A Fall Getaway at a Winter Ski Resort

Courtesy Beaver Creek Mt. FB page

I was lucky enough to recently spend a long weekend in the Beaver Creek Resort area of Colorado. And it was well worth the visit. For those that don’t know, Beaver Creek is a community just south of Avon, CO. It is well known as a winter vacation destination. But, as I recently found out, it is certainly worth visiting during the fall (or summer). My girlfriend, Crystal, and I stayed at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek for free thanks to my Hyatt Credit Card, which gave me two free nights at any Hyatt hotel in the world. I’ll have a review of the hotel shortly, but to whet your appetite a little bit, upon check-in our room was upgraded to a Park Deluxe Village Slope. Basically, we stayed in a room that costs $895/night, during the winter, for free (roughly $300/night during the offseason).
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Beaver Lake

Why go to a ski resort during the off season?

For starters, you can stay there for more than 50% off during the summer and fall. Even if you don’t have free nights at any hotels, how can you turn down a 50%-60% savings? Not only are you saving a lot by staying here during the off season, but there are plenty of things to do. For example, Crystal and I went hiking. We hiked from the village to Beaver Lake, which is about 9,700 feet in elevation (Beaver Creek is about 8,100 feet). For us (who aren’t necessarily in the best of shape), it was a bit hard, but certainly a rewarding hike. And the views! Wow, were they amazing.

If hiking doesn’t excite you, there are many more activities you can partake in. Horseback riding, zip lining, ice skating, lift rides (which we also did), and rafting, just to name a few.  

The area isn’t perfect

There are a few drawbacks that you should consider. For one, there’s no major airport nearby. Crystal and I flew Southwest Airlines into Denver International. We decided it would be best to rent a car and drive the three hours to Beaver Creek. There are shuttles that you can get, but those are on the expensive side. Plus, we used the freedom of renting a car to our advantage and explored downtown Denver for a few hours before hitting the road into the mountains.

The drive there sucked! No. Seriously. It sucked. For some reason (a mixture of construction, and the sheer number of cars, I’m guessing), I-70 westbound was a total buzz kill. The traffic came to a standstill several times. I would recommend keeping that in mind if you plan on visiting the area. Make sure you plan for extra time to get there. The drive back wasn’t nearly as bad.

​Something else that I noticed? The restaurants were quite pricey, in my opinion. Expect to pay at least $15-$25 per meal. No, we didn’t eat at every restaurant, but based on the three restaurants we did have meals at, $15 for a meal is cheap.

​Bottom line

Think about it: if you’re not that into skiing, this would be an amazingly cheap vacation (comparatively) to go on during the summer. There is plenty to do and see in the Beaver Creek area during the offseason.

Have you ever been? I’d love to hear from you.

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