Homestake Condominiums

I seldom rank a condo five stars, but this one deserves it, even though it is not the Ritz; it is very nice. The most impressive fact was that it was very, very clean. No dust found in the corners, no hairs from other people on the towels, the kitchen dishes were basically all very clean, the refrigerator was clean with no leftover food from previous guests, and overall the place seemed immaculate. Hats off to the cleaning staff! This is one of the cleanest places we have stayed in many, many years! Other PROS include: Keypad entry on front door so no need to keep up with a key. Also, great storage throughout the condo - plenty of room in the kitchen to store our food and kitchen items, great storage in the bathroom as well, hooks for coats by entry door, open shelves/tables in living room area to sit stuff on, huge master bedroom with two large sliding door closets, plus four drawers and two large shelves and two bedside tables with two drawers each in master and Bedroom 2 had a desk area with 6 large drawers and a chair and nice mirror, plus a nice closet. The owner did not have tons of their own stuff all over the place, so it left plenty of room for you to store your belongings. They provided nice bath soaps that were large enough to last several nights, plenty of shampoo, lotion, extra towels, extra washcloths, and a hair dryer. We could have used a few extra hand towels though. The bathroom had three towel racks to hang your towel on and reuse which was very handy, as well as good lighting. There was also a small heater in the bathroom that very quickly warmed it up nicely! The kitchen had tons and tons of dishes, lots of plates, wine glasses, coffee cups, glasses (large and small), pots, pans, skillets, and every type of cooking item you might need. Plenty of silverware except for small teaspoons. Lots and lots of other kitchen gadgets and knives, although the knives were not very sharp. I'd recommend trying a few serrated knives as they seem to stay sharp longer. There was also an easy to use microwave, two coffee pots, coffee, a hand mixer, a can opener, a large soup pot, large casserole dishes, 4 pie plates, colander, etc., a nice assortment of spices, a handy drawer with scissors, stapler, fireplace lighter, etc. They also supply plenty of dishwashing soap and dishwasher tablets. The only thing we could not find was a cookie sheet, or dishwashing cloths, and extra dish towels (2 were provided) would have been nice since we were there for a full seven days. They did provide a brand new sponge in the kitchen. Several places we have stayed before leave a sponge that has already been used - YUCK! At the kitchen bar there are four comfortable bar stools. The kitchen is also well lit. The living room had plenty of lights, a comfortable couch and rocking chair, as well as a wood burning fireplace with tons of wood on the back porch and fireplace tools. The only thing missing was newspaper and kindling to start the fire with. There is also a small table with wooden chairs in the living room, but we found it more convenient to use the card table that was in the upstairs closet for eating, or the large island and bar stools. In the living room there is also a cabinet with a few assorted games, and a nice collection of books for adults and children. The windows provide a view of Vail Mountain Resort ski slopes, as well as other condos and mountains. The bedrooms were upstairs via a narrow staircase and 12 steps. Both the king size bed and the trundle bed were very comfortable and firm. There were plenty of blankets and pillows. Both rooms had windows with nice views. The master bedroom had a huge window with a view of the ski slopes. In the closet there was a vacuum cleaner, 3 humidifiers, a card table and chairs, tons of hangers, an iron, a clock radio in both bedrooms, and a fan - very nice! The only maintenance issue was needing a couple light bulbs which were delivered within an hour after the request. The gentleman was very cheerful and polite. The director of reservations for Vail Management Properties, Greg Chandler, quickly responded to any of our questions. He was very helpful. CONS: Very few - The shower head is very low. I am 5’7” and it touched the top of my head. However, when tilted outwards it worked fine, and my husband who is 6’ tall had no problems with it. As I mentioned earlier, there were no knives that were very sharp. Also, all of the Teflon pots and pans were badly scratched and peeling, so we opted to use glass dishes in the microwave most of the time. The master bedroom could use brighter lighting. Also, neither bedroom was very quiet because there was no sound barrier between the bedrooms and the downstairs; the master bedroom was open to the living room below and the second bedroom was open to the staircase. This did not cause us problems because we were quiet when others were sleeping, and there is a door between the master bedroom and the second bedroom, which helped at night. We heard virtually no noise from other condos. There are 27 stairs from the parking lot level to the front door of the condo (3rd floor). There are 30 stairs from the parking lot down to the street to get to the bus stop; after reaching the street the bus stop is approximately 100 yards away from the steps. This was only challenging because we were carrying our skis, boots, and poles. (Just a side note – If you do not like doing stairs, then Vail Resort ski area is not the place to go! There are 70 stairs between the bus depot and the beginning of Vail Village; then you must walk 1/3 mile through the Village to get to the snow near Gondola One all while carrying your skis, boots, and poles! Vail is the worst designed ski resort in regards to getting skiers conveniently to the slopes! No drop-off area for people or equipment, no escalators, no tram from parking lots to ski slopes,...) Overall, Homestake B312 was very nice, and we'd stay here again if we were to return to Vail. Thank you to the owners for sharing their lovely place!