Utah advice needed

[Eviesnowcat]

Looks like we will be heading to Utah for a couple of weeks at the end of Feb or beginning of March. My hubby thinks we should stay in SLC - cheap plus looks easy enough to get to any of the ski hills. Is this a good idea or should we be staying in one of the resorts? We like to ski lots of varied places rather than sticking in one place, especially since we'll be there for 2 weeks. Would very much welcome recommendations.

Also, any good tips for condos to rent? I've looked into this a bit but all the sites I've looked at seem to only offer larger places that sleep at least 4 and so work out quite pricey for just 2 of us (especially with the dollar/sterling exchange rate at the moment!)

 

[dloveski]

I'd stay in the SL valley if you plan to move around to various resorts. It will be cheaper and provide more flexibility---if you stay up one canyon, you will have to drive down and up to another to access another resort outside of that canyon. You cannot drive from one resort to another without entering the valley anyway. And you have more lodging options, including very reasonable hotels, which for a party of two, may be cheaper than a condo that sleeps multiple parties.

 

[alta_gal83]

I agree with Dlove. Stay in the valley. You'll find much better hotel rates and SL is a very commuter friendly place. You won't lose any time getting from the valley to wherever you want to ski.

If you're planning to ski resorts near Little or Big Cottonwood Canyons (Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton), I'd suggest looking for a place in Cottonwood Heights, Sandy or Midvale. All are near freeways and you'll get to the canyons fairly quickly.

 

[Sheena]

When I used to visit Utah for vacations, we would stay in Midvale at a Super 8... but I am not picky about where I stay so long as it is clean. Plus the Midvale area is a quick drive to the LCC and BCC.

 

[Shellski]

We should be there around the same time, last week Feb - first week of March. We are staying Park City itself for the first week to ski Deer Valley, PCMR and Canyons, then picking up a rental car for the second week and going to stay down in Sandy/Midvale area. We might even do a couple of days at Powder Mountain in the middle. I've made a tentative booking at a couple of motels.

I didn't have much luck with VRBO, there isn't much choice in small condos - eg 1 brm or studios.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Why not look into the suite-type hotels that have mini-kitchens? Nothing deluxe but decent prices. I saw something with Homestead Suites, check online. I stayed in one for a month once, was really nice to have kitchen, etc. (full fridge, stove, microwave etc). Better prices than Residence Inn (also an option).

Here's link to Utah:
https://www.homesteadhotels.com/findHotel/hotelList.asp?metroID=274&state=UT

I have always stayed in the valley when doing ski trips to UT - much more flexibility in terms of getting to different resorts. Have stayed downtown as well and enjoyed the city. Made for some fun evenings.

 

[tradygirl]

Run a search on this topic in the forums. This has been asked several times and I bet there's loads of information sitting in the archives.

 

[cinnabon]

We might even do a couple of days at Powder Mountain in the middle.

If you're heading up that way you may want to check out Snowbasin as well. If you want more info on it the Feb issue of SKI mag has a huge spread about it.

 

[Slidergirl]

There is a Crystal Inn hotel right off of the I-215 freeway. It's not too far from the exit for the Cottonwood Canyons, and if you stay on the I-215, you run into I-80 to head to the Park City resorts and even the I-80 to I-84 to get to Snowbasin/Powder Mountain. It's one advantage is that you won't have to deal with the rush hours on the I-15, since you're already on the ski area side of the Valley. I stayed there one night (I had to be at my outpatient surgery at 6am the next morning!!) in February. It's not 4-star, but it's decent. My ex's company is across the parking lot from the hotel. His bosses and clients stay there when in town. The hotel offers a hot breakfast in the morning, and has an indoor pool and hot tub. The website for the hotel is:
www.crystalinnmidvalley.com
Just down the street from the Crystal Inn is the Studio 6 motel. It's an offshoot of Motel 6. I can't offer any info in this place, but you can check out the website and see if it appeals to you:
www.staystudio6.com and look at the one called "Salt Lake City - Fort Union". The two hotels are maybe 1/4 of a mile apart.