We have returned back to reality, life as we all know it and I can not tell you how much I wish I could just run back and hibernate in the wonderful MOOSE LODGE we stayed in hosted by Best of Canaan Realty, in Tucker County, West Virginia!
Donna & Amy at Best of Canaan provided my family with a great place to stay, that had all the amenities of home and afforded us a great opportunity to relax, and enjoy a beautiful resort.
When it comes to rentals and knowledge, it is always best to have the people who live there, and eat, sleep and breathe the community making your decisions on where to stay rather than YOU guessing where might be good! Best of Canaan Realty knows where you should stay, I can tell you this first hand! If you can tell the folks here what you are planning on doing, they can find you the right lodging, the right price and make suggestions, which after all is best because you can maximize your fun when you have the right insight! A huge thanks to Donna and Amy for all of this!
We finally got to meet Donna and Amy of Best of Canaan Realty this past Friday and the pleasure was all ours! Best of Canaan saw to it that we had plenty of bathrooms as well as a great floor plan to be able to spread out, and relax as well as a fully decked out kitchen! Here is what our living quarters looked like inside:
The Moose Lodge offered a large, open floor plan with hardwood floors and carpeting and many entrances. There was a fully stocked kitchen(including, dishwasher detergent, cooking pans, cups, plates, wine openers,etc) a laundry room, an eating area, a kitchen eating island, a family room with a large couch and a warm fireplace, and a set of bedrooms upstairs with a loft for the kids to hang out in, as well as a television in the family room! The master bedroom was in the lower level and let us keep our eyes on the kids coming up or down during the night!
The Moose Lodge was amazing, there was nothing that we could need or want. It was literally a stone’s throw away from the TIMBERLINE ski area, so you could either drive a few hundred feet(if you had smaller kids with skis) or you could carry your skis(which is what we saw all our neighbors doing) and jump on the trails. Remember, if you do this, you have ski boots on and walking is not always easy with those bulky boots! The walk is not far if you are adults, but if you have kids, it is easy to just toss the skis in the back of your vehicle and literally inside of a minute you will be at the lifts.
Parking at Timberline was never a problem. We literally pulled right up to the Timberline Hotel Area, parked our car and got on a lift, which was within feet of our parking! Even on the busiest day we parked opposite the hotel and were within feet of the lifts! Very convenient, and very workable for families with kids.
The lodging itself was perfect because as the kids got hungry after skiing, we simply stopped, packed up and went home. When we got home, we ate, hot-tubbed and hung out before moving on to either more skiing, ice skating or going out! Jessica(Marketing Manager of Tucker County Convention & Visitors Bureau and one of our hosts) suggested to the kids that she used to do ‘snow angels’ after being in the hot tub! Well, I think you can guess what my kids had to try out! It was about 20 degrees outside, the kids got into the hot tub, ran out of it,(slowly because the ground with water became ice) and then made snow angels and came right back into the hot tub! I kind of knew better, LOL and I did not do that! The kids could not wait to share their news with Jessica at dinner that night!
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
While I don’t think there is a wrong or right place to stay when you Ski The Valley, you should know that you are close to everything if you stay close to where we stayed. We were minutes from the Canaan Ski Area, and the restaurants on 32 were literally a mile away. The Ski Barn was also just a mile away which made it convenient when we needed something for skiing, like new gloves or a hoodie!
The hot tub was relaxing after a full day of skiing and activity as we needed a small retreat! We enjoyed the cool winter air, the snow-covered ground and the snow man in the back yard as we hung out a bit and relaxed in clean, West Virginia air!
The Lodge itself was clean, well kept, and had everything you could possibly imagine needing down to salt for the steps and a shovel. The Moose Lodge provided a perfect shelter for getting away and forgetting it all!
On the inside, the kids were busy, popping popcorn, watching television, sleeping on the couch and playing checkers. Moose Lodge had plenty of games and books in it and the kids loved this as did we. The kids LOVED the loft on the 2nd floor and they hung out there a lot! A superior way to spend family time without doing much. While the fire hissed in the background, we recapped our day and planned for the next. Everyone was warm and happy!
CLOSETS & HANGING
We have stayed at many places that never seem to take into account that a family brings ‘stuff’ with them and it can not just be tossed on the ground. We truly appreciated the amount of coat hooks, hangers and closet space(with hangers) that was provided. The main access doors had heavy duty hooks, as did our bedroom, and the laundry room, this was a perfect way to keep things ‘picked-up’ and organized.
THE MUD ROOM
After being out, you have boots, gloves, hats, etc, the mud room at Moose Lodge took care of this perfectly. When we came in and wiped everything off we then allowed it all to ‘thaw’ in the Mud Room. Our boots were ready to go the next day and everything was warm and toasty! It also was a great way to make sure that the snow, did not venture into the lodge! The floors in the mud room were ceramic and there were large carpets at every door!
WHERE IS THE BEST OF CANAAN REALTY LOCATED?
I think the best part of our trip was the total convenience of everything though it is all not commercialized! Best of Canaan Realty is located right on 32. If you are staying by Timberline or Canaan Resorts you will pass them! This is so convenient for check in and check out because you have to return the keys, and it is right on the road to leave, without having to travel into some windy road and then back out.
Amy and Donna are so wonderful and caring! We ran into Donna while we were out dining at Big Al’s! We were so excited to see her and we stopped and talked like we knew each other forever! Amy and I discussed the skiing and families, trying to figure out a good ski zone or what worked worked best for our family! I appreciated this because I got to run this through in my head and actually prepare what my thoughts were perhaps even more than I had. If you are looking for bright, warm smiling faces and people that care that your lodging fits your family, look no further than Best of Canaan Realty, and I can assure you they are the ‘BEST’. We would like to thank them for all the wonderful accommodations they provided for Pittsburgh Frugal Mom!
THINGS YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR POSSIBLE RENTAL UNIT
Check to see what amenities come with it. Our kitchen had everything you needed minus the food! Our kitchen even had spices in it! The refrigerator was ready and waiting and we had a grill to use as well.
See if you need linens or linens are provided and check to see if you have a washer and dryer(we did).
Don’t forget to see if you need soaps for bathing.
Ask what kind of parking is available.
Inquire as to how far you are from slopes.
Does your unit have a fireplace?
If you have a question, just ask, because we learned we could have packed so much less. We have stayed in other facilities that had so much less and we needed more, but this particular lodging facility had everything we needed and then some. So ASK Amy & Donna they will answer everything!
“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
