Deer Valley is currently undergoing one of the largest expansions in the history of skiing, with … [+] tons of new terrain overlooking the Jordanelle Reservoir.
Deer Valley Resort
North America is home to an embarrassing wealth of world-class ski and snowboard resorts, and while I love the food and culture (and bargain prices) of European skiing, and the ultra-deep powder Japan offers, for pure quality of terrain you cannot beat the U.S. and Canada. There are several dozen true destination resorts that offer an amazing and varied collection of skiing and snowboarding for all abilities, and there’s a very good reason why places like Jackson Hole, Whistler/Blackcomb, Telluride, Alta, Kicking Horse, Palisades Tahoe and many others are iconic pilgrimage destinations for skiers from all around the globe. But if you skew more towards the white glove end of the spectrum, 5-Star hotels, massages, high-touch service, ski valets, dry-aged steaks and fine wines, there’s one place that stands out above all of the rest and offers America’s top luxury ski trip, easy access and stunning resorts.
Park City, Utah is home to not one but two of the biggest and best resorts in the country—including the biggest of them all. The quantity and quality of skiing is off the charts, the most any single town in the nation offers, but so is the lodging. There are more Forbes 4 and 5-Star hotels here than anywhere else, surpassing even famed luxury enclaves such as Vail and Aspen. Each of these in turn offers an impressive array of fine dining, high-end spas and amenities, and of course, opulent ski valets. There are three 2025 Forbes 5-Star hotels, all of which have 4 or 5-Star spas and/or restaurants, three 4-Star hotels, also with starred amenities, and standalone 4-Star and Forbes Recommended restaurants.
Skiing has gotten very expensive in recent years, and I think that’s a shame, and that’s why I recently wrote a detailed feature here at Forbes about why you should consider a European ski and snowboard vacation that can save you a lot of money and deliver a wonderful trip for half or less what it would cost in the U.S. But I also recognize that there are some travelers who crave convenience, can afford to indulge and want to indulge. This is a true luxury experience that is not for everyone, and not for many budgets, but if it is what you are looking for, here is why Park City delivers.
Time Is Money—And A Luxury
The one thing you can never have enough of is time, and if you want to make the most of your vacation days, there is no ski destination in North America, and probably not in the world, more efficient than Salt Lake City. It’s a big, modern international airport that is rarely affected by weather and has a lot of flights. But that’s just the beginning. Once you arrive, it’s a very easy place to grab a rental car, unlike the horror of airports like San where can blow hours just trying to leave the place. If you do not want to drive yourself, there are plenty of luxe transfer services specializing in rides to Park City, only about 45 minutes away.
The user-friendly new Salt Lake City airport opened in 2020 and is still expanding with new … [+] facilities
getty
I have done this easy trip many times over the years, but a couple of weeks ago was a recent reminder of why this matters so much. I left the Northeast on Thursday morning. Unfortunately for me, it’s rural where I live and I had to change planes, while most Americans can fly non-stop to Salt Lake and save a couple more hours. Nonetheless, even with a change and connection and the time that wasted, I arrived at my hotel in Park City well before 1PM. I was able to check in, grab a quick bite, change into my ski gear and get out on the slopes four over two full hours of skiing, which thanks to high-speed lifts, meant nine runs. I then skied all day Friday and Saturday, and then again on Sunday morning I skied for two hours, went back to my room, showered, packed checked out and was home that night. A long weekend four-day ski trip not unusual, but a four-day long weekend ski trip by plane with four actual days of skiing is almost unheard of anywhere else. If you value your time, that alone might be reason enough.
The Ski Resorts
Park City Mountain
Park City Mountain is the largest U.S. ski resort, home to one of the first heated bubble chairs, … [+] and continues to add state-of-the-art snowmaking and lifts, with a 10-passenger gondola for next winter.
getty
The largest lift-served ski and snowboard resort in the United States, Park City Mountain is a 7,300-acre behemoth that sprawls from its Canyons Village base area outside of town all the way through downtown Park City and right up to neighbor resort Deer Valley (on the unique guided Ski Utah Interconnect Tour you are allowed to duck under the boundary rope and ski both resorts plus Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude, a total of six different Utah masterpieces in a single day with just alpine skis and lifts for transportation).
It’s so big that when you ski and look across the valley you would be sure that you are looking at another distant resort, but you are not. The numbers speak volumes: more than 330 trails, 40 lifts, seven terrain parks, and plenty of skiing for every ability. The Canyons side skews more blue and black, the town side more green and black, but it doesn’t really matter where you start, you can access plenty of everything, from steeps and bumps and glades, to meaning groomers.
Park City was one of the first resorts in the nation to build a heated bubble chair, now the fanciest form of chairlift and still rare, and the Canyons Village is served by both this bubble and a gondola, making uphill access in the morning a breeze. But that will be much better shortly, as the Canyons is adding a second, bigger, 10-passnger gondola next season, opening less than a year from now. For this season they greatly enhanced snowmaking, which is becoming a bigger and bigger deal in skiing due to climate change, and with a slow start to the Utah precipitation, this allowed for much better than expected and more reliable conditions before the recent massive snow started flying.
Mos of the luxury lodging associated with Park City is in the Canyons base, but it’s a really nice bonus that you can actually ski down into town, and that s is a great way to end your day, thanks to all the great bars and restaurants on Main Street, and at the base of one trail, the High West Distillery & Saloon, which was the world’s first ski-in/ski-out distillery, has amazing food, remains extremely popular and has become a top tier global whiskey brand—if there’s a high-end bar in the world that doesn’t carry High West it’s probably not really a high-end bar. Main Street is also home to the independent Forbes Recommended Riverhorse on Main, a longtime standout Park City fine dining spot.
If you snowboard, Park City Mountain is your only choice, as its neighbor allows only skiing. Park City is on Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass, the world’s bestselling multi-mountain ski pass.
Deer Valley
Deer Valley is adding more glade skiing and enjoys Utah’s famous powder, “The Greatest Snow on … [+] Earth.”
Re Wikstrom Photography
Deer Valley has long been synonymous with luxury, famously caps it lift ticket sales to keep crowds from getting out of hand (single day sales were suspended on the weekend I visited) and has tons of staff running around looking for ways to welcome and help guests. The resort also has a strong and popular “Ski With a Champion” program featuring seven former Olympians who are now ambassadors, a unique way to spend a day and a great family experience.
The one big caveat is that Deer Valley remains one of only three stubbornly ski-only U.S. resorts, so if you have a snowboarder in your group, you cannot visit.
The big news at Deer Valley is literally the biggest ski news in the world right now when it comes to skiing. Deer Valley is already big, the 15th largest in the country, but it is well into an unprecedented expansion that will more than double its size, from big to huge, by next season. Before this season the mountain clocked in at around 2,000-skiable acres but 3,700 more are being added, almost 3,000 of those by next winter. The expansion can already be appreciated, with about 20 new trails, a new base area and new lifts, including a new high speed bubble chair serving the new terrain. I checked it out in detail and its lives up to the hype. By next fall when the snow starts flying, Deer Valley will have jumped up to being the fourth or fifth largest ski resort in the nation, and more importantly, the new acreage plugs the perceived lack of expert terrain and glades. This “shortage” may have been overstated, as Deer Valley did have some good expert terrain and tree skiing, but nonetheless, it will now have a LOT more.
This project is so big, ultimately adding as many as eight more ski-in/out hotels, that instead of going into tall the detail here, I will direct you to recent Forbes story I wrote on all the things the expansion is bringing and the timelines, so read it here, but the vast majority of the new skiing and lifts will be open this fall. The upgrade also brought a new Grand Hyatt Hotel, and while it’s not in the same tier of luxury as the other on-mountain lodging, it anchors the new base are, where a new Four Seasons just broke ground, likely opening for the 2026-2027 season.
Deer Valley is on the Ikon Pass, the top competitor to the Epic Pass, so there’s something for every major pass holder here.
The Luxury Hotels At Park City Mountain
The Pendry, Canyons Village
The Pendry Park City is a huge addition to the luxury lodging at the nation’s largest ski resort, … [+] ski-in/out with ski valet in the center of the connected complex.
christian horan
Located in the Canyons Village, this was a huge addition to the limited lodging offerings at the nation’s biggest ski resort when it debuted three years ago. Pendry is the sister hotel of Montage, and until this location, was an urban brand, with Park City as the only resort property. It is a residential-style hotel where rooms/apartments are individually owned, so the main style of guest room is actually an apartment with full luxury kitchen and a lot of space, though there are smaller lock-off bedrooms that can be rented as more conventional hotel rooms. Whie pricy, the one-bedroom apartments are quite spacious and comfortable, especially with ski gear. It sits next to the main Canyons base plaza and is ski-in/out with a short older lift that can transport guests from the ski valet to the main base area bubble chair and gondola. Alternatively, you can walk to those in about four minutes. But this chair is being replaced with the new 10-person gondola for next season, which goes all the way up to where the top of the existing gondola is and will be a game changer of convenience for Pendry guests, making it one of more dramatically ski-in/out properties in the nation and an ultra-prime choice for 2025-2026 and beyond.
The Pendry has a full ski valet and rental shop with very high-end gear like Bomber brand skis and offers a surprisingly broad array of food and beverage options. These include a very impressive Japanese style steakhouse with imported wagyu beef as well as sushi bar, a nice après bar lobby spot, Mexican restaurant, and rooftop bar. There is also a full spa and 24/7 fitness center equipped with top shelf TechnoGym and Peloton gear. It is steps from additional dining and retail options in the main Canyons Village plaza, and has the best location of the luxury options here.
Waldorf Astoria Park City, Canyons Village
The original luxury hotel at Park City Mountain, the Waldorf earned 4-Stars in the 2024 Forbes Travel Guide awards. It sits a little bit lower in the Canyons area and has its own mini-gondola connecting it with the main base area. It too has ski valet, a full high-end spa and fitness center stocked with leading TechnoGym and Peloton gear, as well as a large heated outdoor pool complex, but is a little light on the food and beverage side with just one full-service restaurant. However, that one. Powder, makes Forbes 2024 Awards list as Recommended. I have stayed here previously and quite enjoyed it.
Washington School House Hotel, Park City
This is unique boutique option for fans of inns and small hotels with big personalities. Converted from a historic 1889 limestone schoolhouse, it has just twelve rooms and suites, each unique and meticulously curated with arts and antiques, plus a very private outdoor heated pool and hot tub terraced into the hillside. Organic gourmet breakfasts are included, as are first rate amenities, from the robes and slippers to Maison Caulieres beauty products, and service is very personal and intimate.
Park City is a historic Old West mining town turned ski town, with a chairlift on Main Street, and … [+] downtown is well worth a visit.
getty
Best of all, the Washington School House sits in the heart of the town of Park City, just off Main Street, an easy walk to tons of restaurants, bars, shops and services—as well as the Park City Mountain resort’s town chairlift for direct access to its huge array of trails. You can ski right back to town at the end of the day. It is the best luxe accommodations at the town side of the resort, the opposite end from Canyons Village, and just received two Michelin Keys and is Recommended by Forbes Travel Guide. I have stayed here previously and quite enjoyed it.
Lodge at Blue Sky, An Auberge Resort, Wanship, UT
Rated the Number One Resort in all of Utah by Travel + Leisure magazine, the Lodge at Blue Sky also earns the rare 14 Forbes stars: 5-Stars as a hotel, another 5-Stars for its spa, and 4-Stars for its Yuta restaurant. One of the newest properties in the area, it has quickly become one of the most desirable and part of its appeal—as well as a drawback to some—is that it is not actually at one of the ski resorts, but rather outside of town in nearby Wanship, UT. However, the resort maintains a hospitality lounge/clubhouse at the base of the Silver Star chairlift at Park City Mountain, served by a complimentary skier shuttle from the resort. The lounge in turn is a place to change into boots and gear, enjoy complimentary gourmet snacks and drinks, and have very easy access to the mountain at a hidden base area removed from the occasional crowds.
Accommodations at the Lodge at Blue Sky are extremely spacious and feature decadent touches like … [+] indoor and outdoor showers.
Read McKendree for Auberge Resorts Collection
The Lodge is a 3,500-acre ultra-luxury resort that also offers guided backcountry ski touring, snowmobiling, sporting clays, yoga, fat tire snow biking, axe throwing, art classes, dog sledding and ice fishing. It’s very much like a luxury dude ranch without the ranch or horses but has tons of on-site outdoor activities. Lodging is all in over-the-top oversized suites, and The Lodge at Blue Sky basically combines a wilderness luxury resort, spa and fine dining with a topnotch ski resort hotel. In addition, the past two winters the Lodge has hosted a ski season pop-up of California’s heralded Michelin 3-Star restaurant SingleThread.
Luxury Hotels At Park Deer Valley
No ski resort in the country has so much on slope luxury lodging, and the top spots at Deer Valley are not just ski-in, ski-out base area lodging, they are right up in the middle of the action. These ultra-slopeside choices include the Stein Erikson, Montage Deer Valley and St. Regis Deer Valley.
St. Regis Deer Valley
The St. Regis Deer Valley has a fantastic ski-in/ski-out location and is close to all the action.
copyright jason dewey 2013 [email protected]
A longtime personal favorite, this combines super convenient ski trail access with a great location directly above the mountain’s SnowPark Lodge, to which it is linked by private funicular. It’s also the closest of the great choices to the town of Park City for when you want to go to town. Most recently they added a second location with residential units at the base of funicular, called Snowpark, a sort of satellite luxury hotel, and guests staying here get access to the otherwise private Deer Crest Club, as well as the main hotel just above it.
It has all the signature amenities the St. Regis luxury brand is known for, butlers, evening champagne sabering and a custom bloody Mary menu, plus the advantages of being part of the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Marriott’s Bonvoy, so frequent travelers can use (or accrue) their points here. It has one of the biggest wine lists in Utah and garners a Forbes 4-Star rating as well as 4-Stars for its spa, and a Forbes Recommended rating for Rime Seafood and Steak. There are several other excellent restaurants, an amazing ski valet, and outdoors on the snow next to the hotel they have built a greenhouse-style winter bar that immediately became the hottest après ski spot at Deer Valley.
Stein Eriksen Lodge
Hot tub, cold plunge and sauna in the women’s locker room at the Forbes 5-Star Spa in the 5-Star … [+] Stein Eriksen Lodge
Stein Eriksen Lodge
Another Forbes 14-Star winner, Stein Eriksen gets 5-Stars as a hotel and for its spa, plus 4-Stars for its Glitretind restaurant. It also just won Best Ski Hotel in the United States at the 2024 World Ski Awards. Hotel rooms and suites in the main Lodge are large, have fireplaces and are extremely well appointed, while they also have the Stein Eriksen residences, plus a broad array of surrounding manage and serviced luxury homes for larger needs, all ski in/out. It’s a European style property with amazing culinary program that includes private dining and drinking in glass “alpenglobes” on an outdoor terrace, a romantic byproduct of the pandemic. There are multiple restaurant options in many styles and a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. It’s lunchtime “Skier’s Buffet” is an indulgence that has become one of the most iconic meals in the world of skiing. Because it is European style, room rates include breakfast, a nice touch in a town where some of the other luxury resorts charge crazy rates and a family can easily drop a couple of hundred bucks a day on this morning meal.
Montage Deer Valley
Set smack in the middle of the ski resort, it’s hard to beat the location of the Forbes 5-Star … [+] Montage Deer Valley.
Montage Hotels & Resorts
The other Forbes 5-Star winner sitting in the middle of the Deer Valley ski slopes, the Montage also earns 4-Stars for its extensive spa. Both the men’s and women’s locker rooms have extensive steam, sauna, whirlpool and cold plunge options. Rooms are mix of hotel-style and luxury residences with full gourmet kitchens. It has a fantastic ski-in/out location with direct access to two key high-speed lifts outside its huge and extremely well-run ski valet and rental shop.
Very family friendly, one of the Montage signatures is Daly’s Rec and Pub, a casual bar eatery with kid friendly menus like brick oven pizza and specialty sodas, plus vintage arcade games and a full-sized multi-lane bowling alley. It’s a spot the kids love while the adults can still indulge. There is also the fine dining Apex with steakhouse theme, a high-end sushi and wagyu post, a cool gourmet burger and bourbon concept, and several other food and beverage options including a winter pop up champagne and caviar yurt right outside the ski valet. A fleet of Cadillacs provide complimentary chauffeured rides into town.
Chateaux Deer Valley
Rooftop pool and hot tubs at the Forbes 4-Star Chateaux Deer Valley.
Stein Collection
The Forbes 4-Star Chateaux Deer Valley is managed by the Stein Eriksen and sits at one of the resort’s main base areas, so it is “only’ normal ski-in/out, not the ultra-accessible version found higher up on the mountain. On the other hand, this means you can easily walk to other business and services. Like its 5-Star sibling, it has a posh spa, onsite ski rentals, there are outdoor heated pools and hot tubs, fitness center, complimentary chauffeured shuttle service and included upscale breakfasts.
Goldener Hirsch, An Auberge Resort
For gourmet alpine cuisine, it is hard to beat the Goldener Hirsch, an Auberge Resort.
Auberge Resorts Collection
While not as outrageously high-end as the Lodge at Blue Sky, this other Auberge Resorts property sits right at the base of Deer Valley and offers a modern take on the Bavarian theme. There are classic Austrian style rooms in the original 50-year-old Inn building, more contemporary rooms in the modern added hotel and larger residences. It has very good alpine cuisine—this is the place to go for fondue—and a really escapist throwback bar. The rooftop pool is a great place to relax, and there’s a sana, but no spa (they do offer in-room treatments). Auberge Resorts has many loyal fans, and those so inclined can split their stays between the two properties and experience both massive ski resorts in one luxury vacation.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=67b66ead660f40c08475d576e3c4a1b3&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Flarryolmsted%2F2025%2F02%2F19%2Famericas-top-luxury-ski-trip-easy-access-and-stunning-resorts%2F&c=14791762085189294476&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2025-02-18 22:15:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
