I'll add my 2 cents as I was there over the Xmas/NY week.

When you say you are cabbing it from the airport, I assume you are flying into Hayden, not Denver, as OP and I did . I suppose you don't 'need' a car, but downtown is a good 10 minutes from the ski area - certainly not walkable. But if you're OK arranging for a cab to/from downtown the 3-4 times you might go to dinner, you're probably better off without. The only other place we drove (or attempted to - roads were too bad) was out to a ranch for a sleigh ride/dinner, and that was only because we booked at the last minute and their shuttle bus was full.


I agree with OP, the rooms are nothing special, kind of small but not bad, just average - you are certainly paying for the location. The rest of the hotel - gym, common grounds, shops, staff, service, etc., is very nice.

I had no problems with sound from groomers or partiers - just the dog next door the first night (yes, dogs are allowed, so ask if your neighbor has one). After we changed rooms, everything was fine. There is an outdoor pool, but the grounds aren't cleaned - you get get out of the warm water and stand on snow/ice - we did that one time.

The location is great - as close as you can get to the gondola, room service was fine for breakfast, etc. I don't think I'd pay the holiday week rate of $375 (we used points), but $250-ish for this quality hotel at this type of location is very acceptable. The snow was a bit light our week, but there has been lots of snow since and I know from past experience that the skiing should be great mid-season.