Less than three hours north of Boston, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley is a popular destination for families year-round, and especially in the winter with its sleighload of cold outdoor fun. The Omni Mount Washington Resort gets in on the act with sleigh rides, snowshoeing and dogsledding—plus a kids club and heated indoor pool for when the kids are ready to come inside and warm up.   Good news for snow-loving families: The Omni Mount Washington Resort is offering a Stay Here, Ski Free promotion through April 11, 2010 (yes, the snow usually sticks around that long).  Valid for midweek (Sunday to Thursday) stays, the package includes lift tickets to adjacent Bretton Woods, the Granite State's largest ski area, which boasts more than 400 acres and 101 trails and glades. 

With nightly rates starting at $89 per adult, is this offer a good deal for families? We did the math to find out. 

The package includes:

• One night’s lodging (worth $179 in January)
• Two adult lift tickets to Bretton Woods (worth $66/adult x 2  = $132)
• Two lift tickets for kids ages 5 to 12 staying in same room (normally $40/ticket x 2 = $80)
• One Omni kid's backpack per child (let's say $10/backpack x 2 kids = $20)

When we test-booked a January stay for a family of two adults and two school-age kids (5 to 12), the package rate came to $219 a night. That is $172 less than the $391 this family would normally pay for lodging and lift tickets. (We won't include the backpacks, since they are not a necessary part of the ski getaway.) In other words, the package slices a whopping 47% off the price of what the stay-and-ski components would cost if purchased separately. 

Note: With this package, lift tickets are included only for kids 5 to 12. At Bretton Woods, children 4 and under always ski free with a paying adult. Teens would still have to buy a $53-a-day lift ticket.

Deal or no deal?  Grab your skis! This is a super deal, especially if your kids are between the ages of 5 and 12.