Friday, June 5, 2009

Site Inspection Report for St. Regis Aspen and Deer Crest in Deer Valley

As reported by our Aspen resident Bill Wallen


St. Regis Deer Crest Resort has a funicular. (surface lift like a gondola) that takes guests up the hill side to the hotel, at the bottom of the Vernacular there is a front desk that will allow the guests to check in there, then they are transported up the hill to the hotel. This front desk (one of two check in locations for this hotel) will mainly serve guests arriving by ground transportation from the Salt Lake City Airport. Guest arriving by car will be allowed to drive up to the hotel and will check in up at the hotel, parking is available at the hotel as well as at the bottom of the Vernacular according to my hosts, Tim & Erin.


St. Regis Aspen Resort has had a restaurant called Olives in the past (for many years), I was told that Todd English (Chef) no longer has any involvement with the St. Regis so the dining area is now to be called "The Restaurant at the St. Regis." The St. Regis Aspen has 179 hotel rooms and suites, of the 17 one bedroom suites represented on the fact sheet only 2 have a fireplace, you can book the one bedroom suite with a fireplace specifically, they go for a little more per night. 1 bedroom suites are 820 square feet and have one and a half baths. The Jr. Suite (of which there are 5) is 690 square feet and has no fireplace. The basic difference from a one bedroom suite and a Jr. Suite is that there is a wall separating the bedroom from the living room in a One Bedroom Suites, the Jr. Suites do not have a separating wall, there is a sleeper sofa available in both suite types. I did not see either of the Presidential Suites. Standard Hotel Rooms are 400 square feet and are offered in three categories, Grand Deluxe (view towards Aspen Mt.), Deluxe (views of town and the mountain on the other side of town), and Superior (no view), both Erin and Tim said to tell you all to never book the Superior Room, your guests will not be happy with them. Wireless Internet is offered complimentary. There is a second part of the hotel where they have more hotel rooms, you walk over a bridge from the main building to a second building that was recently developed (it had sat empty and unfinished for 10 years), they call these rooms "Fire Place Rooms" that are located in the "Red Mountain Wing," all of these rooms are classified as Deluxe Rooms, they do not have bath tubs unless you get a suite in this wing of the hotel but they do have in-wall gas fireplaces. Lastly there is another part of the St. Regis they call their St. Regis Residences, guest that stay here are escorted to a separate check in area (Residence Lounge) on the 2nd floor of the hotel by a Butler where they will be introduced to their private concierge for their stay to take care of anything they want help with (the private concierge will contact the guest about a month prior to their arrival to introduce themselves to see if they can coordinate activities and/or restaurant reservations). The St. Regis Residences are made up of 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom units, as Erin (my host) said during our tour, they are "true two and three bedroom units," very spacious with high-end finishes. I took a few pictures if anyone has a need for the kitchen, master bath tub or the living room sitting area. I asked what the private concierge usually gets for a tip for the week if the guest uses them, they said tips are usually given at the end of the stay and can range from a minimum of $100 to an average tip of $300 to a high of $500 for the week. One thing that stood out to me was the large flat screen TV hanging over the fireplace and the large kitchen. Rollaway's cost $50 in the Residences as well as in the hotel, there are no extra person charges. In the residences the King bed in the master is a true king, the bed in the second bedroom is always a split king (two twin beds made into a king for flexibility). Residences units have master bedroom fireplaces in each unit. Lastly, the St. Regis Aspen is a Pet Friendly hotel, a deposit will be taken to cover the pet at check in, otherwise there are no restrictions.

If your interested in a trip to StRegis Aspen or Deer Valley, contact bill @ 800-283-2754 ext 291 or Bill@skiorganizers.com