your feedback!
To say that we were excited to begin our first extended (i.e. longer than a 3-day weekend) vacation in about 3 years would be a total understatement. Last summer we had just purchased our new home and did not have the extra cash for a real vacation; the summer before Todd and I had planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary but had to postpone due to a medical emergency. So our last vacation was in August of 2006, when we rented a travel trailer (camper) and drove from the annual family reunion in VT to a campground in Wells, ME for just under a week.
Being able to actually stay in hotels and not camp was a true blessing, and to begin our trek at the Nordic Village Resort in Jackson, NH was a fabulous way to kick things off!
About the accommodations:
The Nordic Village Resort in Jackson, NH is a true mountain getaway. It is a beautiful resort made up of about a dozen buildings spanning one mile up a hillside in the White Mountains. Extremely family friendly, with lots of things to do right on the property. There are multiple swimming pools, a fitness center, pavilion building for indoor activities, making s'mores at the fire pit, arcade, small pond with row boats, a small island area on the pond where kids can be entertained by performers, and even pony rides!
The lodging itself was incredible, our "room" was actually a 2 bedroom/2 bath condo unit with a balcony! A fully equipped and furnished kitchen (with dishwasher) meant that we could keep our food costs down by going to the grocery store and cooking our own meals. Splitting up the sleeping spaces allowed us to keep the peace with the kids -- the boys slept in the full bedroom on the main floor, Sydney slept on the sofa-bed in the living room, and we took the master bedroom in the loft above. One of the favorite features of the unit was the spiral staircase (aka "curly stairs") leading up to the master suite. The master bathroom had a large jacuzzi tub that was big enough for two and had a skylight above. There was tons of natural light in the unit, especially in the morning as the sun was rising over the mountains. We had gorgeous views from our balcony. Oh yeah, we also had a small laundry center (washer/dryer), board games/puzzles in the entertainment center and even a DVD player. It was for sure something that felt like a home away from home. There was no wireless internet, but we did have wired ethernet access in our unit. There was wireless available at the common buildings, like the Fitness Center and ClubHouse, but I did not take my computer to those areas to test.
About the local community and things we did for fun:
We trekked to the Nordic Village Resort by way of the Kancamagus Highway. It was a beautiful drive, and we stopped at a NH State Park area along the way to hike a waterfall area. What a wonderful way to begin our trip!
Although the resort is a mere mile away from Storyland, we decided to skip Storyland to enjoy the Nordic Village itself. The pool area was just really inviting after so much rain this summer. We did make a couple of quick trips to North Conway outlets for shopping, mere minutes away. Visited the local Dairy Queen for a Blizzard ice cream treat, and to the grocery store to stock up our kitchen in the condo. We spent the majority of time just enjoying ourselves as a family: swimming, playing, using the row boats, watching the clown show, putting together a puzzle, writing in our journals and playing ping pong. It was super.
The White Mountains area of NH has a lot to offer year-round: miniature golf, family attractions/parks, water parks, hiking, biking, camping, outlet shopping, historical sites, Mt. Washington, dining and much more. I'd encourage you to check out web sites and travel guides for more ideas on what to do. I am certain there is something for everyone...we could have spent a whole week here and done something new each day!
Fab five reasons you might want to book this trip yourself:
- The resort itself was just fabulous. Lots to do on-site made it a great value. I can also see this being a winter wonderland, a perfect place to warm up after days on the ski slopes nearby.
- Can't say enough about the great customer service: From the moment I checked in, I felt like the staff really cared about making this a great experience for our family. This extended even beyond the time we checked out -- I had forgotten a RedBox rental DVD in our unit and didn't realize it until we were half way to Maine. I figured it would be a loss, and I'd see the max $25 fee on my checking account sometime later in the month. I was thrilled to see an email a few days later to confirm my DVD was returned! I was impressed.
- The pool area included several pools and hot tubs. One pool and hot tub was indoors, so no matter the weather outdoors you and your family can enjoy splashing around. We don't have a pool at home, so swimming is always something the kids enjoy when we are out and about.
- The Nordic Village is part of the Lafayette Hotels family, and they often have discounts available at their web site or facebook page. (We'll also be featuring a special coupon -- stay turned!) When you couple the discounted lodging with the savings you can find when you are cooking your own meals in the unit and utlizing the entertainment options on-site, it's really a great value for a family getaway.
- Two words: Pony Rides! OK, so they do cost a little extra to do...but what a nice bonus for the kids. We actually need to go back for the pony rides, as it was raining the day we had planned to let the kids go for their rides.
- We didn't make time to enjoy the bonfire each night and eat s'mores. Wish we would have done so here, there was no other place on the trip that offered this opportunity. We had even brought along our own s'mores ingredients in anticipation but just found ourselves doing other things each night at the time the bonfire was happening. (You can purchase your own family s'mores kit at the hotel store for a reasonable rate)
- Get the address that we should use for the GPS in advance -- the address listed in promotional materials is very generic and we ended up in the wrong place until I called the front desk for clarification.
- There were wonderful skylights and natural light throughout the unit, which we loved. But we forgot to shut the pocket doors in the master bedroom loft area and it was just so bright at sunrise that it woke us up when we wanted to be lazy and sleep in. Lesson learned for the next night/morning.
- The only TV was in the living room (where the sleeper sofa was located), and Sydney was sleeping in that room. So we needed to find another way to watch/listen to the Red Sox games that continued later than the kids bedtime.
Even though our trip was in the warm summer months, I can totally see how this would be an equally if not better place for a winter vacation. There was a fireplace to stay cozy, and our unit had plenty of closet space to store gear. Each of the kids loved our time at Nordic Village -- they noted the pool area, the clown, the row boats, and the games in the pavillion. We all enjoyed the ability to spread out and sleep in different rooms, as well as the access to a full kitchen and washer/dryer. The view from the balcony, especially with the morning mist, was just breath taking, and the jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom was an added bonus.
Nordic Village gets the Kids Meal Crowd thumbs up!
Check out our photos from the trip on Facebook:
Day One
Day Two
NEXT STOP: Portland, Maine
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To comply with my own disclosure policy, we did receive discounted room rates at the Lafayette Hotels we visited during our family vacation. We appreciate the opportunity to have connected with a local New England based company such as the Lafayette Hotels group. If you want to keep up with the Lafayette family of Hotels, please check them out on Twitter and Facebook. They have 27 hotels in New Hampshire, Maine and Michigan and I’d say that in my opinion, they have been on the leading edge of local businesses using social media to interact with new and existing guests.
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