How to afford a trip?

Hi all:

I and a group of friends (all graduate students) are trying to plan a
trip to a winter desitination sometime this spring (2004), leaving
from Athens, Ga. I have started to investigate vacation rentals
(primarily in the Breckenridge,CO area since I have experience there.
I'm at a point where I don't know where to look, really.

We have not yet determined how many people will go, nor have we
determined a budget. All we know is that none of us are made of money,
yet we want a condo or private residence with nice amenities like full
kitchen, private hot tub, comfortable sleeping arrangements, etc...

I'm looking for some advice as to the relative cost of the various
resorts out there (Colorado or elsewhere), the "sweet spot" for
pricing in vacation rentals relative to number of rooms/proximity to
slopes, etc...

Does anyone have any tips to offer for small group travel such as
this? I hope I can find a way to make this possible and so far the
maze of options/pricing is overwhelming.

Any help is appreciated.

Consider Canada. Whistler, Lake Louise, etc... With the exchange rate
you can get amazing bargains there.

Shrubman wrote:
Hi all:

I and a group of friends (all graduate students) are trying to plan a
trip to a winter desitination sometime this spring (2004), leaving
from Athens, Ga. I have started to investigate vacation rentals
(primarily in the Breckenridge,CO area since I have experience there.
I'm at a point where I don't know where to look, really.

We have not yet determined how many people will go, nor have we
determined a budget. All we know is that none of us are made of money,
yet we want a condo or private residence with nice amenities like full
kitchen, private hot tub, comfortable sleeping arrangements, etc...

I'm looking for some advice as to the relative cost of the various
resorts out there (Colorado or elsewhere), the "sweet spot" for
pricing in vacation rentals relative to number of rooms/proximity to
slopes, etc...

Does anyone have any tips to offer for small group travel such as
this? I hope I can find a way to make this possible and so far the
maze of options/pricing is overwhelming.

Any help is appreciated.

(Shrubman) wrote in message . com...
[snip]
We have not yet determined how many people will go, nor have we
determined a budget.

Unfortunately, this is where you really have to start. You
can bound the problem a bit and presume a number of people
and then get an idea of what the cost per person would be
based upon various options you find.


All we know is that none of us are made of money,
yet we want a condo or private residence with nice amenities like full
kitchen, private hot tub, comfortable sleeping arrangements, etc...

Yeah, don't we all. You've just described about your most
expensive option.


I'm looking for some advice as to the relative cost of the various
resorts out there (Colorado or elsewhere), the "sweet spot" for
pricing in vacation rentals relative to number of rooms/proximity to
slopes, etc...

There is usually a huge glut of places that sleep about 6 people
who know each other well. Going larger will tend to reduce your
selection. That doesn't mean it might not be cheaper per person though.
Give up on anything that calls itself "ski in/out". It's not
gonna be worth it in the long run. Many of them aren't really
and anything much like a resort town will have some bus service
to haul you around, or you can use your car. I'd also really
consider just how much you want that private hot tub. It
can cost you unless you get a really big place that sleeps 12 or so.
If you find one fine, but I wouldn't make it a primary filter.

www.vrbo.com
"Shrubman" wrote in message
om...
Hi all:

I and a group of friends (all graduate students) are trying to plan a
trip to a winter desitination sometime this spring (2004), leaving
from Athens, Ga. I have started to investigate vacation rentals
(primarily in the Breckenridge,CO area since I have experience there.
I'm at a point where I don't know where to look, really.

We have not yet determined how many people will go, nor have we
determined a budget. All we know is that none of us are made of money,
yet we want a condo or private residence with nice amenities like full
kitchen, private hot tub, comfortable sleeping arrangements, etc...

I'm looking for some advice as to the relative cost of the various
resorts out there (Colorado or elsewhere), the "sweet spot" for
pricing in vacation rentals relative to number of rooms/proximity to
slopes, etc...

Does anyone have any tips to offer for small group travel such as
this? I hope I can find a way to make this possible and so far the
maze of options/pricing is overwhelming.

Any help is appreciated.