Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas, Avon / Vail Valley

The location is handy, with a bus stop across the street for Beaver Creek and about a 15-minute drive to Vail. We’ve stayed here several times, and it’s an OK place. The rooms are functional but nothing special. On our latest visit, the WiFi failed for several days. I tried connecting both my phone and laptop many times without success. When I called, the front desk woman told me to try again because it had to work. I explained that I had already tried. She said she’d contact IT and they’d call back, then hung up while I was asking whether IT had my number. They didn’t. I needed to handle something important online from my laptop, but thankfully managed from my phone using unlimited data. The agent was unhelpful, and the WiFi should work.

The gas fireplace in our first unit smelled of leaking gas, so we had to turn it off and air the place out. We couldn’t use it. The bathroom tiles were cracked, the exhaust fans were loud and dated, and the walls were so thin we could hear every word of the neighbors’ phone calls. In the second unit, the refrigerator rumbled loudly and ran a lot even at level 3 of 5. The rooms are dated, with very little storage. There’s no closet except one about 24 inches wide in the bedroom, no dressers, just two small nightstands and cramped shelves beside the bed. There’s only a microwave and tiny bar sink, no stove. We were jolted awake at 5:30 am by a loud motor that shook the bedroom ceiling for almost ten minutes. Luckily the resort wasn’t crowded, so we could switch rooms, but had to repack everything. The gondola at the Westin is over a third of a mile away on foot, carrying skis and poles in ski boots, which is a real hassle. We found Bluebird storage lockers to rent for $130 a week, about 200 steps from the gondola, and that saved the trip.

The front desk agent was genuinely trying to help and confirmed that her system showed availability for the room type I wanted. I’d arrived today and asked about the room upgrade tied to my Bonvoy tier status, if rooms were available. Traveling with young children, I asked for at least a full kitchen, ideally two bedrooms. Then it became uncomfortable. It seemed the agent was being directed by someone out of sight, a manager in the back office, and through a chat with Marriott. They both refused to approve a complimentary upgrade, leaving the sympathetic agent powerless in an awkward “good cop, bad cop” situation. I even offered to pay a bit more for the two-bedroom, but they quoted the same price I could book it for on the Marriott website right then. For a supposedly high-tier hotel, that felt like a real disregard for loyalty benefits. They confirmed the room was available but wouldn’t offer a reasonable upgrade price. Zero stars for value and customer appreciation.

A no-frills place, but it has a nice rooftop hot tub and a ski shuttle stop right across the street. It’s a timeshare that Marriott rents when owners aren’t using it. I’ve been coming for years. They updated the carpet this year and removed the outdoor grills from the balconies.