I was nervous about our stay at Smuggs given some mixed reviews here- I almost changed our vacation at the last second ! We are SO happy we did not. My wife and I , as well as our 4 children ( 9, 7, 6, 2 ) stayed here the week after July 4th in Kestrel 18 ( 3 bedroom condo ) The only negative was the weather was kinda crappy with 2 days of rain and only one real nice day- and you know what ? It made NO difference - Why ? Because of the kids camps- They absolutely loved them- and the kicker is our kids have always hated camps refusing to go to them- Here they never wanted to leave. And while they were having fun my wife, our 2 yr old and myself explored the area, went hiking, swimming , went for runs, ate in Stowe - and at night we mostly cooked in grilled made smores etc overall just had an amazing time- the place is pure family- and so relaxing - a total lack of pretentiousness - we will be back next year- and stay LONGER !

Our family got together for a week in July 2009 at Smugglers Notch resort. The accommodations (condo units) were good and the staff was friendly, but otherwise it did not live up to our expectations. The rental is costly to begin with, and then they nickel and dime you for everything. Children's activities, supposedly included in the price, mostly cost extra money: $7 for a few minutes on the "Giant Swing" , $7 for two climbs on the climbing wall, $29 or a kids crafts class. Internet access is $10 per day and is soooo slow. Verizon cell phones don't work there, but AT&T phones do.

On premise restaurants were also expensive and those outside in the area were costly too. Next time we'll go somewhere else.

We stayed in the new North Hill Community - Owls. We highly recommend this building - we booked a 2 bedroom and were given a 3 bedroom. It was a fabulous layout and massive - loads of room for our family of four (children ages 3 and 5). My only complaint - the cheap construction....unbelievable noise from the unit above us. If we were to return, I would ONLY book the 3rd floor. We had 2 different neighbours throughout our stay and both were exceptionally loud - you could hear their water running, toilet flushing and talking...the sound proofing doesn't exist. Also a lot of door noise because we were on the main floor - we would hear everyone entering and exiting the building since the main door slammed. We didn't use the included children's program since we wanted to spend the time with our kids. It is annoying that they "include" the camps - would rather pay for it separately if we were going to use it. The pools are great. We didn't use the restaurants - didn't look very nice and we preferred going in to Stowe. The indoor playground (FunZone) is fantastic. We took a rainy day trip to the Echo museum in Burlington and the kids loved it. Also loved the Ben & Jerry's tour. The resort is great for families. We paid for wireless internet in our unit and it was unbelievably slow and sporatic. We asked for a refund and they said they would email us - still haven't heard from them and we left on July 1.

Any review of Smugglers really involves two distinct aspects - the activities and the facilities. We have vacationed around the world and I cannot think of any resort we have been to that focuses their efforts on organized kids activities like Smugglers. Our two children (aged 7 and 10) were in camps from 10am - 4pm every day. The kids are split into age groups and then within the age groups they get to choose different activities that appeal to their interests. The counselors were excellent. My wife and I typically spent 2 hours per day hiking while the kids did their thing.

As for the facilities, there is a wide range. We got a promotional rate of about $1,000 including tax for the week in exchange for listening to a time share pitch. We were booked into Liftside building. Most of the buildings are time shares. A couple of them are condos which are 100% owned by individual families. In the latter case, the interior decor is ENTIRELY up to the individual owner. Although our unit was certainly clean, the decor was calico and country from the 1970s. It was probably Motel 6 or Best Western quality. It was fine for us because we're pretty unpretentious but if I had it to do over again I would ask during the reservation process for a unit that was not owned by an individual owner and pay the small upsell charge for the consistency of the timeshare units.

There are a few restaurants on-site and the food is mediocre quality and over-priced but that is par for the course for any resort. Our first night, we paid about $17.50 for a large single-topping pizza that didn't quite measure up to Domino's quality. All of our other meals were either prepared in our kitchen or we dined with friends 30 miles away.

If you drive in from the west (Burlington area), make sure you stop at the Price Chopper grocery store on the left about 15 - 20 miles before arriving at Jeffersonville. Their prices are quite good especially if you take 3 minutes at the customer service desk to fill out an application for their free Price Chopper card. You will save a ton by preparing your own meals.