Hi there I'm looking into lodge memberships and would like some reviews/feedback on lodges close to or in Perisher, NSW. We have kids ranging from 4 to 17 years old. Happy for catered or self-catering, we've previously stayed at the Novotel Lake Crackenback and have loved that. I do like the idea of a pool table or table tennis etc. plus a spa/sauna sounds great too. We don't want to share a room with anyone else, but share bathrooms are fine, again we would prefer private bathroom where possible. A big must is a laundry. Also like most families we will probably want to use the lodge in the winter school holidays so membership numbers to bed ratio I guess would be important, or please let me know what we should look at here. The ski in/ski out if not close to lifts sounds hard with young children and having to lug their stuff around, so we have been looking at Thredbo Farm Ski Lodge with access to the tube, is anyone a member there, or have any comments on the place? Also please comment on costs, what we should be looking at price wise for the membership, annual fees and nightly rates. Thanks for your help
just stayed at highway alpine great lodge and great people .No TV so people actually spoke to each other played games etc .Very cosy and Im pretty sure there is a laundry .I think hols like most lodges are ballot .
I don't have any specific recommendations for you (disclaimer: I have been a shareholder in two lodges, one in Guthega and one in Smiggins, for over 20 years), but what I would suggest as well as your existing thoughts/concerns for specifically lodges within the resort itself: * Check the lodge building and its location in winter. How accessible is it (ie walkable with luggage, or do you need oversnow transport), would it be noisy from snowmaking, grooming or road/carpark clearing activities. How much of a hike is it at the start and end of the day (potentially with small tired children in tow). If you are planning to go back for lunch, how practical is that. * Does it have carparking (no club lodges do in Perisher, but some in Smiggins do). * Check the building in summer. How is its external maintenance looking? * What is the age of the lodge membership and how are they about kids? * Is it members-only (and if so, is it staffed or un-staffed), or if staffed is it available for general public bookings too? * Review the financials (annual reports, etc) of the club for the past couple of years - will give you a good understanding of how the place "runs", how the board operates, etc, and could help avoid any nasty surprises.
Hi Ted Thank you for the heads up, I will definitely take all of that into consideration, still hoping for some recommendations re: lodges to look at. Cheers
When you have a candidate lodge picked out, stay for a few days (at least) before forking over membership money. On paper and in the flesh can be a very different experience. Also check (if you can) that the club isn't going to be hitting up members for exy maintenance works. In the past there have been a few lodges that have been in the unfortunate position of needing extensive unfunded works done. Bit of an ouch, especially if you've just paid out for membership.
Thanks Cold Wombat, we are actually booked into the Thredbo Farm Ski Lodge this weekend to check it out, and I will definitely check they aren't going to the hitting us up for hefty renovation/maintenance costs
Maybe have a chat to SLOPES? They may be able to put you onto lodges that are taking new memberships (or have existing members wanting to sell out).
not sure what the situation is in NSW, but in Vic many lodges' leases are coming to an end. To get a lease renewal requires bringing the building up to comply with modern regulation for building standards, fire safety, bushfire zone etc. New leases may be up to 50 years, depending on various bureaucratic considerations. It can be a very expensive proposition, even if the lodge appears to be well-maintained. It may require a call on members for extra funds and/or a large loan. There is nothing wrong with this as long as you understand what is likely to happen and consider it as part of the cost. Better a well-organised lodge that will require you to pay a large extra sum that a lodge that may fold when the lease expires because they don't know how to fund it. So find out how long any lease has and what plans there are to extend it
The long term lease challenge for the Perisher based clubs will be to avoid the Packer pressure for amalgamating the whole shebang into a Thredbo style head lease. If that ever happens, then every time Perisher Resort needs to boost cash flow, the pressure will be put on the clubs to pony up or piss off. That pressure will be felt most keenly by the private clubs that don't operate on a commercial basis. The leverage that Packer has is the debt of $55m that NPWS owes to the state government. There are only two realistic options for that debt to disappear- either the state gov't forgives it, or Packer gets what he wants in return for paying it. The proposition that was put to me by someone familiar (supposedly) with the politics was that the push is for a village with casino and head lease for everything. The head lease is what risks killing the community. Therein lies the value of a strong active SLOPES voice. Sorry for the thread hijack. Back to normal programming now.
