7700 Stein Way, Park City, UT, 84060, 435-649-3700,
Rates: Deluxe rooms with one king or two queen beds start at $835 a night in winter. Check website for shoulder-season packages. Overnight parking is $25 per night.
Stay here if you: long to stay at one of the top Park City lodgings in a unit that feels deliciously condo-like yet offers hotel amenities, gorge on a fabulous, complimentary buffet breakfast and then amble out a side door and down a little hill to a lift.
It’s close to: the Sterling Express lift at Deer Valley — as in, mere yards.
The rooms are: on par with most hotels of this caliber if you stay in a “deluxe,” although the oversized bathrooms, with their jetted tubs, the flat-screen TVs with VCR/DVD players, and the units with hot tubs on the deck or fireplaces, do make them more special. But what’s worth springing for are the suites, which give you some breathing space with kitchens and living rooms. This makes them more appealing to hang out in as opposed to simply using them as a drop-off spot for your luggage.
They put all of the money into: the spa, the fitness center, the restaurants and the common areas, which during busy times of year can be chaotic. It would be nice if the beautiful sitting spaces were in more private settings so guests could relax après-ski, which is what it seems like they were made for; as it stands, the expensive furnishings and gorgeous views are wasted on spaces that see a lot of traffic from kids running amok and people yelling across the lobby at each other.
The bottom line: What truly puts the Stein Eriksen over the top is the staff, which is empowered to make your stay better and works hard to meet your needs. Housekeeping’s commitment to restocking products is unparalleled, including loofah sponges and bath salts, and from the front desk to the shuttle drivers (among the hardest working folks there, with constant trips into town and other properties), requests were met with efficient and prompt responses. The only thing I wasn’t impressed with was the ski valet system, which is unlocked each morning and allows anyone access to your stuff. It led to a morning of weirdness and a half hour of not getting on the slopes after my locker had been rifled through, and although my stuff was found and the other person’s returned, it was uncomfortable.
Kyle Wagner
