This was a nice vacation place much better suited to a family vacation then for young adults hoping to ski/board all day and party every night. The resort is nice but is showing some aging and the resort is in need of some updating.

I stayed at Smuggs 5 times over last 10 years. My 3 kids strted to ski here.
Not much changed since my first vacation, the same shows, same Fun Zone, Indoor pool. Other resorts upgraded and added things to do while Smuggs stays in the past.
This week I stayed at a 2 bedroom in Falcons on the West Hill. It is a great ski in, ski out building. Those are also the newer condos. We enjoyed the location. If you can stay here.
THe main reason I returned to this resort was not for the amenites but for the Ski school. THe instructors where always friendly and made sure that the kids had a great time while learning. Unfortunetly this time, we came during the slower week, January 5 to 13. My daugheters ski school level was combined with other higher levels. Instead of having dedicated instructor to each skill level, they decided to combine leve 5, 6 and 7. The kids who like my daugher were at level 5 were pushed beyound they comfort level as they tried to keep up on the black diamond trails. I picked her up crying before lunch, good I checked on her on that day. I recommend that when you drop of your child, you ask if they are combining classes and decide right there if you are comfortbale with it. If your instructor is Brock, take your child and run!!! Ask for Tom who has been great with kids and knows how to make it a fun, learning experience. My daugher was loking forward the whole year to skiing. It took me the next 2 days to get her back into the mood to enjoying sking again.
Another thing that drives me crazy is that they open new terrain only for the weekend while people who are here the whole week ski on ice surface trails. IF it snows during the week they will keep the trails closed and open them on the next weekend. Not fait to us who paid to be here during the week.
I agree with other reviwers that the lifts are slow, way too slow. My 15 year old who loves skiing and snowbarding can not take them anymore since he expereiced other lifts at different resorts.
10 years ago, this was the only resort you could take your kids to, now there are so many resorts in Vermont with kids programssuch as Okemo, KIlington or even Stowe. You have choices.
The good: varied terrain, inexpensive lift tickets, new condo units
The bad: snowmaking (non-existent), slow lifts, most of advance terrain closed on weekends, no good food places, aging facilities such as Fun Zone, aging old condo units
Smmugs, it was a great run but my family will not

We stayed at Smugglers Notch Jan 5-8, 2012. Liftside Studio Condo. We were on the ground floor, literally steps away from the lift. We saw skiers, people taking lessons, and people getting on the lift right outside our sliding door! Awesome! Our room was quite spacious for a Studio, and it was very well kept. I was surprised at how clean it was. All the dishes, pots/pans, kitchen towels, fridge, etc....were spotless. The cabinets and top of fridge was dust-free (trust me, I ran my hand over every surface!), and the bathroom was clean as well.

We didn't have a dishwasher, and the kitchen counterspace was small, but we had plenty of room on the kitchen table to prepare meals, etc.... My sister's condo was above ours, and was smaller but had a dishwasher. There are different amenities in each unit.

Each condo is individually owned, and each Community has an HOA...so depending on the HOA president and it's condo owners, the room amenities and decor, and overall upkeep is individual...and up to the discretion of the owner and the HOA community. Smuggs rates them, and books the condo's ... but you should realize that it is not a hotel, and all the rooms are not the same. You should also know that the rooms are NOT 5 star Luxury Hotel quality...they are apartments with kitchenettes/kitchens, each privately owned and privately and uniquely decorated...so every unit looks different. Some with dishwashers, some without. Some with fireplace (like mine) and some without (like our friends 1 bedroom Condo across the street and down some at Norland.

The Liftside community was very very close to the village at the center of the resort, and it was excellent for us because we had a 4 year old with us and needed to be able to walk around the village and all the different activities...

I must say that this was one of the best organized resorts I've ever been to. It has endless activities for the children of ALL ages! The Discovery camp for 4 year olds was awesome...dropped my son off at 9am, saw him getting 2 lessons per day outdoors on the hill by the magic carpet...and spied him eating lunch, being helped into and out of his suit/shoes/helemet...bathroom breaks...and spied him enjoying a film one day, and a magic science show the next. Picked him up at 4pm. The instructors both days and all their helpers and staff were excellent, especially Mark, his instructor the first day, who was just incredible and full of enthusiasm! My son loved learning to ski, and playing in the fun zone (he was shuttled there from Treasures Day Care Center on our last night).

Treasures, the day care, was clean, spacious, bright, and had different rooms for different age groups. Very secure, and the staff seemed excellent! They even have little skis and boots right on site for the kids 3 and under...and a special magic carpet just for the kids that age! Really adorable.

I must say everybody looked happy throughout the resort: guests and staff alike. It was a real pleasure.

We ate at the Grille one night, and the Hearth and Candle the next. I had an awesome steak at the Hearth and Candle, with homemade mashed potatoes...divine! Great service and ribs at the Grille. Great Hot Chocolate at the Pizza place and awesome sandwiches too! Great coffee...and yummy icecream at Ben and Jerrys :-)

My ski lesson and instructor was great as well...

All in all, this was a GREAT family resort. I loved how safe and happy my son was, and how beautiful the surroundings and resort were.

I would highly recommend this resort ! Just look at the site and look to see which community you would want to be in...closer to the main village, or farther up by the trails at the bigger / newer facilities? When we go back next winter, we will probably stay at the Liftside again because of the location and view....OR the NOrland which had a Loft style condo....Big bed upstairs in the loft and 2 bedrooms downstairs next to living roon/fireplace/kitchen. The 2 and 3 bedroom condos I checked out were super nice! Especially in the Balsams...it was amazing!

I really cannot say anything negative about the resort! The ONLY thing I can think of is the size of my sister's condo, L-55....Liftside, with dishwasher and fireplace, BUT it was smaller than what we had imagined.....Again, the room location is what is important, but if you want a bit more room, spring for the 1 bedroom...OR hope to get lucky and get a studio as spacious as the one I got! :-)

We just returned last night from Smugglers Notch. Yes, some of the accommodations are dated (but clean!) and the lifts are slow. However, that aside, the resort is awesome. My husband and I are avid skiers and haven't been able to get out as much in the last few years because of pregnancies, babies etc. We know good skiing and good resorts. For an out east resort you can't beat Smuggs, especially with children. Clearly families are their bread and butter and they're good at accommodating them. My son stayed at Treasures and did the Rascals on Snow program. We were so excited to get him on skis and it was a nice thing for him, he loved being there. The only thing I would say is you spend a pretty penny on the program and they are on skis very briefly (30 minutes max) but they play outside slopeside on a playground and the staff is fantastic. My daughter did the ski school program and was so happy. They even feed the kids. Meanwhile my husband and I took the bus to the upper mountain and got to be together skiing. Smuggs vertical is very good, its one of the top in the Northeast. They have rugged terrain for skiers. The snow coverage wasn't great on some of the super advanced runs below the Madonna lift because there is a lot of rock and cliff. but I wouldnt say they were lacking for snow on the open runs, coverage was good. In the afternoon we picked up our daughter and got to ski with her. The blue bus you take from the village to the upper mountain takes too long to pick up and drop off, they need to work that out a little better. As for the food in the resort, we only late lunches and they were good, fair mountain prices. For breakfast and dinner we ate in our studio condo. We stayed in Hakone 14. Its not super spacious but has everything you need and we barely were in the unit. We were on the mountain by 9, ate around 5 and were back out at the fun zone and then in bed. The kitchens are fully equipped too, just a couple things missing like large baking dishes or cookie sheets but you can work around it. Overall, a FANTASTIC trip. We're going back in a couple week.