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Celebrity Scoop / Presidential Hotels / Barack Obama / Vail Hotels / Preferred Hotels / Timbers Resorts / Hotel Rebranding / → All Tags
Get Rebranded, Get a First Family Visit, If You're the Sebastian Vail
The brand new Library, before its Obama baptism
How’s that for a ringing endorsement of your new name? Just over a month after the Vail Plaza Hotel & Club was reinvented as The Sebastian, it swung itself a presidential visit this week. Or, rather, a presidential family visit – while Obama stayed in DC this weekend, Mrs O took the kids on a jaunt to the hotel.
According to the Mail Online, there’s a spot of controversy over the First Family’s trip to Vail following Obama’s advice on saving money – that one might like to cut back on one’s vacations. But hey, it was Presidents' Weekend after all.
Michelle Obama would almost certainly approve of Block 16, the hotel’s brand new restaurant that serves local, organic, seasonal food, as well as the newly dedicated Library (it’s just 10 days old, according to Facebook) – a room stuffed full of books, games and art which the hotel website reckons is perfect for “lively debate”. There’s also a new spa (which offers pop-up services around the hotel) and live music at the new bar, Frost, but we reckon Mrs O is too clever to risk coming over all Marie Antoinette by getting her nails done or throwing back a scotch.
Hotel Rebranding / Vail Hotels / Preferred Hotels / Timbers Resorts / → All Tags
The Vail Plaza Has Tranformed into The Sebastian Vail
If this cold weather has you craving a trip to Vail to hit the slopes, you won't be able to shack up at the Vail Plaza Hotel & Club. The hotel has been converted into the Sebastian Vail.
But the boutique hotel is still open for business, and it offers some new features, including a new signature restaurant, bar and spa. That is, just in case you want some post-ski noshing or pampering.
Bernie Madoff / Vail Hotels / Hotel Art / Hotel News / → All Tags
Want Some of Bernie Madoff's Art? Head to the Sonnenalp Hotel This Saturday
It may seem wrong buying stuff that once belonged to convicted ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff but as an auction last month proved, people are willing to shell out money for the finer things from his former life, like $1,700 for his underwear and socks. Given that small success, we'd say his art collection will probably fetch a lot more money.
The Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail, a swank ski hotel for the rich, will be hosting an art auction featuring pieces that once belonged to Madoff, including works by Marc Chagall, Henry Matisse, Norman Rockwell, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Peter Max. The Colorado Independent reports:
Hotel Openings / Ski Packages / Vail Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Ski Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Four Seasons Vail is Now Taking Reservations From December 11
Yes! The chances of Santa Claus bringing ski bunnies a Very Four Seasons Vail Christmas are looking very good indeed, now we've learned that the Vail Four Seasons is now taking reservations from December 11.
Standard rates for a garden-view room start at $375 a night, according to the hotel's website, and there is also a Bed and Breakfast rate from $415 a night.
Hotel Openings / Vail Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Hotel News / Ski Hotels / → All Tags
Four Seasons Vail to Open in December, Possibly in Time for Santa Claus
We had hoped that the Four Seasons Vail would be open this summer but as it turns out, we now have something new to look forward to for the ski season. Four Seasons has announced that their Vail property will open this December.
The 121-room resort, which also includes a Residence Club and Private Residences, features an 11,000 square-foot, spa focusing on high-altitude therapies, an all-season, outdoor pool, and a full-service, dedicated Ski Concierge to ensure guests maximize their time on the slopes.
Hotel Packages / Hotel Restaurants / Vail Hotels / → All Tags
Vail Mountain Lodge Appeals to Summer Guests with Food, Free Stuff
For the ski bunny type, Vail might be synonymous with winter. But summer? Eh, not so much. The Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa, however, begs to disagree. The 20-room boutique hotel, perched on the banks of Gore Creek in Vail Valley, has a few goodies up its sleeves to lure summertime guests.
The Mountain Family Fun package makes the best of the season with rock-climbing access and climbing lessons, spa treatments, and organic fare for re-fueling. The package rates start at $445 per night, which includes three nights lodging (so really, we guess, $1,335 for all three nights), dinner for four at gourmet restaurant Terra Bistro, two semi-private climbing lessons, two spa treatments or two rounds of golf, free breakfast daily, and free access to Vail Athletic Club and classes. The package is available for Sunday through Wednesday arrivals, through Sept. 5.
Speaking of Terra Bistro, the restaurant is introducing a new menu with a small plates focus and more convivial restaurant ambiance (i.e. couches and banquettes). Summer fare flaunts treats like lemon shrimp and heirloom tomato gazpacho, steamed mussels, “sloppy Joe” sliders on toasted focaccia, peppered Amish beef tenderloin, vegetarian chili de arbol, and a cornmeal-crusted Rocky Mountain trout. With the new menu comes a summer calendar of weekly events, which includes a Monday night Grower’s Menu (featuring local farm fare), Tuesday night free cocktail with food purchase, Wednesday Gourmet Taco night ($6 for three tacos), and house-made ravioli on Thursdays.
[Photo via TripAdvisor]
Hotel Deals / RockResorts / Vail Hotels / → All Tags
Low Prices Rock The Lodge At Vail
When it comes to riding the rapids, we prefer to avoid sharp objects like rocks. But in the case of The Lodge at Vail, A RockResort, their "Rock the Rapids" package is encouraging the right kind of gouging. Prices, not rubber rafts! Families can save up to 30 percent on their white water adventures.
The "Rock the Rapids" package is available April 20 through September 27, 2009. Prices start at $199 per night for two nights accommodation and include a half-day rafting trip and lunch. Adventure seekers also get a Vail picture frame to nicely capture the experience forever.
And those not feeling the outdoors can zone out inside with the Complimentary Spa Credit package to use at the RockResorts Spa. A two night stay for $555 gives guests $555 worth of spa credit to do a little unwinding while the rest of the family battles rapids.
[Photo: Doc Artemis]
HotelChatter Reader Deals / Ski Hotels / Vail Hotels / → All Tags
Tuesdays with Arrabelle Cuz It's Free
One Tuesday Night Free in Vail
$197 a night, three-nights minimum over a Tuesday
The new Arrabelle Resort in Vail which just opened last year is offering "Free Tuesdays." Guests booking a minimum of three nights at the resort over a Tuesday will not be charged for the Tuesday part of the stay. The deal is good through the ski season until April 18, 2009. Guests can also find more savings if they book before December 1st.
Additionally, guests looking to experience a ski vacation at the Arrabelle can save even more money this season with the "Baggage Bailout" program, an incentive that gives guests booking four or more nights with four day ski passes a $50 credit each if they book before December 1. The "Baggage Bailout" is offered for up to two people per room and is an attempt to make traveling with ski equipment a bit easier after the new airline checked baggage fees.
From now through December 14th, the hotel has rooms starting at $197 a night for a superior room. Those rates jump up to $330 a night just before Christmas and the holiday season gets insane at $900 a night. So one night free is a nice perk here.
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Vail Hotel Scene / Hotel Construction / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Arrabelle in Vail :: Ski Nannies Might Be Buried Beneath Construction
We visited the brand new Arrabelle at Vail Square resort and retail plaza yesterday for the first time since its January 5th completion, expecting to be blown away. Instead, dust was blown in our faces from all the construction.
We had our eyes peeled for the fabled Ski Nannies (we assumed they would morph into like, hiking nannies or rafting nannies or something since it's summertime), but they were nowhere to be found.
But that was the least of our problems: we couldn't find the front door, either.
Ski Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Hotel Deals / Ski-Hotels-2008-Map / → All Tags
Ski Hotels 2008: Ski and Sleep Vail for Under $500
Well, the writers' strike may be over, but it'll still be at least a few weeks before your favorite shows come back. Kill that time and get one last gasp of exercise with the "Skier's Escape" package from The Lodge at Vail.
The deal includes three nights accommodations, two three-day lift tickets and breakfast daily at the hotel set in the heart of Vail village. (Your lift tix are good at both Vail and Beaver Creek.) Rates start at $1,272, and obviously there are some blackout dates. Still, getting a room and a day of skiing for $424 isn't bad, given that one day at Vail costs $92.
It's worth noting that the hotel's Spa is scheduled to open next month, so book later rather than earlier if that's a priority. The Skier's Escape package is available until April 19.
Related Stories:
· Ski Hotels 2008 Map [HotelChatter]
Vail Hotel Scene / Hotel Openings / Hotel Opening Rates / Ski Resorts / RockResorts / Family Friendly Hotels / → All Tags
Ski Nannies on Hand at the Arrabelle Resort in Vail
Vail is getting a little bit of Aspen-esque luxury digs for its snow bunnies with money.
The Arrabelle at the Vail Resort will open on January 5, 2008. A RockResort, The Arrabelle is the first new ultra-luxe resort to open in Vail in 25 years.
Anchoring a new destination called Vail Square, a European-inspired village that will fuse new energy into the region, The Arrabelle will offer guests an exceptional vacation experience with 36 luxury rooms and 50 condominiums, fine dining at Centre V, a RockResorts spa, personalized services such as the Ski Nanny, and a true ski-in/ski-out experience with a location just steps away from Vail Mountain.
Ski Nanny? Apparently the nanny will watch kids while they are on the slopes and take them to and from ski school, allowing parents to ski the more difficult slopes. We love it.
Vail Hotel Scene / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
Vail Hotel Scene :: Sonnenalp Resort of Vail
We're checking in on the hotel happenings in Vail, Colorado this week and since the area has some serious construction to make the village feel a bit more "European", we checked out a hotel that was legitimately already European: The Sonnenalp Resort of Vail.
A member of Leading Small Hotels of the World, the Sonnenalp is owned by the same family that own the famous Sonnenalp Resort of Bavaria, which (according to the Sonnenalp website) was rated the number one vacation resort in Germany.
With its stellar reviews on Tripadvisor, we know the Sonnenalp has a fab reputation, but last time we checked in with them the property was in the middle of a bigtime renovation project that left some guests a little annoyed.
We went back to check out the changes and took a little tour of the property. What we found after the jump.
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