Expedition Station

I recently went to Snowshoe Bike Park for the weekend. Other than staying at the mountain there aren't other options except for camping. I rented a Jr. Suite at Expedition Station for 3 nights. I've stayed there before so I knew what to expect. It's the least expensive place in the Village. It had a queen size bed and I think the sofa turned into a bed, a wall-mounted TV, a small table and kitchenette with mini-fridge, microwave, and a 2-burner cooktop. The kitchenette is supplied with dishes, cutlery, etc. The bathroom had plenty of towels. The suite was well worn and could stand to be updated, but it was very clean. No maid service is provided. They're doing some sort of construction on the one side of the building. It was also very quiet, although I don't think there were many occupants. The price of the room was reasonable considering it had a kitchenette. But once the state tax, mountain tax, resort fee, cleaning fee (even though there's no maid service) and whatever else is added in it DOUBLED THE PRICE of the room! I brought all of my food and snacks with me and did not eat out at all. I overheard a resident refer to it as comparable to Disney World for what they charge. So I was perfectly happy to cook all my meals in the room. It's a nice place to visit and it's a beautiful area. You have to be comfortable with no cell service (it's in the radio free area because of the Green Bank Observatory). However, most of the rooms do have WiFi calling. There is a small but not well stocked store on the mountain where the prices are high but if you need bread or eggs it's your only option. I'm not sure if everything is open during the week when it's between seasons. I've never been there during the ski season and I suspect it's busier during the cold months.

Dirty. This was our first stay and we loved the resort itself, but found the room to be dirty. There were unknown stains on the duvet and storage ottoman. There was dust all along the headboard. There was red mold/calcification all in the grout of the shower. It was to the point in the shower that I wondered if they ever cleaned the grout/knew how. I paid summer pricing and would be irate to pay winter pricing and have the experience I did. We tried to give it another chance the next week and found the new room to be cleaner..but still ‘dirty’ in a sense (finding hair in the bathtub and along the molding on the floor). I was surprised to find out the resort is also owned and run by Aspen/KSL.

We decided on our short trip to tubing to stay overnight and fortunately found a room at Expedition Station. To be up front - rentals at Snowshoe are EXPENSIVE, and Expedition Station is actually at the cheap end but it will still run over $300/night during ski season, of which $140 is some kind of fee. It's not a hotel but instead a condo with hotel-style rental. There's no lobby which is the only big drawback - you have to drive down to Slaty Fork (about 5 miles) to pick up your keys. Also the checkin is late (4pm) and checkout early (10am) so prepare around that. But other than that, we found the place to be great. The room is very cozy but spacious and the kitchenette is well stocked with what you need (non-food, so bring yours). Because we eat special diets (gluten and dairy free) we almost always have to cook and this place made it easy. There's a HUGE TV to watch with plenty of channels and internet hookup, and every room has it's own Wifi router. The king bed was super comfortable - probably the best I've ever had in a hotel. The only downside was that the the pullout sofa was busted so we had to work around that but not too bad.