Welcome to the Sun & Ski Inn and Suites! We are thrilled that you have considered us for your vacation in Stowe, Vermont. Whether you are joining us for a romantic getaway, friend retreat or a family vacation, we aim to provide you with a great experience. The Sun & Ski Inn and Suites is an independent, family-owned hotel. We take great pride in our work and genuinely care about providing you with the best accommodations and experience possible.

Background

The Sun & Ski Inn and Suites was built between 1971 and 1976. It sits on 8.5 acres bordering the Little River at 1613 Mountain Road in Stowe, Vermont. One of its best features is its location between the historic Stowe Village and the Stowe Mountain Resort. Michael and Debi Diender assumed ownership in 1996. In 1999, the Stowe Golf Park was built. The Sun & Ski residence followed in 2000 and a new glass-enclosed pool in 2004. In 2012, Rachel and Mark Vandenberg took over the general management of the business from Rachel’s parents and started work on a remodel and expansion project that was completed in February 2016. 

After early hospitality careers in Florida, Michael and Debi Diender moved to Vermont in 1986 and ran their hotels over a combination of years from 1986 to 2012. Between 1986 and 2004, they successfully owned and operated their first hotel, the Grey Fox Inn. During that time period they expanded the hotel with several new facilities, rooms and the well-known Dutch Pancake Café; a concept they brought to Vermont from Michael’s native country, the Netherlands. Over the years, both Michael and Debi have been active in several community and industry organizations as volunteers and board members. 

Mark and Rachel Vandenberg also have early roots in hospitality. Mark, like Michael born and raised in the Netherlands, worked in the cinema industry for over a decade as a projectionist. Rachel grew up with her parents in the hotel business and served in several different functions at the Grey Fox Inn before and during college. After pursing master’s degrees and their first careers in the Netherlands, Mark and Rachel decided to move to Vermont to assume general management of the Sun & Ski Inn and Suites from Rachel’s parents. Since 2012 Mark and Rachel have been involved in several remodel and expansion projects and have worked to grow and professionalize the business year over year. Mark and Rachel are also active in the community and serve on the Lamoille Economic Development Corporation and Stowe Area Association Board of Directors respectively. 

Mission

Our mission is to create exceptional “family” experiences by developing relationships with our guests that leave them feeling content, connected and eager to return.

Our definition of family is broad and inclusive. There is the family you are born with, your parents, sibling and grandparents. But there are also the people that become your ‘family”. We believe that family is about connection and meaning and that can come in infinite forms.

Delivering family experiences means providing the place and stimulant for this deeper connection and meaning. With the beautiful Stowe, Vermont landscape as the backdrop, we provide a comfortable and unpretentious environment where our guests can be themselves, interact with their “family” through laughter, play and recreational activities and create lasting memories. 

Delivering exceptional family experience means being reliable and responsive, and building relationships with our customers and our internal work family. By delivering everything our guests need for a stress-free get-away and responding to their needs and requests, our guests can focus on the important moments they came for. By building relationships we strive for our guests to leave with feelings of warmth and belonging. It’s the memories of this feeling that will draw our guests to come back again and again. 

We believe that achieving our mission is above all else, dependent on extending this mission to include not only our guests, but also our employees. Our employees are part of our “family” and deserve the same attention to delivering exceptional work experiences. Being reliable, responsive and building relationships with our employees is equally as important in delivering exceptional work experiences to our employees. 

Concretely, Dutchess Inn, Inc. provides quality hotel and attraction products and services with customer service as our number one priority. The success of our company is dependent on the respectful engagement of our staff and developing community support; meeting and exceeding guest expectations and demands, and; executing healthy management of our revenues and expenses while continually striving to reduce negative environmental impacts. 

Company Values

Growth mindset and self-reflection:

Our daily success is first and foremost dependent on having a growth mindset. We value efforts before results. We believe that effort leads to increased skills, knowledge and experience and in turn positive results. Anyone with a growth mindset and the ability to reflect on their own strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures in a positive manner can be successful.  We admire and support our colleagues who give their best effort every day in both their personal and professional lives.

Integrity:

Honesty and transparency are the pillars of healthy working relationships. We value individuals who act with integrity in their words and actions.  

Authenticity:

We believe that owning our unique attributes and being true and genuine to ourselves will make us better. As a company, our authenticity is rooted in being a family-owned business, letting our personalities shine and valuing our differences and diversity. 

Team work:

In our line of work our actions are highly interdependent. We cannot provide an overall stellar guest experience if we are not all working together. We value people that have a deep understanding of their position as part of a team and act with the success of the whole team in mind.

Commitment:

We value dependability, fulfilling promises, and follow-through. Committed team members and the wider company can be expected to fulfill mutual expectations. 

Respect for ourselves and others:

We value people that value themselves and their colleagues. Self-confidence and believing in yourself are examples of respecting yourself. Respecting yourself also means accepting that we are not perfect and can make mistakes. We respect ourselves and others by owning our mistakes and working to improve. We respect ourselves and others by using non-aggressive communication to voice our opinions and feelings. We respect others by listening, communicating, and valuing the contributions of others.

Positive attitude:

We spend a large portion of our lives at work. We strive to create an environment that is fun and as stress-free as possible. We can only create this environment when all members of the team keep a positive attitude even in the face of challenges. 

Responsibility:

Every team member is empowered to act. We value team members that take ownership. Taking ownership could mean addressing guest complaints. It can also mean taking ownership of the challenges in your personal life and not letting them get in the way of your overall well-being.

Leadership:

Whether you have a manager title or not, we value those that set the example for others. We value understanding of the bigger picture, working towards goals and a focus on solutions rather than problems. 

Family and community:

At the end of the day we value what is most important and what matters most – our loved ones and community. Living fulfilled lives is only possible when we work hard but always with the recognition that we put family first. We also recognize that our “community” allows us to do what we do and must keep the good of the community at the forefront.