SHERATON STEAMBOAT RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTER
2200 Village Inn Court, Steamboat Springs, CO, 970-879-2220, .
RATES: Start at $188 per night for a room with two queens this time of year and $299 per night during ski season. Overnight parking is free in the covered garage, but we went to dinner and returned to find two spaces left, and three cars battling it out to get them.
STAY HERE IF YOU’RE: Unable to book anywhere else – at least until their much-needed $20 million renovation in the spring.
IT’S CLOSE TO: The ski area, which is right out the back door, and mere minutes from downtown.
THE ROOMS ARE: Badly in need of updating in some parts of the hotel, and judging by the photos online, not all that exciting in others, either. The one I stayed in had a wooden table straight out of a ’70s hospital cafeteria, with bad fern-bar chairs to match, and the heavily painted, exposed beam ceilings are so 1971. The “Romance Package” is an extra $78, and upon arriving I found the previous guest’s used washcloth drying on the closet shelf, an icky pad for foot corns visible through the balcony door and an outline of cheese popcorn around the bed like a death scene. It was the death of romance, all right, especially because getting the particulars of the “Romance Package” ironed out turned into a series of ridiculous phone calls. The front desk told us to call room service to get the champagne and chocolates delivered, room service told us they’d never heard of the romance package and that we should call the front desk, the front desk said, sorry, you need to call room service, room service said, sorry, you’re going to have to convince the front desk. Finally, the front desk said they’d handle it. After all that, we got a mediocre $8.99 (retail) bottle of Kenwood sparkling, three chocolates, three Andes mints and a handful of strawberries, looking ridiculous on a huge plate. The saving grace was breakfast the next morning, served by savvy food and beverage manager Peggy Fox, the best thing about the place. Her, and the made-to-order Belgian waffles.
THEY PUT ALL OF THE MONEY INTO: Saving up for the big renovation in the spring.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Until the remodel, ski-in, ski-out is overrated.
