One of the last great New England lodges, the Mountain Washington Resort opened in 1902 under the shadow of the East’s highest peak, and hosted the founding of the World Bank and the IMF during World War II. Now with family-friendly skiing a quick drive away at Bretton Woods, the hotel remains a year-round fixture of the White Mountains. Old-world touches like the Great Hall sitting room and the Cave – a former speakeasy – are still around, while fine dining at Stickneys and Donald Ross championship golf course count as stellar modern upgrades.

In the quaint Vermont town of Warren and only minutes from the slopes of Sugarbush, the Pitcher Inn was crafted out of a renovated Civil War-era lodging home for passing wagon drivers. Its eleven individually-appointed guest rooms, stellar American cuisine in its 275 Main restaurant, and the non-stop energy of GM Ari Sadri all helped make on Condé Naste Traveler’s Best List of places to stay worldwide. For those obsessed with rustic Vermont charm, look no further.

When it opened in 2008 with 312 guest rooms, the Stowe Mountain Lodge brought the full-service amenities of a resort hotel more commonly found at Western ski areas back to New England, including the hotel’s alpine cabin architecture, stone-framed fireplaces, top-notch service including ski, golf, and fly-fishing “sherpas,” loaner Mercedes, and stellar outdoor pool and hot tub. Its success has been enough to garner the attention of National Geographic and more than a few other publications.

Opened in 2005 in the style of the grand Adirondack lodges, the Lake Placid Lodge sits lakefront on Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Winter Olympics, and about thirty minutes from skiing at Whiteface. Hand-made furniture and great food and wine await guests throughout the hotel. Service is impeccable, with countless personalized touches like champagne on arrival, afternoon snacks, and complimentary mountain bikes, yoga, snowshoes, and cross-country skis. The New York Times recommends renting one of the gorgeous hewn-log cabins with giant stone fireplaces and porcelain tubs. Several are lakefront.

The relatively new Rock Resorts establishment with ski-in/ski-out service at the base of Breckenridge has quickly become a hit. With a collection of apartment-style residential units, One Ski Hill Place gives families a chance to spread out a bit more, and a bowling alley, movie theaters, two hot tubs, two pools, and a summertime “Fun Park” with a host of kid-focused diversions should keep vacationing families satisfied. Service is great and the in-house T-Bar has become a favorite for lunch during ski season.

Love Vail Village’s imitation-Alps charm? Then Vail’s giant faux-Austrian lodge - The Sonnenalp - is where you should stay. The spacious rooms are all outfitted with classic Bavarian décor and the white stucco walls that are a hallmark of Germanic Alps lodges. The breakfast buffet gets notably high marks, as does the fondue at Swiss Chalet. While not slopeside, it is within 200 feet of Vail Village’s main pedestrian mall. Guests recommend rooms facing the ambling creek or Vail Mountain itself.

The Four Seasons brings their legendary standards of service to Vail Village with a central location that’s walking distance to anything you’d need to get to in town. Guests rave about the spacious bathrooms, uber-comfy beds and cozy in-room fireplaces, along with the spa and and the heated pool facing the mountain. It’s a five-minute walk to the ski concierge at the base of the mountain, but most guests have enjoyed the chance to stretch their legs before hitting the slopes.

The enormous signature ski-in/ski-out lodge of Beaver Creek houses a generous 180 guest rooms and 40 suites. The Ritz’s list of amenities is long and distinguished, too: the only Wolfgang Puck restaurant in Colorado, private Raclette dinners at a renovated homesteaders’ cabin, a 21,000 square foot four-star spa, lazy river hot tub, and a friendly dog you can actually rent to keep you company. Immaculate rooms great every guest, and the experience itself is flawless enough for Travel + Leisure to consider it the #1 hotel in Colorado.

This large outpost of the Westin hotel chain has direct access to skiing at Beaver Creek and all the ski amenities you could want. The pool is huge and visitors enjoy jaw-dropping mountain views any time of the year. Don't miss the 27,000-square-foot Spa Anjali, consistently ranked one of the top spas in the nation.

The ski resort-owned Viceroy was built to bring an Aspen level of luxury Snowmass Village, and it appears to have worked. The ski-in/ski-out hotel gets high marks for service, clean rooms, and suites outfitted with Viking appliances. Delicious hot chocolate and hot spiced cider is served at the end of every ski day.

This is Aspen’s most classically luxurious experience. The expansive hotel includes a stellar 15,000 square foot spa, Remède, and has capitalized on proximity to the annual Food & Wine Classic to up its culinary game. The Chefs' Club restaurant, a partnership with Food & Wine Magazine, opened this April with a rotating menu that will be highlighted by appearances from the magazine’s Best New Chef award winners. The hotel’s Italian restaurant, Trecento Quindici Decano, was redone this past spring as well.

The site of the legendary J Bar which inspired an Eagles song, this hotel holds the distinction as the site of Hunter S. Thompson’s memorial service. As one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi to have fully electric lighting, it also made the National Register of Historic Places. An award-winning interior renovation completed in 2012 gave the hotel a gorgeous new lobby along with a great new restaurant – Prospect – while doing away with heavy old details like the red velvet that used to hang everywhere.

Downtown Aspen’s most talked-about hotel is the only five-star, five-diamond hotel in town and the only one slopeside on Aspen Mountain. Celebs of all kind book a room to ski or simply to shop and be seen (Paris Hilton). A badly needed renovation in 2009 updated the look and feel of the rooms another in 2012 added Element 47, a restaurant which has opened to excellent reviews. The Nell prides itself on service, with willingness to offer everything from quick ride into town, dog walking, or services that will pick up and store your skis and boots once you reach the bottom of Aspen Mountain.

Located in the San Juan Mountains, this resort was once a high-alpine ghost town full of 19th-century log-hewn buildings. After extensive renovation, the former homesteads are now luxurious private cabins, the old saloon houses the award-winning restaurant and bar, and a restored bath house hosts one of six hot springs on the property (luxury "glamping" sites with ensuite bathrooms are also available). Bon Appetit has ranked it the States’ 4th best Food Lovers’ Hotel and it is best enjoyed in the summer when travelers can take advantage of the Colorado backcountry's excellent hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, or fly-fishing.

Right on Main Street next to the site of Butch Cassidy’s first bank robbery, the New Sheridan is a classic example of frontier Victorian architecture which houses the town’s oldest bar. A 2008 renovation updated the cozy historical charm of the building while bringing in a stellar steakhouse and two rooftop hot tubs with views of the ski area. Since it is open to the noise of Main Street’s nightlife below, the hotel provides ‘white noise machines,’ which most reviews rank as highly useful.

This ‘eco hotel’ at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is within spitting distance of two Jackson Hole institutions – the Tram, and the Mangy Moose. Known for beautiful modern rooms, an excellent spa, and the in-house Italian restaurant, Osteria, its most dramatic feature is the infinity hot tub overlooking the base village. Best enjoyed in winter when proximity to the Tram on powder days is key, it’s also within a few miles of Yellowstone National Park.

Trip Advisor named this ski-in/ski-out hotel at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort one of the top 25 hotels in America. Service is impeccable, even “helpful to the point of embarrassing” to one guest who had his boots buckled by the ski concierge. Well appointed rooms, family-friendly amenities, and a fun new Handle Bar round out the top-notch experience. That’s why Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal chooses the Four Seasons for his entourage and himself. Just keep in mind that impeccable service won’t make skiing the steep and never-ending vertical of Jackson Hole the slightest bit easier.

This modern single-story boutique hotel spreads across East Gros Ventre Butte on a remote, private bluff with spectacular views of Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons themselves. The stone and wood décor invite supreme relaxation, as does the location and the 35-meter pool with an open deck facing the Tetons. A sizable gym and spa keep visitors healthy and fit, as do the private hiking trails. The Tetons are some of the most dramatic mountains in North America, capped by the 13,775 foot jagged summit of the Grant Teton, and few other locations enjoy the Amangani’s perspective of it.

Guest award high marks for these luxury apartment-style accomondations in Park City. All suites, cottages, and villas have their own washer/dryer and kitchens, and many have private hot tubs. While skiing is close, it’s best for golfing, as the Park City Golf Club wraps around the resort. An on-site Ruth’s Chris serves up the steakhouse’s legendary meats, with packages available that include a three-course dinner.

One of the three original schoolhouses in 19th-century Park City, it was turned into a B&B in 1984, and the limestone structure was renovated a second time and turned into a luxury boutique hotel in 2011. Compared with the Western rustic motif of most ski town hotels, the School House has a cooler palette with more contemporary chic that you’d expect out of a stay in Paris. There are only a dozen guest rooms, and all are a tad small, but the experience itself is intimate in all the right ways, as is the service.

A recent addition to the upper crust of the ski scene, the Montage Deer Valley has earned its reputation with 154 stellar guest rooms and 66 suites. A 35,0000 square foot spa and gourmet gastro-pub with its own four-lane regulation bowling alley fill out some of the spicier amenities and reviews praise the generously offered chocolate-covered strawberries. Just keep in mind that Deer Valley is one of three remaining ski areas in the US where snowboarding is banned.

While Big Sky might not have Vail-level amenities or décor, if a trip to Montana’s short lift lines and radical landscapes is in order, the slopeside Summit at Big Sky is where you want to stay. The hotel and its outdoor oversized hot tub are within steps of the lifts, the rooms are comfortable, and a solid full breakfast is offered every morning. While all rooms have mountain views and many have gas fireplaces, guests recommend getting one facing Big Sky’s signature summit, Lone Peak.

Situated in downtown Whitefish 15 minutes from Glacier National Park and 17 from the ski area, this award-winning chef-owned bed & breakfast is known for its immaculate recreation of 1920’s art deco style, from the claw-foot bathtubs to the furnishings to the wallpaper (somewhat unfortunately) and great food. The gourmet breakfast is outrageously good, and every afternoon, guests can expect to return to the comfort of the main living room to enjoy complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres in front of a fire of birch and pine. Owners Rhonda Fitzgerald and Chris Schustrom are an outdoorsy pair that can guests pointed in the best direction for the day’s activities.

Knob Hill Inn has long invited guests to Sun Valley with its European charm. After finishing a full renovation that finished in the fall of 2012, Knob Hill now features its updated boutique charm with an updated, warm, and modern palette that gives the place a cozier appeal. The Grill at Knob Hill gets solid reviews, and a gorgeous heated pool opens with garage glass doors to an elegant and secluded deck. Shuttle service is available to downtown and Bald Mountain, and free iPads are even available for guests during their stay.

A renovated motel that’s now a outdoorsy boutique blocks away from the casinos of South Lake Tahoe, the Heavenly gondola, and its own private beach, Basecamp’s thoughtfully designed hipster décor was enough for the New York Times to declare that “Wes Anderson called – he wants his set back.” There’s even a “Great Indoors” room with a canvas tent over the king bed with a chandelier inside, along with a fake fire glowing behind a picnic table. Great communal spaces – from the marshmellow-roasting outdoor fireplace to the rooftop hot tub – encourage connections, while the young staff, showers, and dog-friendly policy all get rave reviews.

While the hotel’s black glass facade draws humorous comparisons to the Death Star, the Resort at Squaw Creek nonetheless packs in a boatload of amenities for visitors. Immediately adjacent to one of the slower lifts at Squaw Valley, the Resort also packs two outdoor pools, a hot tub, an ice rink, a great spa, two restaurants, two more casual bars, and its own golf course. While rooms are plenty comfortable, some guests have complained that the hotel is starting to look a little worn around the edges.

One of the few luxury resorts in the Tahoe area and one of the only slopeside hotels around, the Ritz Carlton at Northstar-At-Tahoe leaves nothing wanting as far as accommodations and service are concerned. A giant octagonal lobby with a 55-foot granite fireplace is a beautiful architectural centerpiece. Guests tend to complain that the mid-mountain location leads more to a feeling of isolation than needed seclusion, especially since the Village’s dining options aren’t readily available to replace the sub-par in-house food. Overpriced overight parking is a burn, too. But many recommend dropping the coin for the Club Level experience, where Supervisor Hassan Shabbaz is noted again and again for his faultless service.

Despite competition from the Fairmont Chateau, the Four Seasons holds the crown as Whistler’s preeminent luxury hotel. Located in Upper Whistler Village, the Four Seasons lives up to its pristine reputation here, with unreal service, gorgeous rooms (especially those with balconies), a great ski concierge service, and again, unreal service. There is some trade-off with the Fairmont as guests are not slopeside like their competitor is, but they’re also in a quieter part of the Village that will be better for older crowds and families. At the end of the day, though, the Four Seasons put itself above the fold thanks to its world-renowned service standards.

As Revelstoke Mountain Resort becomes one of the new hot places to ski, visitors should look no further than the Sutton Place Hotel. A ski-in/ski-out property that offers 222 condo-style hotel rooms, this hotel is mere steps away from the lift and the perfect option for scoring all the powder British Colombia has to offer. They even offer heli-ski packages that start at under $900 per person.