This is a lovely condo. The photos in the description accurately reflect the spaces, and, if anything, some of our group thought everything was better than the photos! Everything was clean. The kitchen is great for cooking and living room great for gathering for a movie, playing cards on the trestle table, and enjoying the coziness of the fire place. The owner was very helpful and responsive before and during our stay. All questions and concerns were quickly attended to and resolved.
Our family enjoyed snowboarding and downhill skiing - so fun that they could end the day coming right to the hill above the condo. Though its not the biggest mountain in California, Kirkwood has plenty of challenging terrain. Others enjoyed showshoeing, cross-country skiing, and sledding. And all of us took at least one day to enjoy watching the Rose Bowl (go Stanford!) and hanging out together in the beautiful living room. There were quite a few New Year's Eve activities that were available here at Kirkwood too. We brought up most of our food for the week, but were happy to just walk to the general store and find milk, eggs, etc. as needed. In fact, our car stayed in the garage for all five days we were here.
Except for at the Kirkwood cross-country ski place on highway 80 and the downhill rental place, the staff we ran into at Kirkwood were very helpful and friendly. Two guys even offered to take our trash to the dumpster when they saw me walking with it! (The people at the rental places weren't bad, just a bit clueless.)
I plan to recommend this place to anyone I know. We lived and worked at Fallen Leaf Lake, near South Lake Tahoe for 10 years before moving to the Bay Area, and we had always loved coming over to this area on highway 88. Kirkwood has all the amenities of some of the bigger ski resorts, but still has the charm of a small, more secluded and relaxed community.
Thanks to Patty for making this place available and I hope we can return again next year.