Streamside consists of several buildings and, of course, Birch is one of the further ones. Nevertheless, it's probably about 2-3 min walking to Lobby and Pool area and there is plenty of parking available. It's also on the Hotel shuttle route so you get the same service as people staying in more expensive Douglass building.

The only negative is that you are outside of Vail village so you have to rely on their shuttle service to get you in and out. On the other hand, the service is very reliable and shuttles are right on time.

The room that we good was what the called a 1 bedroom villa. In reality, that's a one bedroom apartment with full kitchen and two full bathrooms. The room is spacious and has everything you'd possibly need. The version that we had - I think they had couple of configurations - had one queen (or King?) sized bed in the bedroom and two pull out sofas in the living room. There were four of us and the living room was large enough to accommodate all of us with our stuff very comfortably.

There were plenty of pillows, blankets and whatever else you'd need to make yourself comfortable at night. There is a ski locker on the ground floor which they give you free key for.

The hotel offers free WiFi to everybody but I don't think they offer any sort of breakfast.

Overall, I would highly recommend Streamside - very good value if you don't mind shuttle service to Vail village.

The 1 bedroom unit we had was spotless and up to date. There is a full kitchen and a gas fireplace in the living room. Our unit also had a balcony. The property is well taken care of with a nice pool and exercise room.

It is well situated and within easy walking distance of a Safeway and several excellent but moderately priced restaurants.

My only complaint is highway noise from Interstate 70 which was about 150 feet from our windows. In the summer the rooms can get warm and you need to open the windows as there is no airconditioning. However, the sound of trucks, etc. driving by is disturbing.

I imagine in the winter it is not a problem as you would probably keep the windows closed.

We stayed at the Birch building of Marriott Streamside in August and I was a little concerned after reading the previous reviews but I found that the rooms were newly furnished and updated. Flat screens in every room, kitchen and bathrooms updated and a full line up of cable channels which if you have young children can be important. It is only a few minute drive to Vail Village and in the summer it is free to park at the village. There is a shuttle but we did not use because of the free parking. There is a Safeway about 1 minute away as well as some small eateries. I would recommend staying here.

Note that this building is one of five that USED TO BE managed by Marriott. Cedar is no longer managed by Marriott and it is obviously due to the fact that they would not step up to the standards required. We needed to negotiate 75 stairs to our room (over 90 for the higher floor) with ski eq't and large bags. A catwalk from the clubhouse can save half the stairs, but you still need to cross on potential ice, through darkness at night, and open and shut difficult doors.

The rooms have not been upgraded in many many years and the mattresses were pathetic. And the bedding was absolutely intolerable. NO JOKE - BRING YOUR OWN SHEETS!

On the positive side, the personnel were very nice and helpful as possible, the new clubhouse (with fitness center and pool) are excellent, as they were shared with the Marriott buildings. The location and shuttle service to Vail were well-run (again shared services).

In all, if you are young and/or the price is right, this resort building may be fine for you. If you care about staying in a quality resort room and/or your back is not in tip-top shape, I would think twice.