We have stayed in the Iron Horse many times over the last two decades to ski Winter Park, but will likely not be going back soon after this next trip. They used to run their own reservations. Now they have Apline Resort Properties (on the website) / Allegiant Management LLC (on the Visa statement) doing it and they play pricing games worse than the airlines.

You are supposed to get better prices reserving in advance. When I called in late Nov 2010 to book two trips - one for Dec 11-18 2011 and one for Jan 29-Feb 5 2011. On the first , they had a special "late booking" deal - $59/night. For the second, they quoted $298.50 / night. for a 2-bedroom - over 2 months in advance. This was supposedly a "special deal with a big discount - for booking two trips at the same time and for having stayed there many times in the past. I took it though (what a fool!). It was all marketing BS. It is now Jan 11 and this morning, the price for anyone on the internet was $275/night - before a 20% discount. Tonight, it is$551/night - for the same type of unit, on the same floor in the same building.

If booking through Alpine Resort Gougers, do it as late as possible - and DEMAND a *MAJOR* discount from anything they quote (sale or otherwise). Adding in taxes and fees, our 2-bedroom condo is costing us $340/night. It should probably be about $200-240.

The untis themselves are quite variable, but typically worn and dated. The last one we stayed in (Dec 2010) was dark as a tomb even with all the lights on, the bed was seriously uncomfortable and there were very few dishes. The ski-in/out access is iffy at best. To ski out, you have to pole down Corridor to WP base. To ski in, you either have to ski down Mary Jane late in the day (usually black and icy at the top, but OK half-way down) or walk uphill 100 yards or so at May Jane base. You can also ski down Lower Arrowhead loop, but the Pony Express lift is almost never open these days, so you can;t get to it without skiing seriious blacks fromt he top of MJ.

The Zeyphr is *WAY* better these days - and significantly less expensive. The Iron Horse used to be one of our favorites, but is surviving strictly on (past) reputation now. If shuttling or driving is OK, then there are a lot of better AND far cheaper places in the area.

Stayed for 4 nights during summer.
Great location, close to Trestle Bike Park.
Cramped, but clean and comfortable.
Was a bit hot at night but was able to turn off the pilot light for the fireplace.
Bed - fold down, not the most comfortable but not bad
Plenty of linen
Good TV channels
good kitchen
Poor service - no one was there at reception almost all the time.
Overall a nice stay.

Some friends and I stayed at the Iron Horse for a few days recently and it was a disaster! There were electrical problems that were never solved. The waffle iron shot fire and burned the counter top, The beds didn't have sheets on them when we arrived, the faucet broke while washing dishes, house keeping came in while we were resting in our rooms and continued to work even though we were there. I'm pretty sure that there was a sign that said no pets, but there were dogs there and I am very afraid of dogs. And when we called the front desk to request another room he simply suggested in so many words that we leave.

This place was a huge disappointment in my book. I booked it because you could ski down to the base from a spot on the property. True enough you could, but the catwalk was so flat in places (as so many of them are at Winter Park) that it was easier to take off the skis and walk on the first morning when I let my wife use my poles until we could get her a pair at the base. The restaurant/bar was closed for the season because they couldn't come to terms on their lease with the resort. That's a deal that has to get done under all circumstances so I blame the resort for that void. There was no bellman and no ski-check. I had never been sent to a room anywhere in the world that hadn't been cleaned until this visit. As it turns out, it was already an hour after check-in and then when I informed the front desk, we waited another hour and fifteen minutes for housekeeping to get up to the room and clean it. The dated room smelled like a deep-fat fryer from the previous guests and there were dogs in seemingly every other room on our floor. The place wasn't horrible, but it has so much room for improvement. I still can't believe there wasn't a place on the property to get a meal and a drink, especially since you have to take a shuttle into town three miles away or go down to the mountain base to get to the nearest restaurant.