We spent a week at Northstar's Ski Trails condos in January. Upon arrival the condo had dirty placements on the table, hairs on the bathroom floor, dirty kitchen counter tops, and holes in the sheets. Worst of all, over the phone the had assure us that our family of 5 would be perfectly comfortable in the condo. Turns out, the condo sleeps 4, and then has some awful vinyl sleeping mats which they consider to be an adequate 5th bed. There isnt even a 5th chair at the dining room table! So for a week one of us had to take turns perching on the armrest of the couch to eat. The front desk's inability to or disinterest in resolving our situation was a joke. In general there seemed to be a lot of disorganization at Northstar, we had reserved rental equipment by phone and email, and when we got there there was no record of our reservation. We paid for a snowboard class the night before, and when we went the next day, there was no record of our payment.... On the upside, EVERYONE working in the lifts, at Guest Services, on the Mountain was incredibly friendly and went out of their way to be helpful and nice.

We stayed in one of the one bedroom condos in the Ironhorse South building. I was impressed by how well appointed the kitchen was. We especially enjoyed snuggling in front of the large, stone gas fireplace on chilly winter nights. You can walk right from the condo to the lifts and slopes. The bellman also recommended we rent skis through the Black Tie service, which comes right to your room to fit you with all your gear. It was so much easier than dealing with the lines the next morning.

We were originally going to go to Squaw but when we arrived in Tahoe, everyone told us that Northstar had invested the money in snow making and trails, and that they had the better snow, and it was true! Had a GREAT day of skiing there, lots of fun, beautiful vista views of the mountains and the lake. Had a great lunch at the Summit Deck and the new Zephyr Lodge was amazing! Food wasn't cheap, but the free parking was easy, a shuttle came every 2 minutes it seemed and dropped us off right at the village. The Northstar Village was HUGE and had lots of shops and restaurants. Everyone was so friendly!

I usually love this resort, but the conditions this year(i.e. lack of snow) make it a bit painful to pay 100 dollars a lift ticket when 1/3 of the lifts are closed and the open ones are in horrible condition. If you have to ski this year up in Tahoe for some reason, I'd probably just pick a smaller resort like diamond peak or mt rose for 1/2 the price, since you're likely to ski about the same amount of terrain. The village is still lively and fun, but if you're a skier, I'd probably just wait until next season before visiting. They really should discount the lift tickets this year given how horrible the conditions are.