I came here with my teenage son for President's Day weekend. I have neer skied Alta but am always looking for something new and have heard great things about the skiing here. I decided to stay at the Peruvian because I wouldn't have to cook and clean and the price seemed pretty reasonable compared to some other places up here. The place is a classic ski lodge. There is a large lobby with big stone fireplace. The entire south side of the lobby is windows looking out over the WildCat ski area, which is expert terrain. Even if you are not skiing you can sit in the lobby and look out and watch some amazing skiing, which is a total treat. We stayed in a Nordic room, which is a basic, very small room with two twin beds, a small chest of drawers, a night stand between the beds, a small vanity with sink and a small closet. The room has a blowdryer, for those who are interested. We used the community baths across the hall. They are separated by gender although you don't get that impression from the website. They provide robes and shampoo, etc. The rooms are clean and the beds were very comfortable. This is not a place where you would hang out in your room - they are really very, very basic and intended for sleeping, changing your clothes, etc. So this place will DEFINITELY not appeal to anyone looking for turndown service, cookie on the pillow experience.

What I love is the highly social, communal atmosphere. It is full of people from across the 50 states. You will meet everyone from total ski bums to Wall Street types, to doctors - lots and lots of the latter. Everyone is in a good mood and chatty and it is fun to meet and talk with everyone. Most of the alk centers around skiing - the runs you took, quality of the powder, comparing wipe-outs, etc. Dinner is also family style - the smallest table seats 8, so if you are a party of less than that you will definitely be sitting with other people. We loved this and met a lot of interesting people. The lodging price includes all of your meals, including snacks at the bar in the afternoon, homemade cookies after skiing, etc. Alcohol is not included. There is one quirky thing about dinner - you have to sign up each day for the time you want to eat. You can't sign up until the dining rooms opens for breakfast on the day of. What this means is that starting about 6:45 or 7 AM a line starts to form because everyone wants to sign up for a specific dinner time. After a long day of skiing at Alta you do NOT want the 8 PM dinner reservation, especially if you have kids. So, a member of each family traipses down, often in pj's, and waits with their laptops and cell phones for the door to open. You have to watch out for line poachers, too. It's pretty hysterical. Wasn't a problem for me because I am a super early bird anyway so I just sat down there and chatted and worked.

The food is pretty good. I am vegetarian and there was always plenty to eat. It is nice to come in for lunch part way through the day. They show a movie almost every night, if you can stay up for it. We were so exhausted we were usually asleep by 8 or so. There is a bar which seems to be THE place to be in Alta. It can be quite nosiy, especially when the bar closes, which is 10 PM, thankfully.

There is a great ski shop for rental equipment and a small shop where you can buy hings you might have forgotten or just want for the day, including ski pants, coats, goggles, Cliff Bars, powder straps, etc.

Some of the staff are a bit challenged, I have to say, but they are all super nice and want to be helpful (if only they knew how). I don't think the winter work season really attracts too many people bound for the Ivies.

Our first day I hired a private instructor for the day for ski tips, to show us the mountain and of course, you don't wait in line. Totally worth it in my opinion. My teenage son hooked up w/ some other boys his age and tat was the last I saw of him after the first day. They had a great time skiing the expert terrain, of which there is a ton here.

A word to those considering coming here: you do NOT need anything fancy and would look ridiculous if you wore it. No fur coats, no Prada ski gear, etc. Don't do it - you will look like a fool. If that is your scene go to Deer Valley or Aspen. Seriously. It's all about the skiing here and no one is interested or much impressed by anything else. I've already booked our trip back here for next year!

I would totally recommend this to a friend - but only certain friends.

Of course the skiing is awesome... it's Alta !! Skiing has nothing to do with the lodge - this is a pretty bare bones ski lodge, which is fine if the cost was commensurate with the experience & service. It appears the lack of competition enables the Peruvian to provide average food, poor & not very responsive customer service (Internet connection was mostly down 5 day stay, rel. clueless staff). When the manager was asked if something could be done about the lack internet, he replied something to the affect "only if you come back, we'll take care of you then.." Guess he missed that day in hospitality school...

Stayed with college friends on our annual ski trip.....didn't expect luxury, but at least expected some customer service and the bare minimum in services. Wireless internet was listed as a service....well in 4 days - it worked 1/2 a day. Despite numerous complaints from guests, they failed to fix it in a timely manner. We had 5 guests in a 2 bedroom suite (paid $1100/night including food) and never once were enough towels delivered (had to call every morning). Guests arriving 30 minutes after breakfast started waited 20 minutes for food (buffet). The bar in the hotel closed at 10pm - ok, it's Utah, but 10pm? When I complained, stated we wouldn't be back, and listed all the issues (left out the Utah comment) and suggested a discount would be appropriate, the manager, Mr. Collins, said "since your not coming back, I'm not doing anything for you," and turned his back and walked away. Not only are we not going back, I encourage you to think twice about staying here. If you want Alta - try one of the other alternatives - but not the Peruvian. Ok - one good thing - the dinners were very good and the wait staff was also very good and very friendly.

This is the quintessential Alta ski lodge. Its a comfortable, friendly place to stay if you are there mainly for the skiing, and is a good value compared to the Alta Lodge or Rustler.

We stayed in an Alpine room with two twin beds during Christmas week, as it was just my 8 year old and myself. I had never stayed here before but booked using an early season promo. I am very happy with that decision. The rooms themselves (including the bathrooms) are small, but are cozy and decorated in the typical wood paneled ski lodge theme, and were clean and well-maintained, although the furniture is a bit worn. Carpets look like they were recently replaced. The beds a bit lumpy but adequate. Each room is assigned an individual ski locker in a downstairs room that leads directly to the outside road that leads to the Wildcat base. It is not really ski-in, ski-out - but there is a free shuttle service that was reasonably quick when we called them and they will shuttle you directly to either the Wildcat or Albion base. I would estimate about 75% of the guests use the shuttle.

The main reception area is cozy, with lots of chairs, a fireplace that is always going, and a fabulous view of the mountains with its ceiling to ground windows. They have hot coffee, tea, etc. available 24 hours a day out in the lodge, where many guests congregate. Decently good wi-fi signal in the main lodge area. A small "business center" room which is two computers with broadband intenet attached to printers. There is a small rec room downstairs near the ski lockers with a ping pong and foos-ball table, but there was a water leaking problem there which made that part of the room unusable during our stay. A nice amenity are the complimentary washers and dryers, which we used once. They sell detergent for $1 in the gift shop. You can buy your lift tickets directly in the gift shop. You can also rent your skis on site in their rental shop, but they do not offer any children's rentals, so if you have kids you will have to go and rent from one of the places near the base. I didn't use them because they don't rent to children, but some of the other guests who did told me that the shop has an excellent selection of rental skis, including those big fat powder waterskis that many like to use in Alta.

Where the lodge really shines is in the friendliness of the staff. Nearly everyone we came into contact with were friendly and helpful and set a positive tone for our trip. After meeting several employees just once (i.e., in the gift shop, at the front desk, driving the shuttle or making a reservation for dinner) they remembered and greeted me by my first name. We had the unfortunate experience of United Airlines deciding that our skis would be better off going to San Francisco rather than Salt Lake City, so we were without skis for our first day in Alta; but the front desk staff and other employees kept checking on us to see if our skis made it, and gave me periodic updates. When our skis finally arrived they let us know right away. One friendly gentleman, who I think is the general manager, is always walking around talking with the guests and checking on things.

The restaurant was also a highlight. The food itself was about average (the dinner is better than the breakfast, and we never tried the lunch), but the wait staff and the lady working at the reservations desk were all uniformly very warm and friendly throughout the week. I was very pleased with the meal experience, given the inclusive rate we paid for the stay. The family style seating at dinner was a plus as we were able to meet some interesting people from all over. The clientele is mostly an older crowd (45 and up, with older children). Many families we met are repeat guests who have been coming for many years. I did not see any other non-teen children while we were there. A lot of guests from the Midwest and East Coast. One guy was visiting from Europe. A lot of serious skiers - everyone, including the staff, is focused on the powder conditions (this after all, is why we all come to Alta, right?) - and the current conditions and forecast are always the first topic of conversation.

The hot tub and pool open at 3:30 pm as everyone is coming back from the slopes. The location at the base of the tree runs off the Wildcat lift is perfect; it is great to be soaking in a 100+ degree hot tub in 30 degree weather with snow falling around you.

Overall a nice stay at a well run lodge, and I would not hesitate to return.