Hellgate Condominiums is the best kept secret in Little Cottonwood Canyon, if you’re looking for a quiet, peaceful location, with awesome mountain views and very comfortable, clean furnishings at a reasonable price. My wife and I spent 8 nights there – 4 nights longer than we originally planned. We were so impressed with the condo that we cancelled our reservations for the rest of our vacation and continued to stay at the Hellgate. We had a huge 2 bedroom, 3 full bath condo for 8 nights for a total cost of only $705, including tax. This was the summer rate and condo management did not charge us for the second bedroom because we only used one.
The kitchen was the best equipped kitchen we’ve ever seen in a rental unit in our 20 years of traveling to ski area condos. Everything we needed was in the kitchen. Every unit has a fireplace with wood supplied.
There are no elevators, so anyone with physical disabilities that can’t climb several flights of stairs should not stay here. There is a long open-grate metal staircase leading from the parking lot into the main building, through which you must carry your luggage. Once in the building, there are more stairs to the units. However, if you’re staying here you’re probably hiking or skiing, so the constant stair climbing is a good warm up. During our stay we learned that all rental units vary in their layout, décor, and mountain views, so ask about your unit before confirming reservations. Some units have old, “tasteless” décor, but remodeling is currently underway. We loved our unit, even though it has yet to be remodeled.
We had a “million dollar view” of the canyon from the large floor-to-ceiling windows, even watching mule deer and mountain goats from our bedroom balcony.
If you need a restaurant or shopping village within a short walking distance you will be disappointed. However, restaurants are available less than 1 mile in either direction as Hellgate is located between the Alta and Snowbird resorts. Not having an attached restaurant is actually a positive feature because the lack of hustle and bustle allows the tranquility of the mountains to pervade.
The summer hiking outside the door of Hellgate is absolutely spectacular. The views from the hiking trails here rival anything we’ve seen in Glacier National Park, but the trails here were almost deserted.
Hellgate is a fantastic place, but we don’t think it should be listed in the “luxury, top-of-the-line” category rating. We will definitely go back!