Vail Resorts Legendary Lodging at Ritz-Carlton Residences

The rooms are fantastic, the location is lovely, and there’s a nice pool and a great game room. I really wanted to give five stars across the board, but service was hit or miss, especially housekeeping and turndown. Maybe they were exhausted because we came at the end of the season.

We’ve already booked for next year. We come for Vail skiing every year, and staying here is a major highlight of the trip. We get a three-bedroom villa and bring friends or family for a snow vacation. It has a fully equipped kitchen, and the hotel pantry can provide ingredients and cooking gadgets for the group. There’s a heated pool, hot tub, gym, steam room, and kids’ game room. Don’t miss the 4pm cookies and 5pm whiskey tasting in the main club lounge. It’s a five-minute walk to Lionshead. The ski valet and roomy lounge make gearing up easy; a shuttle drops you just steps from the Eagle Bahn gondola, where your skis are waiting. The same shuttle picks you up after you drop your skis or boards at the gondola base. From valet parking and front desk reception to the well-appointed villas, the whole place feels luxurious. Housekeeping is top notch and attentive. They provided a crib with toys for our baby boy, and the diaper genie was an unexpected bonus. They even built my son a little teepee tent.

The staff made this ski trip especially easy. They greeted us by name and were always friendly and smiling. When the gas fireplace wouldn’t turn on, we called the front desk and an engineer arrived in under 10 minutes to fix it. Our room had a full kitchen, plenty of seating, and a dining table with six chairs. There were two beds and three baths, plus a small bar cabinet stocked with different glassware for red and white wine and cocktails. It’s on the higher end price wise, but well worth it.

This place feels like a home away from home. We come at least twice a year, and the whole staff makes us feel like family. From the ski valet to the place where we turn in our boots to the front desk, the guys all keep in touch and greet us by name. The concierge gave us a great recommendation for where to find a turkey dinner in town while we were there over Thanksgiving. The hot tub had just reopened after being redone over the summer, and everything was in perfect condition.