First things first: when booking this hotel I didn't *quite* know what I was getting into. I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, but the Sun Valley website isn't very clear about a lot of things, and the couple of times I called with questions the women I spoke to (yes, women, all 2 or 3 times I "deigned" to call) acted like I had no business to be asking them questions.

That said, I assumed that this would be like every other ski resort I stayed at - that being, the Sun Valley *Lodge* would be right at the base of the ski mountain. Not the case. Though they have a free and fairly convenient bus service, you have to plan to leave your room OR the mountain to avoid waiting more than a few minutes for a bus and also plan on 10-15 minutes travel time each way depending on where you're going (Dollar Mtn, Ketchum, Bald Mtn.) This is just something I wish I'd known before going out there.

We used the shuttle service from/back to the airport and that was convenient, especially as it's free. It started snowing on our last night there, though, and because the Sun Valley Airport is so tiny as to be practically nonexistent the hotel had to wake us up at 5:15 AM to drive us to the airport at 6 AM, where the airline was busing us to Twin Falls for our diverted flight. I mention this in regards to the hotel because the hotel was great about notifying us the night before that they would probably be calling us, and of course having a shuttle there at 6 AM to cart us to the airport two hours earlier than we'd all originally thought.

Now, the lodge itself - it's historical and honestly really cool to stay there. For us the price was right because we got a 4 night stay and two 3-day lift tickets for about $1,000 (with taxes and everything) and of course didn't have to rent a car. As others have said the decor is a bit aged, but on the other hand I did not notice things like stains and rust and mold or whatever some reviewers have previously mentioned. A lot of the chairs and couches are definitely very OLD, but it adds to the charm because you know they're antiques.

We booked a medium king room (a.k.a. the least expensive type) and were in room 165, which is a corner room on the first floor (there is a small set of maybe 6-8 stairs you have to climb to get to the "first floor" rooms, though). The bathroom was a bit small (single sink, low toilet, okay amount of shelving for just two people, tub & shower combo) but the room itself was certainly big enough and the closet was huge. The bed was comfortable and the bedding very nice. It did take a while for our room to warm up when we turned the heat up but that may have been because we had two outside walls and it was below zero outside every night/morning. There is also [decent] free WiFi, which is not clear on their website - it merely says something about the ability to "hook up to an ethernet connection".

While in Sun Valley we did a lot of eating and drinking at the Lodge and around the Village. If you're there on a Sunday, don't miss the Sunday brunch - the food is delicious and the atmosphere great as well. Bald Mountain Pizza is a more affordable option and I am *picky* about pizza yet thought this was one of the best meals we had while in Sun Valley. We also really enjoyed the Duchin Lounge for drinks, though I wish they had a more extensive mixed drink menu.

As for other activities, my husband got a great haircut at the salon and we really enjoyed the outdoor hot tub, which is actually a heated (as in to about 100 degrees) swimming pool considering its size. We visited it three out of our four nights, in fact :) They offer cocktail service at/in the hot tub as well which is great. Unfortunately the Boiler Room wasn't open once while we were there, and as an FYI the stores in the Village (walking distance from the Lodge) all close by 7 or 8 PM.

Last but not least...the service/employees. The people at the restaurants and lounge were great, especially the servers/bartender at the Duchin (even when super busy they did a good job), Sean the bartender and Brooks the piano player at the Inn Lobby Lounge in the Sun Valley Inn, and Jonathan at Bald Mountain Pizza.

HOWEVER. Every female employee that I dealt with at the front desk was bordering on rude, and the gentleman who was running the bell hop desk for about 70% of our stay was even worse. They obviously despised anyone asking them questions, gave very impudent/sarcastic answers when I did work up the courage to ask, and when they saw us bring in our skis on our first night they never even told us they had a storage room for them until we could get them to the mountain (where you can store them for free if you stay at the Lodge). Just not the type of service you would expect from bell services and the front desk at a "four star hotel", and it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

All in all, I may have booked a condo in Ketchum if I'd known how much closer they were to the mountain, but in general I'm glad we stayed in the Lodge if only for the knowledge that we were staying in the original Sun Valley hotel :)

http://thereandbacktales.blogspot.com

We stayed in a comfortable and cheery room, the cheapest one, I think, but it was charming. Were only there one night in the shoulder season, but took full advantage of the hot outdoor pool and sauna. The lady at the sauna gets special commendation for being lovely. For $140/night, it was a fun experience, though we found cheaper and adequate accommodation elsewhere for the other nights. Probably better to eat in town, too.

I recently stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge and found the overall experience wonderful. I arrived late at night from NYC and the lodge had a very kind driver come and pick me up. The lodge itself was charming - very old school in a good way! The staff were helfpul, the rooms clean and there was lots to do.

We loved staying at the Lodge, because of the convenience of everything. We ice skated on the rink every day we were there. We walked to the Nordic center to go cross country skiing. We walked into Ketchum several times along the fabulous paved trail. We could have taken the shuttle to town, but it was such an easy walk. Access to the downhill skiing was also easy--just get on the shuttle. We also used the hot outdoor soaking pool. Nice! They also had a bowling alley in the building, which we intended to use but never did.

As a hotel, the place is also great. The rooms are well appointed. The beds are comfortable. The windows open if you want some fresh air! There is free Wifi, something I don't even think the Lodge touts in its materials, so it was a welcome surprise. They also offer laptops for guests to use. The in-room climate control works great. This is important to me, as I have spent nights roasting in other hotel rooms, where it didn't seem to matter where you set the thermostat. There was also a fridge in the room, not an honor bar, but an empty fridge. We really appreciated this, as we could put milk for coffee in there. Overall, I just had a sense that the staff at the Lodge was intent on making sure we had a good time. much appreciated. Free transport to and from the airport was also appreciated. I hope to stay here again.