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Tags: Park City Hotels / Funicular Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags

Take the Funicular to St. Regis Deer Crest Resort

Where: 2300 Deer Valley Drive East [map], Park City, UT, United States

We don’t usually think much about ski season in July, except maybe when it’s so hot and sticky that we try the ol’ “think cold” mind trick game to cool down. But we hear the new St. Regis Deer Crest Resort is inching closer to a fall opening, which is exciting enough to convince us to look ahead to ski bunny time.

Just last week, the fancypants Deer Valley resort installed a 500-foot-high funicular — reportedly the first and only at a North American ski resort — to scale the vertical space between the resort’s Snow Park Building at the mountain’s base and the primary hotel building. Flown in from Switzerland, the funicular cabins were installed using a 500-ton crane. And get this: The ride takes just 90 seconds, proffering quick-as-a-flash panoramas of the valley.

St. Regis Deer Crest assures us that it’s “bound to be the most well-appointed mode of transportation at any mountain resort.” We’re sure it will be, considering the resort is Utah’s first five-star branded luxury resort. Lucky for all us non five-star guests, the funicular will be free for guests as well as non-guests. Of course, they’d just love it if you stuck around and explored Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new J&G Grill, or maybe the 14,000-square-foot Remède Spa, or the 3,000-bottle wine bar.

Tags: Puerto Rico Hotel Reviews / Island Hotels / Funicular Hotels / Hotel Video Tours / → All Tags

Hotel Video Tours: El Conquistador Is Easy On The Eyes

Where: 1000 Conquistador Avenue, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

El Conquistador Hotel in Puerto Rico is an extremely pretty cliffside resort that is set up as five villages full of villas (there are also 750 rooms, but the villas are where it's at), set around a good size indoor outdoor lobby, a casino, and a sprawling pool area.

If you stay here, and don't rent a car, you are going to be tied to the resort grounds for most of your stay. Don't fret though, there is a steakhouse and a Starbucks on-site, as well as plenty of other shops and restaurants.

Remember, while this highly-touted Puerto Rico resort it is old, and shows its wear in spots. Furthermore, if you want to spend your time away on a Puerto Rico beach, you will need to ride the funicular then hop on a boat to Palomino Island, which is just off sure. If this short trip to the beach sounds like a fun adventure to you, this is probably your kind of resort, if it sounds like a pain in the ass to you, you will be better off at the Ritz.

Either way, you can't deny this resorts stunning beauty, take a look at the photos we snapped below.