frudd38

Thanks for the feedback. The HRC did have cash availability the other day at $300, so I may wait for that to come back, as opposed to $225 for Capital Lodge.

Tonyr4

I would call the hotel then if that is the case. Book there while you still can!

mnredfox

I find most of the Destination properties in Snowmass (eg Capitol Lodge) don’t have any availability all winter. I assume availability opens up last minute or is it really booked full all winter?

Dr Jabadski

Good day. Seeking opinions regarding “best” Western US and/or Canada ski area Hyatt for my preferences (for lodging and skiing conditions).

Strong intermediate skier for ~60 years, live in NY, have skied many Western US/Canadian resorts many times, usually Hilton/Doubletree properties, often at greatly reduced Military (retired) rates. Usually 4-5 trips to different resorts out west for the past ~15 years, 5 days skiing per trip, fly the day prior and the day after, do not like a night at the airport prior or after (prefer to pack/unpack just once). Usually start my ski season ~ Jan 2nd or 3rd to coincide with status earning season, with status qualification now a lesser concern planning to start mid to late December this year.

Staying solo, no car, dislike paying exorbitant hotel rates (for basically a bed and a shower ) and enjoy “a bargain”. Hyatt status is a modest concern so if Hyatt award nights count toward status and milestones, I’m thinking about award stays (this is what I’ve been saving my WOH points for). Have an Epic Pass so Vail Resorts are preferable although I’m thinking about Snowmass and/or Big Sky and maybe Deer Valley this season mainly because I haven’t been to any of them for several years. I like to eat a large (preferentially complimentary) breakfast, small lunch and small snack around dinnertime. Have my own ski equipment, no rentals needed.

I’m of the theory that a ski trip is: sleep, eat, ski, (maybe shower ) repeat. My ski area lodging priorities are proximity to lifts (ski-in/ski-out most preferred), breakfast and perhaps lounge and/or apres-ski refreshments. Resort location, immediate area dining and activities, room size, suite upgrade possibility, lunch/dinner restaurants, fine dining are not significant to me.

I’m thinking of Vail or Beaver Creek or Breck in December, higher elevation so perhaps better early season conditions. Then Park City and/or Whistler later in the season. Probably not Jackson Hole or Aspen, don't like steeps and bumps. Probably not Squaw Valley Palisades Tahoe, prefer champagne powder over Sierra cement . (Too bad Hyatt doesn’t have any properties at Whistler, arguably the best ski resort.)

Hyatt Centric Park City (ski-in/ski-out) at 30,000 or Hyatt Place Park City (1 stop on free city bus) at 15,000 for me would require some thought (breakfast quality differences would not be a concern). Stein Eriksen Residences populate Hyatt searches for several dates as “Hotel Not Available”, anyone know if it’s ever available for award stays and if so, # of points per night?

Thank you.

frudd38

I thought the same until I tried 2+ night searches.

Tonyr4

They have availability on VRBO or Hotels.com but not on the Hyatt site all of the time from what I've noticed.

Tonyr4

The Stein Eriksen Residences are 40k points per night, the hotel is spectacular. We stayed there last year and had a wonderful time. I booked it way in advance and if you canceled the points were non refundable so you have to be willing to take that risk. Probably not a good match for what your describing points/price wise though.

Anything ski on ski off in the Hyatt portfolio is going to be 25k points per night or higher. Out west the SER, PH Beaver Creek, GH Vail, Hyatt Centric Park City, and the Resort at Squaw Creek are my favorites. The best value is going to be the Hyatt Place in Park City as you mentioned but you will need a shuttle back and forth. The other hotel to look at is the Hyatt Place Keystone which is about an 8 minute walk to the lifts. I've stayed at a number of places in Park City but never the HP so I can't help you there. The HP in Keystone is pretty nice and 15k points per night as well. I also think Keystone is a perfect match for your skiing abilities, I would highly suggest that you consider there. We happen to like Keystone better than Breckenridge.

Lastly, you definitely want to do CO early season and Park City later. Last year around Christmas time Park City was barely opened while Vail & BC were around 70% skiable. Vail is normally somewhat reliable for December.

Sundar Kunchithapatham

Btw, when did stonebridge inn change from category 4 to category 7? I was checking at Aspen properties and this one gave me quite a shock. It was a good way to use FNA last year. I checked online but couldn't find a single article or post about this change. So just curious if any other properties also had a secret category increase.

SP03

For your description, I think the best are either Hyatt Place Keystone or Park City. Relatively cheap rates with free breakfast.

Btw, Hyatt has tons of 2/3/4 BR condos at Vail now. Great value when traveling with a big group.

Dr Jabadski

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ve booked (using points and certs) 6 nights at Hyatt Place Keystone in late December and another 6 at HP Park City in January. Still want to reserve a week (using points) at Vail, maybe Beaver Creek or Breckenridge. I see that several properties at Vail/BC/Breck “price” at 25K-30K per night (not a significant difference to me, I wouldn’t book one over another just due to 5K point difference).

Which Vail/BC/Breck area Hyatt properties (bookable with points), other than Grand Hyatt Vail and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek (both of which I'm familiar with), are closest to a lift and which provide breakfast in the lodge/hotel for Globalists? Thank you.

(Still wish Hyatt had something at Whistler, guess I’ll have to settle for a Hilton property.)

Tonyr4

The GH & PH are by far the two best Hyatt based ski hotels in Colorado. I would stick with one or the other. We are going out over Christmas/New Years and are splitting time between both properties. Alot of those Destination branded hotels in Snowmass and Vail as well as the HRC Breck don't include breakfast if that is something important to you.

pdisme

I've stuck to PHBC and Grand Hyatt Vail for points/awards because they honor the free parking and late checkout in addition to breakfast, which you don't get at the associated properties. Ski valet at both places is awesome too. I usually have a rental car, and even though I've never once received a 4pm, I can usually get at least a 1pm and that means I can get a few morning runs in before having to pack up and vacate. Plus the breakfast at both properties has been fantastic. I prefer PHBC, even though it's 5k/ni more points, because of how easy it is to walk to the village for all kinds of shopping and restaurant options, and real ice skating, vs being confined to the hotel, since I'd prefer to have some cocktails and not drive.

I managed to get pretty good award redemption at Hyatt Place Keystone for this coming season too with some Christmas week stuff for cat 1-4 awards that were going to expire 12/31, when the rates were in the $350/ni range. Obviously a hike to the lifts but it's a fun property either way with the GOAT next door and the Mexican restaurant across the street.

Also a side note for everyone; I just had two cat1-7 awards extended by the Globalist line; it wasn't automatic and one disappeared but they reinstated and added six months on, so now I have two awards I plan to use in Feb that would otherwise have expired.

Dr Jabadski if you end up doing something else at Vail would love to hear which property you choose and how it goes. While I really enjoy Grand Hyatt Vail and the ease of lift access, my family (us and seven year old) really like some of the trails in Blue Sky basin and especially the Champagne Glades and options under Skyline on the back side, so getting there means a morning routine of Cascade, Pride, Avanti (huge choke point), Mountaintop, some polling down Timberline since my kid can't carry enough speed to get through there, Sourdough, Skyline and then we can finally start doing laps on Skyline and Earl's. That wastes probably 90 minutes in the morning and of course means we have to cut the day off early to ensure we can catch Wildwood before it closes.

Tonyr4

This is exactly why we stick to the Game Creek Bowl or the frontside of Vail. It takes about 2.5 to 3 hours round trip to get to Blue Sky and back from the hotel. Plus Blue Sky has always had long lines when we've been there. Yes the tree skiing is great back there but I've learned some of the sidecountry trails on the frontside making Blue Sky less of a priority for us.

Dr Jabadski

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions. Stayed 5 or 6 nights each at Grand Hyatt Vail a week ago, Hyatt Place Park City couple of weeks ago and Hyatt Place Keystone a month ago. (Lots of skiing this season, making up for zero skiing last season.) Comments posted on the HP Keystone and HP Park City threads shortly after check-out from each hotel, GH Vail comments pending. My shift this season from ski area Hiltons (DT Breckenridge, DT Park City, Hilton Whistler, HI Jackson Hole) to ski area Hyatts and my shift since the 2018-2019 season (when Epic Pass was first offered to Military at a fantastic rate in honor of the Epic Pass 10th anniversary and the 10th Mountain Division - 2 of whose WWII veterans founded Vail) to almost all Epic Pass resorts has been fun, interesting and a little challenging.

FWIW, I booked again at the HP Keystone next week and HP Park City in 3 weeks, both had availability at the incredibly generous Healthcare Friends and Family rate and I’m a sucker for an inexpensive hotel room. At least now I know exactly what to expect.

Agreed that for a Blue Sky Basin skier GH Vail may not be the best location although Blue Sky Basin is time consuming to reach from any of the base areas, minimum of 3 front side lifts. I see it as just 1 or 2 more lift rides than anyplace else and I don’t mind skiing between lifts. Agreed that Timberline is a pain. At a certain age, after almost 60 years of skiing, skiing mostly solo (although I did spend 2 days of this trip trying to keep up with my 25 y/o niece and 22 y/o nephew who were very easy to keep up with when they were 5 or 10 years old ) I’m quite happy with skiing blue squares all day, I’ll ski black diamonds when conditions are excellent and my knees are cooperative . My 5 days skiing at Vail saw little new snow, I spent 80-90% of my time on blue groomers, only skied Blue Sky for an hour one day and a few hours another day.

Don’t know how to best address your concern. Probably only a few more years until your 7 year old is bombing down the mountain well ahead of you, even on a flat catwalk. Several years ago I stayed in the Golden Peak base area, that might be the easiest “commute” to Blue Sky, Riva Bahn to Highline to Sourdough, but obviously no Hyatt in Golden Peak. As Tonyr4 wrote, Game Creek Bowl might be a viable option. Unfortunately, as with almost everything else, there’s no perfect ski area and no perfect place to stay at any ski area, everyplace and everything has its pros and its cons.

pdisme

Glad it sounds like you had a good experience at HP Keystone. I was there week before Christmas and it did not go well at all, and I've probably stayed a month's worth of nights at that hotel over the past four years' ski seasons. I think they've had a lot of turnover so I decided to stay away rest of this season to see if things can settle down. Doing Vail and BC coming up; burned the rest of my points reserve on those lol.