The trip overall was... OK. A 3 on my scale of 1 to 10. Granted, any international trip automatically garners at least a 7, and domestic trips get a 2 point deduction for lack of effort.
I'm not in a hurry to get back to Steamboat. It is a very pretty place, like Breckenridge or Vail or any other winter resort in the summertime. But it offers nothing that the other, more convenient, resorts don't already have. Steamboat is also very tourist-trappy. The market it as a family-friendly resort town, but it isn't even that. There were lots of people loitering about on Saturday night. It seemed more of a college town than a family getaway.
The weekend was July 12-13. They did have a hot air balloon festival that weekend. Great if you've never seen one before, but who hasn't? We did do a dawn horseback ride on Sunday, complete with a real cowboy as our guide. The morning ride was beautiful, especially with the hot air balloons in the background.We stayed in a condo rented through Mountain Resorts. It was nice and clean, well kept. But not worth the cost as far as I am concerned. When the local La Quinta has rooms for $85/night, and we are paying $$$hundreds for a condo, I start to worry about value. We shared the condo with a couple of volleyball players (friends of James'). And while these two are my absolute favorite friends-of-my-husbands, the quarters were a bit cramped. Better to have separate hotel rooms, with maid service, of course.
The weekend was not a total bust. I can't complain about the company I had. I've got great memories of the dawn trail ride. But if you are ever considering Steamboat vs. Breckenridge/Dillon/Vail/any other Colorado Resort, I'd choose the alternative.
