If you’re an enthusiastic skier looking for a place to hit the slopes this winter, it might be time to set aside Aspen and Vail for some more under-the-radar locations.
Across the western U.S., once sleepy ski towns are starting to wake up. In Deer Valley, Utah — the “forgotten step sister” of Park City — nearly 6,800 acres of land are under development for a new resort project, which will include a luxurious Grand Hyatt (H) Hotel and opulent private residences. In Keystone, a hidden Colorado community, Kindred Resort will soon become one of the largest real estate developments in the ski industry.
And in Telluride, famed for its connections to the film and tech industries, the Four Seasons is constructing the city’s first hotel in more than 15 years.
For decades, the city “didn’t feel ready for a Four Seasons,” Brian O’Neill, a real estate broker handling sales for the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Telluride, told Quartz. As a local and self-described skiing fanatic, O’Neill was familiar with the virtues of the Colorado community.
Over the years, he explained, projects started and stopped as outside interest in developing the community grew steadily.
“We matured to the point where it is now fitting” to have a luxury resort, he said.
The Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Telluride is certainly luxurious. Among other amenities, the resort will have floor-to-ceiling glass windows, ski-in/ski-out access, cryotherapy, light therapy, and a hyperbaric chamber. Unlike similar resorts, the Four Seasons property also sits high on a mountain, rather than in the valley.
“Our site has better views, with more hours of sunlight,” O’Neill explains. “All these amenities, combined with the Telluride community mean that people are gravitating toward us.”
Further west, in Utah, Grand Hyatt Deer Valley is causing a similar stir. The resort, located in close proximity to Salt Lake International Airport, has garnered so much attention that all 55 private residences, slated to open this month, had already sold out by late August.
“Nowhere in the last 40 years has a resort been built to bring on 3,700 acres of new skiable terrain, until now,” Kurt Krieg, the executive vice president of resort development at Extell Development Company, told Quartz. “We are in the process of completing the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, which is roughly 642,000 square feet. It’s 387 hotel rooms and 55 private residences that’ll open on Nov. 20.”
While the number of guests flocking to these ski towns is sure to increase over the next year, there are still plenty of low-key sports left for people who prefer a quieter vacation venue. Continue reading to learn more about Telluride, Deer Valley, and the other sleepy ski towns making a stir in the western states.
