DealDetective

Just completed a 5 night stay here during peak Spring Break. They must have been at full capacity because the HDR room rates quoted on the website were the maximum daily rate on the back of the door. (I've never seen a hotel actually charge those rates!) As such, we were very pleasantly surprised to have our Courtyard NBT reservation upgraded to an Executive King. It was a large, lovely room, although its location immediately above the porte-cochere resulted in a very limited courtyard view. If I were paying the HDR of $1,300/night, I probably would not have been very happy with the view. Traveling with our teenage daughter, however, it was great for her to have the sofa bed by a gas fireplace with her own TV and an extra-large bathroom. Since our room was located on the 2nd floor adjacent to the sitting area overlooking the lobby, we felt like we had access to an indoor balcony, albeit not a private one.

Complimentary Diamond breakfast was really delicious. In addition to the wide assortment of buffet items and cook to order omelets, you could special order French toast, pancakes, Belgian waffles or even Eggs Benedict at no additional charge. Without the certificates, the full buffet would cost $32 + tax & tip. While gratuity is not included with the breakfast certificates, we were happy to pay the gratuity for such a nice breakfast. Some days, I was not even hungry until dinner time.

During ski season, the convenience of this property cannot be beat. Lift tickets can be purchased at face value every morning in the hotel and charged to your room. Before arrival, I called the Concierge for a recommendation on equipment rentals. She told me that Gorsuch was located downstairs in the hotel building and rental charges could be billed to our room. We went with her other recommendation, Base Mountain Sports, located in the village just across the skating rink from the hotel, which gives Hyatt guests a 20% discount. For some reason, they also gave me a store credit equal to 10% of the rental charge, perhaps because I reserved online? We arrived on a Sunday and went to get our equipment at 8:30 pm and were the only people there. We were in and out in 10 minutes! They told us that Monday was going to be their busiest day of the season, so we were glad we were able to beat the rush. They even delivered our skis and boots directly to the Hyatt Ski Valet, which was a fantastic advantage of staying at the Hyatt. Looking at the resort map, I didn't realize quite how close the ski valet was to the lift. We found it easiest to take the Buckaroo Gondola up then ski down to the Centennial lift to eliminate having to carry skis at all!

The Allegria Spa was one of our favorite hotel amenities. They were participating in SpaFinder's semi-annual Spa week, offering $50 50 minute massages and facials while we were there. They also had a Spring Break special on 25-30 minute treatments for $60-$69. They could not be combined with the $25 certificates given at check-in, but were a bargain nonetheless. Ask about current specials. Arrive an hour before your appointment to take advantage of the Aqua Sanitas Water Sanctuary.

We also enjoyed the s'mores happy hour featuring gourmet homemade marshmallows in really interesting flavors--M&M, Vanilla Bean, Heath Bar toffee, Grand Marnier and Creme de Menthe--which you could roast over the firepit. This was the nicest Hyatt s'mores service I've seen, with a choice of dark or milk chocolate. They even provided large wet wipes to clean sticky fingers when you were done.

The only aspect of the property we were were not thrilled with was Housekeeping. I recognize the property was full, but we found their service to be very inconsistent. We had to call some days to have the room cleaned or for items not replenished when the room was cleaned, such as lotion, soap and shampoo. We didn't realize until later in the week that chocolate-covered toffees (yumm!) were provided at turndown because we didn't get them the first couple of nights. Whenever we called for such items or additional bottles of water, however, they were very prompt in responding.

Processing Hyatt Check Certificates for our "incidentals" was quicker than I expected. She simply counted the certificates and posted a credit. She commented that someone had brought her $5,000 worth earlier that day, so they seemed very familiar with them.

All in all, a great property, a great stay and an excellent use of NBT nights!