Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Ski House Rentals — but Were Afraid to Ask

Even though it may still be summer, it is never too early to start thinking about planning a ski vacation. Planning early can help insure you are able to find suitable lodging and accommodations to thoroughly enjoy your ski vacation. Typically, people head up to the slopes anticipating a lovely ski vacation only to find they are unable to find accommodations when they arrive. The result is a significantly shortened ski trip that could be more enjoyed had there been more time to enjoy the slopes.

The National Ski Areas Association and Canadian Ski Council reported that in the 2012/2013 ski season over 70 million skiers and snowboarders headed to the ski resorts for a ski vacation. The lodges at on-site ski resorts only housed 10% of the visitors to the slopes, and 20% found accommodations near the resorts through vacation rentals providers. Homeway, VRBO, AirBnB, and a few other vacation rental websites were responsible for finding lodging for many of the skiers and snowboarders who stayed elsewhere during their ski vacations. But that leaves over 50% of the skiers who were unable to find suitable accommodations.

That means that 35 million skiers were left without lodging during their ski vacations. These visitors to the ski resorts usually ended up making a one day trip which required them to spend much of their day in transit to and from the hills as opposed to spending the time actively enjoying their ski vacations. However, with proper planning, these skiers could very well find good ski house rentals near their desired resort through a vacation rental provider website.

Vacation Rentals Websites

The whole point of a ski vacation is to spend time enjoying the ski resorts and the slopes. The problem is that the ski resort lodges often book up very early in anticipation of a good powder snow day for the slopes. When lodging is available on a short term notice, rates are typically high and accommodations, while nice, don’t usually sleep more than a few people at once. This is fine for a couple looking for a fun weekend getaway on the slopes, but certainly not suitable for large groups. Vacation rentals websites such as Homeaway.com and VRBO.com offer furnished ski houses for groups of just about any size. Ski houses can be rented for a single night, but they often offer a rate for extended stays of a week or more.

Why Choose A Ski House Rental Instead Of A Ski Resort?

Again, ski house rentals are more suitable for larger groups or longer stays. There are certainly other benefits to renting a ski house as opposed to lodging at a resort or even making a day trip for a ski vacation. Among them include the 24 hour access to a full kitchen, ease of parking and accessibility, and the ability to offer discounted rates for extended stays. Many ski house rentals will offer deep discounts for people who are willing to reserve the house for a week or more.

Ski and snowboard vacations are an exhilarating way to spend a week during the dead of winter. Unfortunately, most people don’t make the right accommodations to stay at a ski resort or find suitable lodging ahead of time. As a result, over half of the people who visit ski resorts for a ski vacation each year end up spending half of their day driving and only a small part of their day actually on the slopes skiing.

Websites dedicated to vacation rentals can help skiers and snowboarders make the necessary accommodations prior to heading to the resort for a ski vacation. Vacation rentals will make it easy to find a ski house rental that is close enough to the resort, yet affordable and spacious enough to invite a large group of friends or family to join you on the slopes.