The Hermitage Club

I did a 1 year membership here ($ 10,000 for 1 year) and this place has no clue what they are doing. Anytime I asked a question none of the staff new the answer… they nickel and dime everything… they make you feel like your getting something for free (not really free when you pay 10,000 a year) and then it shows up on your account bill.
Example Valet parking was in the beginning of this ski season included with your membership, now it’s 20 bucks a time.
On the chair lift grand opening they advertised champagne for the occasion… we were handed mimosas when entering the mid mountain cabin, then they showed up on our bill, I didn’t order them, they were given to me.
I am from CT (the gold coast area) where snobbery is everywhere and the best part about Vermont I love is the locals are down to earth… the Hermitage simply brought all the snobs right up there and are ruining VT IMO.
I hope it turns public in 4 – 5 years as it is really not that worth it for the 85,000 membership fee and 8000 a year dues. They are trying to be the Greenwich, Darien, Westport of VT… just be VT.
Needless to say you couldn’t pay me enough to do another year here… every-​time I go another thing goes wrong there… LIft lines, one lift closed, etc… I couldn’t believe they had lift lines when their motto is «no lift lines»
Ski school kids are EVERYWHERE and you have to ski around the lil kiddos on every trail… got really annoying.
Pass on this place… Unless your rich and want to just drop the kids off at ski school while you drink at the bar with your plastic shallow wife.

LOL! This place holds itself out as an upscale locale?!?
What we just witnessed was comical at best.
Wife ordered soup and salad for dinner. Both are brought at same time. Burger advertised as cheese burger with bacon. Received overcooked ground beef with lettuce. The baby bib salad for $ 12 consisted of — literally (LITERALLY) — 6 pieces (we counted) of lettuce with dressing.
And? And? … And nothing. Unremarkable. Ugh.

This is a review of the mountain and clubhouse. If price was not a consideration it would be 5 stars, but price is definitely a consideration. You’re not skiing here unless you have forked out several hundred dollars (if you came through the Inn or vacation club) or tens of thousands of dollars if you bought a membership. I came here as part of a package through the Hermitage Inn. I skied on a Monday. I have NEVER been on a mountain as deserted as this. It was eery. That being said, all the ads you see are pretty much true. Corduroy at 3 PM, true, Endless powder (assuming fresh snow), true. Skiing within 45 minutes (assuming you have access to a jet flying from Boston or NYC), true. The staff was all incredibly nice and there to serve you.
If you are an extreme or aggressive skier you will tire of this place in a few hours. What kept me smiling was the complete absence of other people. groomed main trails and slightly fresh powder in the glades. There aren’t many truly steep or aggressive runs and the «terrain park» is built for 8 year olds. There were two decent glade runs that had pockets of slightly fresh to crusty powder due to the light traffic they see here.
The clubhouse is straight out of Aspen/​Vail. Really nicely done and extremely exclusive. Lots of exposed beams, huge stone fireplace in the middle of the room, elk antler chandeliers, rich white people etc.
The cafeteria food looked pretty good. There wasn’t a cashier or someone that I could pay. I assume this is like the country club model where you have a membership number and they charge your account a fixed fee for an all you can eat lunch. Since I’m not a member and couldn’t really find someone to tell me how the hell this worked, so I helped myself to some chili (very hearty with lots of meat), Republic of Tea green tea and some cookies. Thanks. I will say the dessert spread was insane. They probably had twenty different varieties of custom baked desserts. I may have nibbled on a few.
The Hermitage Club seems like something that would have been the place to be in 2005. I know I’m not the demographic for this place as I’m in my early 30’s with no kids so this concept doesn’t fit with my lifestyle or travel choices. The two groups of people who might would find this concept appealing are rich people with young kids and old rich people looking to take a few runs and lounge around in a luxury environment.
I give the developer of this place huge props for making a bold move and executing it very well. I wish him the best of luck as there are a lot of people with jobs that the seem very happy working. So if you’ve got tens of thousands or maybe even hundreds of thousands or millions to invest, give the Hermitage Club a taste. You might like it.