Northstar :: Your Next Family Vacation

*This post is sponsored – but the thoughts and feelings are our own, and we only work with businesses we believe to be reputable and resourceful to our readers.  

Last week my family and I experienced the winter wonderland of Northstar California Resort at Lake Tahoe. Wow! What a way to start off the holidays!  With their amazing ski village, family- friendly atmosphere, great food, and daily activities, this should surely be your next family vacation.

First, let’s talk about the Village at Northstar.  They have beautiful accommodations, conveniently located. Yes with kids, you need easy!  Need to run back to your room for a snack or a nap? No worries! Need extra space for a pack-n-play or a kitchen, they’ve got it! Northstar even has carts for lugging gear and a shuttle service to help you get around their property quickly.  From our condo, the village center was a 1 minute drive, and we could call the shuttle at anytime for fast service.  This is, if we didn’t want to just walk.  We actually enjoyed the trail walk to the village and our stops for snowball fights with our older son.

Once your bags are unpacked, you can enjoy the many shops and activities the village has to offer. Daily ice skating, crafts, live music, s’mores, a bungee trampoline, not to mention a movie theatre, spa, and yoga studio. My older son is only two, but they had ice skates his size, and my husband and I took turns skating with him and hanging with our other little man in the stroller by the fire-pit. We also were lucky enough to be there during the holidays and experience their beautiful Christmas tree and Noel Nights including a sleigh ride through the village, a visit from Santa, and real Christmas carolers!

And the restaurants!  There is a large selection of restaurants at Northstar ranging from quick cafes to fancy dinner. We enjoyed hot pizza from Rubicon Pizza after an afternoon of ice skating and snowman-making, and on our last night, we had a special dinner out at Tavern 6330’.  Fine dining with a kid-friendly atmosphere. Yes!  There were kids in this upscale restaurant and even people in their ski gear.  I loved that I could bring my whole family there for relaxed California luxury dining.  Every place in the village has a kids menu, and at Tavern 6330’ to make the kids feel extra special, they even have mocktails!  

Now, let’s talk about the mountain!  Want to take the whole family up the mountain? No problem.  The gondolas accommodate strollers!  We enjoyed a day of skiing and snow play as a family. Our 8 month old stayed bundled at base, while my husband I and took turns skiing with our two year old!  Yup, it was his first time on skis, and he went on the magic carpet and skied with a hula hoop connected to mommy! The training slopes were amazing! Then, we enjoyed a lunch on the mountain at The Lodge at Big Springs.  In the afternoon, after naps (of course!) we headed up to the Ritz-Carlton for drinks, mmmm… a hot Bourbon Apple Cider and their daily Marshmology (flavored s’mores!) at their outdoor fire-pit.  This was a huge hit with my older son!  

If you are a skier or snowboarder, you can also enjoy the many trails, terrain parks, and mid-mountain restaurants the mountain has to offer. Your kids can enjoy ski school, and you and your partner can enjoy the daily champagne toast at the top of the mountain at Tōst on the East Ridge Run. You could even ski down to the village for a quick massage at the spa too!  How fabulous!

And if you are like me, you will want pictures, right? Northstar offers EpicMix! With a scan of your pass, on-mountain photographers can upload pictures right to your EpicMix account where you can share them seamlessly to your social media accounts.  EpicMix also offers EpicMix Time where you can get up to date lift lines times throughout the mountain and EpicMix Academy where you can track your kids progress in school, view pictures, and see their location on the mountain!

After a few days at Northstar, we were sad to leave. It was wonderful family vacation full of memorable moments, and we will be back for sure! You need to check out Northstar California Resort! We live too close to Tahoe to miss out.  Don’t fly to your next vacation, drive to Northstar and make beautiful family memories!