Sun Valley Resort

The service went above and beyond, and Sun Valley Lodge has a great range of amenities. There’s an outdoor heated pool, gym, hot tub, spa, plus a bowling alley and game room downstairs. The lodge was pristine. Highly recommend it.

We had a terrible night’s sleep and communication was awful, so we ended the reservation after one night. Getting the remaining money back took over a week, and we had to negotiate to pay only for what we actually received. They offered no compensation, and it felt like they didn’t care. The staff were nice, but highly incompetent. They “upgraded” us to a cottage with a strong gas or sewage odor that we couldn’t stay in. When we asked to return to the lodge apartment we’d booked, they couldn’t do that either. Instead, they moved us to a basic room at the Sun Valley Inn and tried to charge us twice the normal rate. There were plenty of other missteps, but the manager (Carrie?) refusing to return my call, then butt-dialing me at 11pm and leaving a two-minute voicemail from a party, was a highlight.

The views made lunch feel special, and the staff were welcoming and attentive without rushing us. I went to Sun Valley Lodge with my aunts while they were in town, and it was a lovely, relaxing place to catch up. We had duck wings, fish and chips, and the special salad. Everything was fresh, tasty, and nicely presented. I’d happily come back, and recommend it if you’re in the area.

The housekeeping staff were excellent, and I still love the turn-down service, the wool blanket, and that enormous tub. But the rest of this stay was a real letdown after years of coming annually and always staying at the lodge rather than the inn. At several hundred dollars a night, the worn furniture, small TVs, chipped picture frames, broken vanity mirror, and weak shower pressure didn’t feel acceptable. The room service bill was $70 for a hamburger and nachos. There are other hotels worth the high cost in ketcum now, and I think SVL needs to recognize that people are noticing the maintenance issues. The grounds also weren’t as well kept as usual, and there was a fish smell from the pond. Our convention was a week earlier this year, and by Monday the grounds were improving. Maybe I’ve grown jaded about the place’s beauty, but being told the luggage cart was reserved was over the top. The room smelled strongly of wood smoke, and being near the lounge patio meant loud, smoky evenings from about 5pm to 9pm. The refrigerator didn’t work, the air conditioning didn’t work on a day over 80, and there were no ice machines available. When I told the front desk, they brought in a huge mini fridge that took a full day to cool down, then froze everything. There was no microwave either. The beds used to be very comfortable, and the rooms and lobby used to be well maintained. When we arrived, we were also told we couldn’t use the luggage cart because it was reserved.