Six steps to reserve a mountain trip with a travel agent

1. Dates, nights and degrees from you

Send the form or call on a weekday morning. The useful facts are your first night, how many nights, who is coming and how much cooler than home you want July or August afternoons to feel. If you have no particular town in mind, say so; the ten in the catalog of cooler stays are where we start.

2. The innkeeper is consulted

The office writes or phones the inn, lodge or hotel and asks which rooms are free for those nights, at what nightly rate, with which required fees, and under which terms for changes. Nothing is held at this stage.

3. You get one written quote

The quote names the lodging, the room type, each night and its rate, every required fee, the taxes the lodging will add and the lodging's own rules for changes and refunds. A request that reaches us by 1 pm on a weekday is answered by 5 pm that day; a later one by 5 pm on the next weekday.

4. Your reply decides

A reply email that says yes is enough. A quote you leave unanswered simply lapses, and silence counts as no answer. Saying no costs nothing, because the quote itself is free.

5. The lodging holds the room in your name

After your written yes we ask the lodging to hold the room. Many mountain inns take a deposit at this point, by phone or through their own secure page; that payment goes from you to the lodging, never through this website. We forward the lodging's confirmation number to you as soon as it arrives.

6. You check in at the lodging's own desk

You arrive, give your name at the front desk and settle the balance with the lodging under its terms. If something about the room is wrong, the desk on site is the fastest fix; tell us as well, and we take it up with the lodging on your behalf.