Travel Planner: Lebanon, NH

The 200-room base lodge at Mount Snow will be an easy choice for skiers who don't care about anything but getting on the slopes as quickly as possible. Ski-in ski-out ease is the main sell and package deals can make the lodging cheap. The lobby has the look of a traditional ski lodge, with a big center fireplace, but the overall feel is that of an efficient, new hotel. Rooms are clean and fairly basic. A big outdoor heated pool sits beside two hot tubs at the base of the slopes. In summer guests enjoy the property golf and tennis courts. Pros:

easy ski access; clean, modern property.

somewhat bland decor in rooms. www.mountsnow.com/grandsummit.html. 104 rooms, 96 suites. In-room: kitchen (some), Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pool, tennis courts, gym, spa, children's programs, business center. Credit cards accepted.

Though this multi-building property is the geographic center and historic heart of Manchester Village, and though it has been the

fancy hotel in town—in the state—since the 18th century, the Equinox had lost its luster in the past decade. That all changed in 2008, however, thanks to a complete renovation that's elevated the property, finally, to the lofty tier befitting its white columns. Rooms now have huge flat-screen TVs, leather chairs, contemporary carpets, and two-tone cream wallpaper, new plush-top mattresses, and marble bathrooms with granite sinks and Molton Brown toiletries. If you crave colonial, the Equinox bought the pink 1811 House across the street, which had been an independent B&B and is one of New England's most heart-grabbing properties. If you've got big bucks, ask for a room in the Charles Orvis Inn, which has a billiard room, hot tubs, and private porches. The spa is the best in southern Vermont, you can take falconry lessons, the resort's golf course is across the street, and there's a new wine bar in addition to the good restaurant.

heart-of-town location, full-service hotel, great golf and spa.

big-hotel feeling, overrun by NewYorkers on weekends. www.equinoxresort.com. 154 rooms, 29 suites. In-room: kitchen (some), Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pool, tennis courts, spa. Credit cards accepted.

This slope-side base lodge is the place to stay if your aim is convenience to Okemo's slopes. The resort includes three restaurants and a martini bar ($12 a pop, but they're served in generous portions), plus an arcade. You can use the Spring House health center, which includes a fitness center, a raquetball court, hot tubs, a sauna, and great kid pools with slides. Right next to the original Jackson Gore structure are the newest annexes, Adams House (which opened in 2007) and Bixby House (2008), which feature whirlpool tubs and slightly more contemporary furnishings. Most units have full kitchen facilities. Besides Jackson Gore, Okemo offers 145 other condo units all across the mountain. Pros:

ski-in, ski-out at base of mountain; good for families.

chaotic and noisy on weekends. www.okemo.com. 263 rooms. In-room: kitchen (some), Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf courses, pools, tennis courts, gym, spa, children's programs, laundry facilities, business center, some pets allowed. Credit cards accepted.

Want to ski but resent the busy Ludlow and Okemo scene? You'll find a happy middle ground at this inn 10 mi north of town. Former Long Islanders Bruce and Tina Verdrager converted their old ski house and barns into this comfortably refined haven. The centerpiece of the relaxed common areas is a huge 1850 English bar, with comfortable banquettes, a big double sided fireplace, and a billiards table. Rooms are standard Victorian B&B affairs, clean and nice, but uninspiring compared to the grounds and setting. While most guests come for skiing, golf and spa packages are also available, and in summer the inn's dock has two canoes and a small sailboat on charming Echo Lake. Pros:

bucolic setting on a lakefront; interesting, big house.

ordinary rooms. www.innatwatersedge.com. 9 rooms, 2 suites. In-room: no TV, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, bar, water sports, business center, some age restrictions. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast, Some meals.

The mother ship of Lake Winnipesaukee's several giddy family-oriented amusement parks, Funspot claims to be the second-largest arcade in the country, but it's much more than just a video-game room. Here you can work your way through a miniature golf course, a golf driving range, an indoor golf simulator, 20 lanes of bowling, cash bingo, and more than 500 video games. Some outdoor attractions are closed in winter months. www.funspotnh.com. Admission: Entry free; fee for each activity. Hours: Mid-June-early Sept., daily 9am-midnight; early Sept.-mid-June, Sun.-Thurs. 10-10, Fri. and Sat. 10am-11pm.

If this is your first time in Woodstock and you want to feel like you're in the middle of it all, stay here. Set back far from the main road but still on the town's gorgeous green, the Inn is the town's beating heart. You'll feel that right away when looking at the main fireplace, set immediately through the front doors, which burns impressive three-foot-long logs. Rooms are contemporary and luxurious, with huge flat screen TVs, sleek furniture and great bathrooms done in clean-looking subway tiles. The resort also owns and gives you access to Suicide Six ski mountain and the Woodstock Golf Club. Pros:

exciting, big property; contemporary furnishings; professionally run

can lack intimacy. www.woodstockinn.com. 135 rooms, 7 suites. In-room: safe, Internet, Wi-Fi (some). In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pools, tennis courts, gym, business center. Credit cards accepted.

Each room in this handsomely restored 1793 country home has Queen Anne-style furnishings and period antiques. From the old barn, the inn runs bike and canoe rentals, a fly-fishing school, and kayak and canoe trips. Eleven miles of cross-country and hiking trails are on property. Guests also have privileges at the Quechee Club, a private golf, tennis, and ski club. The dining room's ($$-$$$) creative entrées include shellfish bouillabaisse and rack of lamb with green peppercorn pesto. Pros:

historic, spacious property.

bathrooms are clean but out-of-date. www.quecheeinn.com. 22 rooms, 3 suites. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, bar, water sports. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast.

West of the traffic of North Conway, the scenery becomes splendid. Rooms in this hotel at the base of Whitehorse Ledge have mountain views. Proximity to the White Mountain National Forest and Echo Lake State Park makes you feel farther away from the outlet malls than you actually are. There's a 9-hole golf course and this is a great area for biking.Three meals a day are available at the at Ledges dining room; there's also a tavern. Kids 18 and under stay free. Pros:

scenic setting that's close to shopping; lots of activities.

two-night minimum summer weekends. www.whitemountainhotel.com. 80 rooms, 13 suites. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pool, tennis court, gym, business center. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast, Some meals.

This baronial 1869 Victorian was once one of New England's great hotels. Today the interior furnishings are unexciting, and the rooms in the main house are in poor shape. But wait: some of the rooms are fantastic. You can find them in the Arden cottage, one of a series of cottages on the national historic register beside the main house. Four rooms have wonderful hot tubs set in what look like giant whiskey barrels; these have wonderful views, and are worth a look. Arden rooms that don't have the hot tubs have big whirlpool baths. Weekends require a two-night stay and a dinner package.The 18-hole course at the Wentworth Golf Club is next door to the inn. Pros:

professionally run, interesting architecture, restaurant with weekend entertainment.

main inn rooms and bathrooms are older, unexciting common areas. www.thewentworth.com. 44 rooms, 7 suites. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, bar, pool, tennis court, business center. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast, Some meals.

On 700 acres overlooking Lake Champlain, this ultimate family resort provides luxurious accommodations and a full roster of amenities, including an 18-hole golf course, boating (with a 40-foot tour boat), a 3,200-foot grass airstrip, and daylong children's programs. Some rooms in the guesthouses have fireplaces, decks, or porches. The cottages are charming and have one to three bedrooms. The restaurant menu ($-$$$) is classic American, the wine list excellent. Jackets and ties are required in common areas after 6 pm from late-June through Labor Day. Pros:

gorgeous lakeside property; activities galore.

open only half the year. www.basinharbor.com. 36 rooms, 2 suites in 3 guesthouses, 77 cottages. In-room: no TV. In-hotel: restaurants, golf course, pool, tennis courts, gym, children's programs, some pets allowed. Credit cards accepted. Closed mid-Oct.-mid-May. Rate includes: Breakfast.

The two most memorable sights in the White Mountains would have to be (a) Mount Washington and (b) the Mount Washington Hotel. Its grand scale and exquisite setting foregrounded with the Presidentials is astonishing. This 1902 resort has a 900-foot-long veranda, stately public rooms, and, after a brilliant renovation, glimmers anew with an early-20th-century formality. It would take a full week to exhaust the recreational activities here: in winter there's tubing, ice skating, a great cross-country facility, a terrific downhill skiing complex, and sleigh rides; in summer, horseback riding, carriage rides, fly fishing, golf, mountain biking, etc. The adventure desk is a concierge area designed to keep you busy. The Cave provides nightly entertainment in a former 1930s speakeasy. Kids love to run around this huge hotel (so big it has its own post office), and there's an arcade, a sweet shop, playground, as well as kids club with themed day and evening programs. A 25,000-square-foot spa and a renovated 18-hole Donald Ross course (designed in 1915) are set to debut in fall 2008. Rooms aren't as lavish as the public spaces, but they have high ceilings and are comfortable. Pros:

beautiful grand resort, loads of activities, free shuttle to skiing and activities.

kids love to run around the hotel, big hotel, rooms not as luxurious as rest of property. www.mtwashington.com. 177 rooms, 23 suites. In-room: Internet, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bars, golf courses, pool, tennis courts, gym, spa, children's programs, business center. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast, Some meals, No meals.

A stay at this inexpensive roadside motel run by Bretton Woods gives you free access to all of the resort facilities at Mount Washington Hotel, including the pools, gym, and arcade. That makes it a great deal. You can also use the free shuttle to the hotel and the ski area. Even without all that rooms would be a great value: they're very clean and have private balconies that overlook the Presidential range. There's a pizzeria on site, a small arcade, a great indoor pool, and a cute hearthside common area. Pros:

cheap, free access to Mount Washington amenities, free ski shuttle. Cons: across street from resort amenities, continental breakfast only. www.mtwashington.com. 50 rooms. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, golf courses, pool, tennis courts, children's programs, laundry facilities. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Breakfast.

One of New England's most complete resorts, the Mountain View gives families and couples a seemingly endless array of things to do. For instance: horseback riding, a 9-hole golf course, four clay tennis courts, ice skating, tubing, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing. Built in 1865 and for decades one of New England's grandest of the grande dames, the Mountain View reopened to great fanfare in summer 2002. Nearly all the rooms afford vast vistas of the mountains or golf course, and all are outfitted with plush Colonial-style mahogany furniture and floral-print bedspreads. The main restaurant, Juliet's, serves creative regional New England cuisine. The state-of-the-art Tower Spa provides myriad treatments. Pros:

full-service resort in the grand tradition, full range of activities, free shuttle to Cannon.

breakfast not included. www.mountainviewgrand.com. 115 rooms, 30 suites. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pools, tennis courts, gym, spa, children's programs, business center. Credit cards accepted.

Like Dixville Notch and Bretton Woods, Whitefield, 11 mi northeast of Littleton, became a prominent summer resort in the late 19th century, when wealthy industrialists flocked to the small village in a rolling valley between two precipitous promontories to golf, ski, play polo, and hobnob with each other. The sprawling, yellow clapboard Mountain View hotel, which was established in 1865 and had grown to grand hotel status by the early 20th century, only to succumb to changing tourist habits and close by the 1980s, has been fully refurbished and is now open again as one of New England's grandest resort hotels. It's worth driving through the courtly Colonial center of town—Whitefield was settled in the early 1800s—and up Route 116 just beyond to see this magnificent structure atop a bluff overlooking the Presidentials.

Stoweflake has a lot in common with Topnotch; these two properties have the best and biggest spas in the state, and a contemporary, serious approach to rooms and service. Stoweflake probably has a slightly better spa, perhaps due to the fun of the Bingham hydrotherapy waterfall, a nice 12-foot rock formation cascading into a hot tub. Accommodations range from standard hotel rooms to luxurious suites with fireplaces, refrigerators, double sinks, and whirlpool tubs. One- to three-bedroom town houses sit on the resort's perimeter. The spa overlooks an herb and flower labyrinth and is connected to the fitness center via a faux covered bridge. Stoweflake also hosts Stowe's annual Hot Air Balloon Festival. Pros:

great spa, excellent service.

urban-style resort. www.stoweflake.com. 94 rooms, 30 town houses. In-room: kitchen (some), Internet, Wi-Fi (some). In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pools, tennis courts, gym, spa, business center. Credit cards accepted.

"Vermont's Culinary Resort" is a hotel and conference center about 10 mi from downtown Burlington, with two good restaurants run by the New England Culinary Institute. The best part of a stay here is access to cooking classes offered each day in professional test kitchens on site. Very comfortable Susan Sargent-designed rooms are adorned with her vibrant colors in everything from the wall paint to the pillow covers; 30 rooms have fireplaces. A 19,000-square-foot spa is slated to open in fall 2008, along with an Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing pond. Pros:

daily cooking classes, colorful rooms, free airport shuttle.

odd location in suburb of Burlington. www.vtculinaryresort.com. 60 rooms, 60 suites. In-room: Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pool, tennis courts, spa. Credit cards accepted.

This lakefront motel well off the main road has comfortable rooms on the water and ½ mi of private lakeshore on 50 acres. It's easy to relax here. Breakfast and dinner are served in the restaurant overlooking the lake. You have free access to a 9-hole, par-3 golf course. There's also croquet and a long dock for fishing and swimming. Pros:

serene, spacious, lakefront setting; removed from Rte 2.

simple, unexciting rooms. www.shoreacres.com. 23 rooms. In-hotel: restaurant, golf course, tennis courts. Credit cards accepted. Closed mid-Oct.-Apr. Rate includes: Breakfast.

Nestled in the pine groves of the North Woods, this lavish grande dame has been rolling out the red carpet since 1866. The Balsams encompasses some 15,000 wooded acres—an area roughly the size of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Even when the resort is filled to capacity (figure about 400 guests and another 400 employees), it's still a remarkably solitary place. It draws families, golf enthusiasts, skiers, and others for a varied slate of activities—from dancing to cooking demonstrations. Rooms here are spacious, with large cedar-lined closets and ample dressers. Floral-print wallpaper, modern bathrooms, full-length mirrors, and reproduction antiques impart a dignified old-world grace. Most rooms have views overlooking the lake, gardens, and mountains; still, always inquire about the view when booking, as a handful afford less-promising vistas (the parking area, for example). In the dining room ($$$$; jacket and tie), you might sample a chilled strawberry soup spiked with Grand Marnier, followed by broiled swordfish with white beans and lemon coulis. Rates include breakfast and dinner and unlimited use of the facilities. Pros:

splendid grand resort; activities galore.

grand scale limits intimacy. www.thebalsams.com. 184 rooms, 20 suites. In-room: no TV (some). In-hotel: restaurants, bar, golf course, pool, tennis courts, gym, children's programs. Credit cards accepted. Rate includes: Some meals, All meals.