Need help planning Summer 2013 visit to a Colorado ski resort/town...

Nice restaurants in a ski town will likely be one of the major limiting factors. Vail has some pretty decent restaurants, and usually during the off-season they have some type of deals like 50% off wine, 3 course dinner for $35-45 (and it is 3 courses from the the regular menu, not some prix fixe), etc. A couple of the places I have been to:

Larkspur
Kelly Liken

There also aren't really going to be many theaters out in the resort towns, so that may be tough to find something to fill.

Prices on houses should me much more reasonable in the summer too. If you haven't already, you should check VRBO.com and AirBnB.com. Do you prefer the Vail/Beaver Creek/Breckenridge area that will be easier to get too from Denver or something out west?

If you are looking for higher end in terms of food etc look at Aspen- it's got a high-end resident clientele.

Aspen does have good food, and I agree that it should also be investigated, I just can't stand how pretentious the majority of the people there are.

I have not been to the others but I really liked Crested Butte. Small, laid back, beautiful.

 

lefty

Vail is the nicest looking town, but pretty expensive (my 1st choice), Breck was very crowded the days we spent there and the ski patrol did little to police the idiot kids who were pretty dangerous. My favorite for skiing was Keystone as it was not crowded, closely monitored by ski patrol, but its village was small.

Vail is an alpine version of disneyland. Beaver Creek is a more compact version of Vail. They're both fairly soulless.

Aspen is an authentic town. Durango is another old mining town you might like.

We have vacationed in Breckenridge (Summer and Winter) my entire life (I am 30 now) and we really enjoy it. There are some good restaurants, nothing too chainy, but do not expect NYC or Paris. Its a very walkable town with shopping, cafes, bakeries, tourist shops, etc...

From Breckenridge you can quickly get to Keystone, Copper Mountain, Frisco and Silverthorne. Each of the towns have their own unique vibe with Keystone and Breckenridge feeling like Breckenridge, Frisco being a resort town without a ski resort, and Silverthorne being the most developed in terms of shopping and entertainment (though I would never stay in Silverthorne, we usually go to a restaurant there called The Mint - Look it up, you all will like it, and the outlet malls which have some decent shopping).

Each of the towns have very good community websites with calendars listing upcoming events, this may help you in your decision.

Activities our crew does, with ages ranging from 1 to 63 include hiking, bike riding, cruising town, the alpine slide (look it up, its a blast), golf, cooking out, mining tour (outside of Breckenridge, a nice 2 hour activity).

Rentals in the entire area are very affordable during the summer month. We have outgrown our condo and now lease a large home when we all get together.

Hope some of this was helpful.