Upon first arriving, Black Bear's lodge is very warm and inviting with a stone fireplace continually burning and smiling front desk staff. I chose Black Bear as the setting to celebrate my boyfriend's 25th birthday (a huge occasion) because it was in the perfect location and I have heard so many great things about the hotel- I was definitely not disappointed! In fact, I am still amazed at the wonderful service we received during our stay. For example, I forgot my contact solution (a must have!) and luckily there is a mini-store in the lobby where I was able to purchase a small bottle, how convenient! The next morning, one of the helpful front desk staff actually walked us over to pick-up our ski rentals (which was literally like 2 minutes walking distance from the lodge). After a full day of skiing, we came back to our condo and enjoyed the beautiful view from our private hot tub. I also want to mention, the accommodations in our condo exceeded expectations, with gorgeous wood paneling, a very open floor plan, a Jacuzzi bath tub and a full kitchen. I would definitely recommend Black Bear to anyone looking for a warm and inviting place to stay in Deer Valley!

Very beautiful inside and out.
We were able to walk to the slopes at Deer Valley and to a handful of incredible restaurants from our condo. Staff were also very accomodating when we wanted a ride and drove us to and from nearby, downtown Park City for a night on the town.
Very clean, nice ammenities (fire place, jetted tubs, hot tub...) and lovely balconies.

This was the second time that we stayed at this property. Black Bear is well located within the Silver Lake area of Deer Valley. We prefer this to the base area, known as Snow Park. The best skiing at Deer Valley, in my opinion, is above Silver Lake (Sterling and Wasatch lifts) or in the Empire Pass area, not the base at Snow Park. This is just a matter of preference, as the entire mountain is first class. Empire Pass is mostly blue and black runs. Some green. It is very easy to ski down from Silver Lake area down to the bottom at Snow Park. Nice blue cruisers. However, if you have young kids that are going to ski school, you may want to stay at Snow Park because that is where the ski school is located and young novice children may not be able to handle the rather long run from Silver lake down to the bottom. There are green runs to take to Snow Park, if need be.

This is not a ski in/ski out property. You need to walk about 200 yards to get to the slopes; however, you can store your skis (free) and rent a locker at Silver Lake Lodge (excellent facility with great food) which is where you access the mid-mountain lifts and also purchase lift tickets. Black Bear is also located directly across the street from the Stein Eriksen Lodge, which is five star and has great food. There are also great on mountain restaurants and shops at Silver Lake. All are no more than a five minute walk from Black Bear.

The accommodations at Black Bear are nice, but a bit dated. Appliances were also dated but functional. It is patterned after a log cabin. Our room had a hot tub but faced the street. This didn't bother me as this area does not see much traffic late in the day or at night. No plasmas in my room. The Units look to be 15 to 20 years old and look it. However, the furniture was very comfortable as were the beds. The private hot tub was a great amenity. I noted that there were public hot tubs but they seemed to be nothing special. We just used the one on the balcony and it worked great. Room was very clean. Staff was also very nice and friendly. Underground heated parking is a nice feature as well. It is also very easy to get to Main Street in Park City (main area for shopping and bars/restaurants) from Silver lake area. Thus, Black Bear has a great location.

Overall, we very much enjoyed the stay. It is not a five star resort. There is no food or beverage on site, but you can easily walk to Silver Lake plaza or go to Stein's (where we had a great but expensive meal). You are obviously going to go grocery shopping and the kitchen has a dishwasher and full appliances. The fireplace was also nice. There were tv's in both bedrooms and in the family room. Our unit had dining seating for six, a leather couch and two very comfortable leather chairs.

One important note to those that may want to stay in the summer: I do not believe that this property has any air conditioning, just heat. I have stayed in Deer Valley in the summer. Some of the days are rather warm and I would not stay there. We were in the Black Bear area in July (stayed at Steins) and Black Bear was basically uninhabited. I don't know if there are others that want A/C or it just doesn't rent well that time of year. I did note that one Black Bear unit was occupied (during our July visit to the area) and the back door was left open for circulation. Some of the days approached 90 degrees, although the evenings were very pleasant. You make the call.

Overall, we would recommend this as a winter resort, but not a summer resort (because there is no air conditioning, just heat).

If you have more money, I would recommend considering staying in one of the new properties in Empire Pass. All are basically ski in/ski out but they will cost more. I would check prices of Arrowleaf or Grand Lodge. Both are new and are very upscale with high end finishes. They are more expensive, however. Further, Empire Pass has no restaurants, unlike Silver Lake. Thus, you might prefer staying at Black Bear and being in Silver Lake. I hope that this is helpful.

I coordinate conferences for one of the largest restaurant operations
in the state and we stay at Black Bear Lodge as often as we can. The staff at both Resorts West and the Black Bear Lodge is terrific! They
accommodate even our most random request and they are always a pleasure to work with. Black Bear Lodge is beautiful and the rooms always amaze my guests. I can't wait to be able to stay at Black Bear Lodge for my own personal vacation.