CanuckFlyHigh

I've done cash for lessons off of local classifieds at dozens of resorts. I have never been questioned. My friend is helping me out. No one at a resort gets paid enough to give a .... and report you, as well. Plus, you get to screen your instructor and his/her experience, vs. risk getting some 22 year old who was out partying until 4am the night before.

bhrubin

Considering this property for a fall (late Sept/early Oct) stay during a conference in SLC. (I'm less interested in the conference events, so proximity is less a factor).

What are the big activities and draws for this resort in the non-ski season?

pageboy

I have stayed in Park City 4-5 times, 2 at the St. Regis and mostly in ski season. My last stay was summertime and I noted a lot of hiking and biking in the (bare) ski areas. I'm pretty sure I got a large suite (no SNA's) as the hotel seemed 50% occupied. Olympic Park was a memorable experience, but again we did the bobsledding in winter. They may do this on wheels in the summer. Walking up and down Main Street was fun with all the shops and restaurants. BTW, don't miss Riverhorse on Main- great restaurant.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this property is how you enter. You park at the base of a mountain and ride the funicular to the top. Scary at first, but you get accustomed to it over time. Have fun.

slidergirl

First, the outdoor stuff. The Park City "metro" area has miles and miles of multi-use trails. Mt. bikers, hikers, and the occasional equestrienne encounter all around. Depending on when you are arriving in Park City, all three resorts run a few lifts to allow uphill access for bikers and hikers. If you are a good biker (very comfortable on single-track) or just a hiker, you can get on a few of the trails right outside the hotel.

SUP. Depending again. The ponds at lower Deer Valley are big now with SUPers. People hang out on the banks and watch and just have a good time. More experienced SUPers go over to the Jordanelle Dam area.

Fishing. The Provo River and it's blue-ribbon fishery and the Weber River are about 30 minutes away. There are quite a few outfitters in town who will provide everything you need (well, you do have to buy your license).

ATV and horseback riding. The St. Regis Concierges can set this up with local outfitters if that is your thing.

Golf. In the past, the Concierges could get you onto some of the private courses around (Jeremy Ranch, Victory Ranch, Red Ledges). Agreements change, so no guarantees with where they can get you a tee time.

For the Utah Olympic Park, you can tour the facilities and the Museum anytime. The running of the bobsleds is not year 'round. I do not remember when the summer season stops for them.

Concerts. Again, depending on when you will be in Park City, there are great concerts 2 or 3 nights a week in Deer Valley. A bandshell is put up at the Snow Park Lodge and you have a choice of "vip" seating down front with a lawn chair or "festival" seating on the lawn with your blanket or low chair. Depending on the concert series, it can be free to $125 (vip). The symphony just announced Friday, still waiting for the Big Stars Bright Nights to announce.

The Concierges at SRDV can help with setting things up. Now, if you get a woman with a heavy accent, hang up and try again. If you get one of the guys, you'll be OK. They are the most familiar with things around.

bhrubin

Thanks so much, pageboy and slidergirl! Great advice and suggestions.

tygran37

Has anyone booked more than a base room via points here since the merger? is that possible?

I don't need a suite or anything but I would like a fireplace.

spgplat21

It used to be pretty easy to do (the deluxe and grand deluxe rooms were available for minor upcharges), so I would call to see if it's still possible. You'll have to call the old SPG people, since Marriott folks won't be able to tell as St. Regis hasn't moved over to the new reservation system yet.

I have stayed in almost every room type at the hotel and the fireplace rooms are not much larger than the non-fireplace rooms though. So if it's not possible to confirm those with points, I wouldn't necessarily avoid booking here. The rate difference are also usually pretty small, so you may try booking regular room and calling to confirm an upgrade for the cash difference.

Not sure of your status, but I think as an old SPG platinum I've only ended up in the standard superior room once in 10 or so stays during ski season.

tygran37

So I want to book this hotel on points from the 9th to the 12th. However I can't do it online and the one CSR I spoke to said that the "base room isn't available on those dates".

Yet... the base room is available from the 10th to the 12th (which I have booked) as well as for a 5 night stay from the 9th to the 14th. Clearly there is some bs going on here... To be clear I can't book any other length stay through these dates. Can't book 9th to the 11th or 12th or 13th but can to the 14th. etc.

Any advice? Is there anything I can do that's worth trying?

HUCA? Ask for a supervisor?

rny321

I would book the 9th to the 14th (5th night free) first. Afterwards, I would call the hotel and ask to drop the last two nights. If the person answering says no, there may still be someone who would allow the change.

troyb

Just back from a quick stay, my first here. In short, I liked it very much, but would find the value proposition a little tough to balance if I was on a paid rate (I used points). Some further thoughts below:

Check-In - I chose breakfast as my welcome amenity. I checked in on the first day of Bonvoy and it seems the hotel had just made changes to the way they execute the welcome amenity breakfast. The check in agent seemed almost embarrassed by the fact that the vouchers would only cover $20 pp and mentioned that previously, there was no limit. No real offer to escort me to the room or take my bags, which was fine with me.

Room - I'm a Lifetime Titanium and got what I believe was a base room overlooking the front entrance. There was a little hallway which could be used to connect my room with the rooms on either side, so it may have been a slight upgrade. However, that space wasn't really usable. The TV signal went in and out intermittently and I found some of the furnishings a little dated, but otherwise, everything was in excellent condition and housekeeping was great.

Dining - As mentioned above, the platinum breakfast option provided a $20 per day, per person credit at J&G Grill This doesn't go very far, but it helps take some of the sting out of the $38 buffet or ~$20 a la carte options. I sensed similar embarrassment by the servers about the $20/day limit - after all, they are the ones that have to deliver the message to guests (and there seemed to be a lot of folks using these vouchers). In terms of food, I had the buffet one day, avocado toast the next, and then smoked salmon the last day. All were pretty good, however the buffet was fairly small and did not seem to be of very high quality. The only high point of the buffet is that you can also order hot items off of the menu when you are having the buffet - the pancakes were great. I ate at the St Regis Bar or ordered room service each night - I was impressed with the food in both cases and found the options to be reasonably priced. I had planned to dine at J&G Grill for dinner, but the menu just didn't look good to me so I switched to the Bar. In addition, I took advantage of the hotel's daily coffee/tea/hot chocolate setup in the morning and afternoon, as well as the s'mores setup every evening. Quite over the top to have someone there assembling s'mores for guests - but it was nice!

Ski Valet - The valet situation worked well. They tag your equipment with bar codes the first day and then get it set up for you outside while they help you put on your boots. I did encounter a couple of relatively minor snafus. First, they misspelled my name at first, which caused some confusion when they couldn't find my equipment (why didn't they just check the name on my room instead of trying to spell it themselves?) - this was rectified by day 2. Second, for some stupid reason, they don't have a ski stand inside where you put on your boots, causing the staff to just lean your skis against a stone wall - of course, they weren't watching and mine fell over, causing a decent size gash in the bottom of one of my skis.

Hotel Car - I used the hotel car once and it was nice to have that option. I saw others using it quite regularly and in fact it seems like they use a contract car for peak days to handle some of the extra guests.

Location - The drive from SLC airport should generally be a quick and easy one, depending on weather. However, I arrived just as a snowstorm was blowing in and had a pretty rough drive from the airport. I had a 2WD SUV (long story there), but made it all the way to the bottom of the hotel driveway (funicular location) without getting stuck. Unfortunately for me, I got stuck for about 5 minutes on that driveway before I worked my way out - during that time no hotel workers came, but luckily neither did any guests. Word of advice - make sure to double check that your rental car has 4WD and don't assume it does just because its an SUV.

Value - As mentioned above, I used points for this stay and was perfectly happy with the value received. The paid rates over the dates I stayed were in the $1000/night range when I booked and over $2000/night a couple days before the stay. This isn't a case of me just having sticker shock at the pricing in absolute terms - I get that this is peak season pricing for a luxury hotel in a luxury resort. There were just things I was able to overlook paying on points that I wouldn't overlook if paying cash.

MGJ2727

We just checked into the hotel and like the previous poster we were told there's a $20 limit for breakfast (continental is what they told us). We were just here at the end of January/early Feb (at the end of Sundance) and it was - order what you want, breakfast is covered. So, a little surprised and wondering what the menu will be like in the morning. Last year when we came, it was a continental breakfast - so surprised the swapped it out for the full breakfast and then swapped it out again. All in the same season.

troyb

Does anyone know how the property is currently handling the Platinum breakfast amenity? Looks like the most recent experience posted here is from last year, which is $20 per person and what I was given in Feb 2019. However, it seemed like there were a number of changes around that time, so I'm curious where they settled.

Thanks.

whiskeyplease

I'm surprised to see the previous posters were limited to $20. I also stayed at this property (Platinum, on points) in February 2019, and received full breakfast for two each day, no specific dollar limit. I enjoyed the buffet on the weekend and we each ordered one breakfast entree on weekdays (no buffet) without being charged a cent, though of course we tipped well. Sounds like things were a bit in flux.

I'm looking at another trip this ski season so I'd love to hear if anybody has more recent experiences. Thanks.

sachem45

I’m here now and was told it is $20 per person per day, which can be used in the restaurant or the grab and go area in the lobby. It’s possible to get a decent bfast for $40 in the grab and go (2 oatmeal’s, bowl of berries, and coffee is free), but definitely not in the restaurant.

VCURamFan

Stayed here during Sundance and was fairly unimpressed. The hard product is pretty damn cool and unique, but the service level wasn't close to what you get/expect at St. Regis hotels. Valet was downright rude, and the rest of the staff seemed ambivalent and inexperienced. Echoing complaints on TripAdvisor, a lot of waste in regards to single use plastics here as well. Highlights were the pool area and a nice dinner at the bar.