A two-hour drive from Denver, this popular resort consistently hits the top of folks' lists for best ski area while at the same time taking hits for being too pricey and overhyped. But we can't help but be smitten with Vail's charms, and here are but a few of them.

• Something for everybody: Vail is huge, as in more than 7 miles wide, with more than 5,200 acres of terrain, three terrain parks and trails dedicated to all levels of proficiency. If you can't find a rrun for your skills, well, then, you're either sitting in Gondoly's Pizza having a slice or you got lost in the trees in Chaos Canyon. People have been known to spend weeks trying to cover it all and only manage to hit just, say, Blue Sky Basin, but then, that's what's so great: Tomorrow is always another powder day.

• Food, glorious food: Vail Valley has so many good restaurants, it's hard to choose 10 favorites, let alone one. But Terra Bistro in the Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa (352 E. Meadow Drive, Vail Village, 970-476-6836, vailmountainlodge.com) has been on its game for so long, it's worthy of the spotlight. The chic, big-city-style dining room and slick service give it a grown-up, un-resort-like feel, and the wine list is just filled with winners. A few don't-misses from the menu: the ahi tartare and sweet potato ravioli starters, the seafood in citron-saffron broth and the bananas Foster finale.

• Touch me, babe: It's a tossup, really, which pampering getaway is more luxurious, the RockResorts Spa at The Lodge at Vail (174 E. Gore Creek Drive, 970-476-5011, lodgeatvail.rockresorts.com) or the one at its sister lodging, The Arrabelle at Vail Square (675 Lionshead Place, 970-754-7777, arrabelle.rockresorts.com). Both feature steam and sauna rooms, whirlpools, fitness centers and yoga classes, a full line of treatments and gracious staffs. And either way, you wind up with sink-into-the-sofas relaxation rooms and buttery-soft chaise lounges around the whirlpools. Try the couples massage, where two therapists work out the kinks in an oversized room complete with its own soaking tub for two.

• Two words: Back Bowls: There's almost always untracked powder somewhere here, and on a powder day, it's like skiing through goose-down feathers. You're above treeline, and the views and the wide-open terrain take your breath away. They groom a few acres, and that can be nice for a change of pace, but mostly you just have the run of about 3,000 acres spread out over seven bowls, where you choose your line and smile a sunny day away. No crowds. Pure heaven. Intermediate and above only, please.

• History in the making: You have to love a town that appreciates its past. Unlike some places that are all show and no substance, Vail pays tribute to the 10th Mountain Division, ski fashions that once cost less than a car and other remnants of skiing's past at the Colorado Ski Museum/Ski Hall of Fame (231 Frontage Road, 970-476-1876, skimuseum.net). Admission is free.

• Oh, won't you stay?: In a town that tries so hard to look Bavarian, the Sonnenalp Resort (20 Vail Road, 866-284-4411, sonnenalp.com) is such a prize because it actually is Bavarian, or at least owned by Bavarians, the Faessler family from Ofterschwang, which opened this beautiful hotel in 1979. Not only does the building have lovely European touches -- including the flower boxes and furniture -- but the staff is exceedingly polite and empowered to make your stay as perfect as possible. Rooms range from tiny to spacious, but they're all comfortable, and an incredible, not-to-be-missed breakfast at Ludwig's Restaurant is included. Rates start at $557 per night during the ski season.

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