Expert: Steve Collins - 6/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: Are you familiar with the Winter Park/Frasier areas of CO.? If so, could you recommend a reputable four or five star hotel in that area?  We are going in 12/09 and want a luxurious room.  Thanks!!

ANSWER: Hi Desiree!

I am not AS familiar with Winter Park as I am with some of the other resorts, but I will try to help.  They have been building an entire new base area there over the past few years, so the good news is that they have some brand new properties to offer now.

Honestly, that area is not really known as a high-end area, so even the nicest hotels may not quite match up to the standards you might expect in a four or five star hotel.  Probably the nicest hotel there is the Zephyr Mountain Lodge right at the base of the mountain.  It is brand new, and looks really nice.  The Vintage is also really nice, but a bit of a walk to the slopes.  The Winter Park Mountain Lodge is okay, but is across the highway from the ski area, so you would have to take a shuttle to the slopes.  

I have never stayed at any of these properties, so I cannot vouch for their service levels one way or another.  The Winter Park/Fraser area is very spread out, so be prepared to ride shuttle busses there--the town is not right at the base of the mountain.

If you are really looking for true 4 or 5 star properties and service levels, you really need to consider Vail, Aspen/Snowmass, or Telluride.  The Keystone Lodge at Keystone Resort MIGHT also fit the bill for you.

In the Winter Park area, I would probably lean most toward the Zephyr Mountain Lodge for what you seem to want.

Does that help?

Please let me know if you have further questions!  I live up here (near Breckenridge) and work in the industry, so I love talking about the area!

Steve

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Steve, thanks for  your answer.  I have another question for ya - If  you could go ANYWHERE in CO and stay at the most luxurious mountain lodge - Where would it be?

ANSWER: Probably the nicest one that I know of is the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch in the Vail/Beaver Creek area.  I also like the Little Nell or St. Regis in Aspen (The Little Nell is ski-in/out to Aspen mountain).  I have heard great things about the Peaks Resort and Spa in Telluride, but I am not personally familiar with it.  The Lodge at Vail and the Sonnenalp are also nice properties in Vail.

Slightly less expensive, but still a nice place with good service would be the Keystone Lodge at Keystone Resort.  It is not directly on the slopes, though.

If you need contact information for any of these, just let me know.

Steve

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Steve, I would love the contact info for the Ritz. We are not ski junkies, more snowmobile, sleigh ride, horseback riding is our stuff.  It doesn't matter about the ski-in/out stuff.  Thanks!!

Answer
The Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch is at
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/BachelorGulch/Default.htm

If ski-in/out is not important to you, you might also look into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, which is also in the Vail/Beaver Creek area:
http://www.cordilleralodge.com

Cordillera was initially built by the real estate company selling multi-million dollar houses in the resort.  They needed a place to house prospective buyers, so you KNOW it was built to very high standards.

For something COMPLETELY different and unique if you are getting outside of the ski resort areas, there is an extremely high end lodge in DeBeque Canyon outside of Grand Junction called Kessler Canyon (www.kesslercanyon.com).  One caveat on Kessler Canyon, though--since it is at a much lower elevation, snow is not a guarantee, even at Christmas time.

Along those same lines,except where snow is probably more likely, is Dunton Hot Springs Resort, somewhat near Telluride (www.duntonhotsprings.com).  They took an abandoned ghost town in the mountains and refurbished all of the old buildings into luxury lodging.  The entire town only sleeps 42 people, but they offer hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails, cross country ski trails, horse drawn sleigh rides, a natural hot springs, etc.

Hope that helps!