SkiAdcock

Opening May '19. Hotel website:

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...-wilson-hotel/

"Welcome to Big Sky’s newest mountain retreat – Residence Inn Big Sky/The Wilson Hotel. Centrally located in the heart of the Big Sky community and a short drive to some of Montana’s most fascinating sites, this resort-inspired destination hotel provides the perfect place to stay during your Big Sky adventure. Start your day with a complimentary breakfast before heading out to Yellowstone National Park. Or take our free shuttle to the ski lifts at Big Sky Resort. When you return, unwind at the outdoor pool and whirlpool or meet up with friends at our bar. At the end of the day, your spacious, extended-stay guest suite awaits - featuring free Wi-Fi, a fully equipped kitchen, a separate workspace, plush bedding and luxurious amenities. If traveling for business, the hotel offers easy access to Bozeman, as well as 3,000 sq ft of meeting space. Historic grandeur, contemporary cool – Residence Inn Big Sky/The Wilson Hotel."

dcstudent

It'll be an interesting hotel to be sure. I like how the ad copy says "historic grandeur" when, if I remember correctly, this is a completely new build. Nothing historic about it.

cmw021

Is there a Marriott precedent or expectation for when this property may become available for award booking?

MSPeconomist

dgreen12

Although from the architect's renderings, it's certainly not a cookie cutter Residence Inn: Wilson Hotel Bechtle Architects

Horace

There are a few high-end Residence Inns with full bars and/or restaurants that do not offer complimentary "The Mix" weeknight socials (Hotel with Evening Social | Residence Inn).

Portland Pearl District and Chicago Loop come to mind as "non-participating." There are others. It seems we can now add Residence Inn Big Sky/The Wilson Hotel to the list.

However, "The Mix" continues to be a brand standard -- and a reasonable expectation from Residence Inn guests. Marriott needs to enforce brand standards -- or to make it very clear on Marriott.com when there's a deviation, and why there is.

Dsm1012

akr1970akr

Do they run the nightly snacks & drinks?

iskingolf

Just finished a 5-night award stay and was very impressed. The only major thing lacking is the restaurant and bar, which we were told will open Jan 31.

The staff, in particular, was excellent. Sarah - front desk manager - was friendly, helpful and attentive.

The one-bedroom suite was large and had great views on the 4th (top) floor. The $700/night rate was a stunner, but that made the 100,000 point redemption all the more appreciated.

The room microwave, dishwasher, cooktop and refrigerator all came in handy. The basement laundry has enough machines to keep backups short to non-existent. We never waited more than a minute for one of the three elevators.

As a ski hotel, there will need to be another shuttle added to the single 13-passenger one at present. The system for travel to the slopes (15-20 minute trip) works well enough, although they need more vouchers to allow for sign-ups more than one day in advance. The first-come, first-served return system won't last. There is no way to throttle the demand. Plus, there is no place at Big Sky designated for the start of the line for Wilson returns - everyone just rushes the shuttle when it gets close. More than once, people lost in this musical chairs game and had to wait for the next shuttle, 45 minutes later.

Breakfast is better than average for Residence Inn. The 24-hour coffee/tea/hot chocolate station gets lots of use.

Parking is free and the plows are very much on top of the snow (nine inches fell during our stay).

There's a large heated pool and a large spa.

While still small, the village is growing. Sold-out restaurants were commonplace. Retail shops are a bit lacking in number.

We might return in summer, but Big Sky skiing has jumped in price dramatically in just a year or two. $170 for a peak-season one-day lift ticket. And all the hype about "no lift lines" is in the past, unfortunately.

If cross-country or wildlife viewing is your thing, you would be very satisfied with this area.

stephem

Thanks, good to have a review here. We have passes from a sister resort owned by Boyne so get 50% off so i guess we’re only in for $85 per day. I guess when conditions are good at Bridger it’s increasingly a better deal to stay in bozeman if Big Sky is getting crowded.

i was anle to find my Explorer (essentially friends and famiky) Rate here for $55 so grabbed it to try for a night when we are out in Bozeman visiting family. Seemed too good to pass up.

stephem

Checked in last night after spending a day down in Bozeman finding a few new pieces of gear after flying in yesterday.

The hotel is unlike any Residence Inn I’ve been to, which is confirmation of what others say. We got a room on points and a room at the explore rate so paying almost nothing to stay here. I might not be quite as impressed if i had 2 rooms at $290 each, which was the corp rate i found when we were booking. For $600, you usually can’t quite get a townhouse rental up here, but it’s close. I’ve stayed in a private 3 bedroom unit in Moonlight Basin area for just a bit more $$ and that was probably a better value overall. And click in and click out slope access vs a shuttle from the RI.
The property has a huge lobby area, it reminds me in many ways of the Element in Bozeman, just blown up to be much bigger. That works well because people need some space outside their rooms. The bar is now open which is great to see. We’re looking for a dinner restaurant now so we don't have a disaster later today if things are all booked up.
Rooms are good sized, 5 across 2 adjacent rooms works well. No upgrade because i was insistent on just getting 1 king and 2 queens next to each other. But we have a nice 4th floor view of the peak from both rooms.
Will post a few more thoughts after the stay, but initial thoughts are it is a clean and spacious place if a bit pricey for a RI.

stephem

Headed back here again for a couple days of mountain biking and just looked at our reservations. One Explore rate Base room upgraded to 1 bedroom suite and a second base room under my corp rate upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite.

stephem

We have had a few more stays here this summer and been very happy. I have found that we generally were getting upgraded to a 2 bedroom on one of our reservations and so this time I just booked one room. We weren't upgraded in advance but there were still 2 bedroom suites for sale so on check in I mentioned we had been upgraded several times and really liked the extra space. They were happy to move us, it just required a supplemental cleaning and so our check in was a bit later. The pool heater is broken now which is a real bummer. The pool is sooooo cold without it and my kids really wanted to swim while we were here.

CALMSP

currently here right now, was surprised that the hotel restaurant and bar are closed on Sunday and Monday. Disappointing first night, but should pick up for the next few days. Just can't understand why a hotel would have restaurant and bar closed 2 days a week. (also a hotel sign that explicitly states no outside alcohol allowed on premises........yeah right bud)

the best piece is that you do not feel like you are at an R.I. A few more pics and report to come upon stay completion.

stephem

“also a hotel sign that explicitly states no outside alcohol allowed on premises........yeah right bud”

Funny you mention that... Been at the hotel
many times and just happened to see that on the way out the door this time. For a property that frequently has nothing open to serve alcohol, this is laughable. It definitely wasnt enforced, we had bottles of wine outside in the seating area near the pool and other guest did too.

On food options, many places there are closed 2-3 days a week. One night we were almost left hungry. Cant imagine it’s going to work well once winter comes around...