My wife and I stayed at the Brecks Inn for 4 days. We were looking for budget accommodations, so our expectations were very low from the get go. We stayed there as part of a Timeshare Vacation Package which included a mandatory sales presentation/tour. I don’t usually provide feedback on TripAdvisor, but I felt the need to for this “hotel” (Inn) in order to hopefully help out others who might be as hesitant as we were to stay here due to older reviews on this place. I will be as honest as possible and provide a summarized list of both the pros/cons at the end of this review for those that don’t want to read all the details. IMPORTANT TO NOTE, this is a “budget” hotel, so I will review and rate it as such.

Special Request and Check-in: I had made my reservations over a month and a half in advance for the Breck Inn. I requested a particular room on the second floor as far away as possible from the hustle/bustle of other guests. I was told that they could not guarantee any special requests, but they would do their best. I called several times in advance making sure they had my request on file. The night before my visit, I called one last time to confirm, only to be told that the particular room I requested was already taken and wouldn’t be available until two days into our stay. How disappointing that was. Upon check-in the next day, I had already gotten over not having my requested room so I was not as frustrated as I would have been. Michelle, the Front Desk Clerk, was patient enough to personally show me the two different rooms they did have available: one room was on the second floor with two queen beds and a balcony, and the other available room was on the first floor with a King size bed and a couch/no balcony. The room on the first floor was literally only 20 feet away from the front desk and right across from the dining room. No doubt this was going to be the noisiest room in the house, but since it was just my wife and I, we thought it would be nice to have the King Size bed, and besides, we were told that we could switch to our requested room when it became available. To make a long story short, this room totally fit our needs and it actually turned out to be very convenient being so close to the dining room and our car. I was actually quite amazed at how quiet it was, even though the location appeared to be terrible. Sure, there were times when we could hear people at the front desk talking, but for whatever reason, we were never awoken at night or early in the morning. In fact, we stayed in this room the entire visit, not having any regrets at all at the end of our stay. Check-in was a bit slow as there was only one front desk clerk working and several people checking in at the same time.

Hotel and the Accomodations. Keep in mind, this place is actually called an “Inn” and not a hotel. I would consider the Breck Inn more of a quaint motel, but with the rooms accessed from the inside rather than the outside like your typical motel. It was tastefully painted on both the outside and the inside and because of that it did indeed give it an appearance of a quaint and cozy little “Inn”. The lobby was small, but once again, perfect for our needs and was comfortably decorated with couches/TV/and a fireplace as I recall… simple, but adequate. The rooms were also a bit on the small side, but by no means too small. I can honestly say that they were extremely clean and no maintenance problems or any major wear/tear. Bathrooms had room for just a toilet and a full size shower, but remember, this isn’t a Hyatt, so what more do you need. The water pressure was adequate and the water was always hot when you needed it. The tub was clean and the shower heads were fully functional and actually quite nice. I liked the fact that the sink was outside the bathroom..much more convenient and made the bathroom not feel so small. The carpets were a bit worn, but not dirty (I hear that they will be remodeling in April 2012 with also new carpets being installed). As far as I’m concerned, the walls were not too thin, as we NEVER heard any guests thru the walls on either side of us. I was told that it was a full house that weekend, so those rooms must have been occupied. The door was a bit on the thin side and we could hear the lobby noise at times, but even being right across from the dining room, there just wasn’t a lot of irritating noise for some reason. The lighting in the rooms could have been better, but it wasn’t unbearable. Rooms had a nice flat screen TV mounted on the walls, a table with two chairs, and even a small refrigerator. Overall, a totally decent room.

The Location: The Breck Inn is more or less the first establishment you come to as you drive into town. It’s actually right on Main St, but on the very edge of all the activity. The walk to town is a bit far during winter conditions in my opinion, but it is possible. We had a rental car, but during the day, we never had to use it. To our surprise, the Breck Inn had a large private shuttle bus that was available all day until 6 pm. There were no scheduled times to go to different locations, which was the best part about it. You actually just call the driver’s cell phone and he comes and picks you up and takes you pretty much wherever you want to go in town, within reason of course. The driver’s name was Tsetso and was such a nice, young fellow. He was friendly and polite at all times, and provided us with a wealth of information about the area, hotel, etc. Tsetso also doubled as front desk clerk when not on the road, and always asked us if there was anything we needed. He was kind of like the Breck Inn’s Concierge guy. As a side note, the longest time we ever had to wait to be picked up somewhere was no more than 10 minutes. Our rental car definitely came in handy for our evening trips into town, but once again, I was totally satisfied with the location overall. The Breck Inn is a very close walk to the Gondola, which will get you to the ski lifts. But with Tsetso, and the shuttle at your “Breck In Call” who needs the Gondola to get you to the slopes. Just call Tsetso’s cell phone and he will drive you right to the base of the peak just steps away from the lift. For me, this was an economical ski-in/ski-out scenario. I even wore my ski boots out of my room.

Staff: The staff was the main reason we rated the Breck Inn as high as we do. The girls at the front desk (Michelle and Cesiah) were always so nice and helpful. They were professional, courteous, knowledgeable and pleasant. What more could you want. We felt totally at home with them. I think the small size of the Breck Inn was actually an advantage in some ways. The staff was multi-tasking and jumped in whenever/wherever they needed to be, whether that was keeping the lobby clean, stocking the dining room refreshments, acting as a concierge, etc.

Bonuses: OK, so the price we paid for the room was so reasonable as compared to other places in Breckenridge, who ever thought there would be any “freebies”. But there was. The Dining Room had a free (that’s right, FREE) breakfast. No, nothing extravagant, but come on, what more could you ask for in a place like this. You can make yourself a fresh waffle, in addition to: donuts, granola bars, cereal, bagels, muffins, hard-boiled eggs, apples, fruit juices, etc. Best of all, they had a FREE coffee/Hot Chocolate machine available ALL day/night. This was one of the benefits of having our room right across from the Dining Room (Room #2 in case you are curious). Each evening we open our door, wander 20 feet across the hall, and serve ourselves a nice steaming hot chocolate to take back to bed. Don’t forget, other bonuses included in the price of the room are the free shuttle, hot tub (we never used it), free wireless internet, and a great staff!

Last but not least..the Presentation: As I mentioned earlier, a Timeshare Presentation and a tour of the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 was necessary as part of our package. Honestly, having done a few timeshare presentations in the past, we were not exactly looking forward to this. But let me assure you, whether you are interested in becoming a Member or not, it was nowhere as stressful as we thought it would be. In fact, it turned out to be a pleasurable experience…yes, I did say pleasurable. I can assure you, there were no pressure tactics here, and in fact, our Sales Agent Drew turned out to be a very nice gentleman. He was knowledgeable about what he had to offer, explained it clearly, but at no times did he push us to a point where we felt uncomfortable. Even after we decided not to become a member, he left us professionally with a handshake, a smile, and some great recommendations which gave us an awesome ending to our trip to Colorado. Also worth mentioning, it was nice to see the Grand Lodge on Peak 7. It was quite an impressive place! Beautiful accommodations, views and you can literally walk right out the door to the ski lift! Nice!

So, in summary:

Cons:
1. Our requested room was not available upon check-in, although they made every effort to accommodate us later in the stay when it did become available. I suggest you call 2 to 3 days in advanced if you do have any special requests. Our mistake was calling one week in advance.
2. The Breck Inn only has a handful of rooms with King sized beds, and those rooms are only located on the first floor with no balcony. The second floor rooms with two queen size beds have balcony’s that are not really private. The balcony doesn’t have any privacy divider from the one beside it.
3. If you’re expecting accommodations similar to a Marriott or Hyatt, this place is definitely not for you.
4. Location is on the outskirts of town. Still walkable though when the weather isn’t bad. Quick 5 minute drive with car.

Pros:
1. Awesome, friendly, helpful staff! Being a smaller place, you will see the same staff every day. They jump in and help wherever/whenever needed.
2. Cozy/quaint accommodations.
3. Free wireless internet, breakfast and shuttle. The shuttle was almost like having your own taxi on standby for you. Coffee/hot chocolate/juices available 24x7. WOW!
4. Wine & Cheese reception on Friday evening. Seriously!
5. If you stay at the Breck Inn as part of the Timeshare Vacation Package, don’t expect a high pressure presentation. They were even flexible on which day you want to attend.
6. New Management really turned this place around as compared to older reviews you might have read.
7. Budget friendly, but by no means a dive!
8. Did I mention an awesome staff (Tsetso, Michelle, Cesiah)
9. Refrigerator in room. A Microwave oven is available in Dining area 24x7
10. Nice views of distant mountains/peaks.
11. Quick walk to Gondola.
12. Ski rental shop right next door to hotel. Great ski rental prices!
13. The bed was quite comfortable in my opinion.
14. If you stay as part of the Vacation Package, you can include ski lift tickets into the price for an excellent value.