Park City

The Best Ski Resorts in Utah (with video)

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Video

To find out if the three resorts in the Park City, Utah area really do represent "The Greatest Snow on Earth", we skied and apres-skied and learned first-hand how fabulous the town and it's amenities have become. Indeed, the area has come a long way from the area's poor, silver mining history.

During the recent Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah was teeming with glittery Hollywood types littering local restaurants and bars, meanwhile abandoning the perfectly powdered slopes. Over the ten-day stretch, those idyllic resort town slopes– located less than an hour's drive from the Salt Lake City airport, stand virtually empty. It's an insider secret that the week and a half is ideal for powder junkies hungry for crowd-free runs during high season.

(Good luck finding a hotel room though!) As it turns out Hollywood isn't so into that kind of snow.

Fortunately out west ski and snowboard season run long. A good year means soft, fluffy snow starts falling just after Thanksgiving until -- if you're really, really lucky -- as late as Cinco de Mayo. Utah doesn't claim "Greatest Snow on Earth" for nothing -- the trademarked white stuff maintains a unique blend of "consistency, abundance and quality," says Ski Utah's Director of Communications Jessica Kunzer, "Anyone who skis dreams of skiing out west. You might like skiing wherever you're from originally -- if it's Minnesota, or, out east in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, [but] the general wish is to experience our soft, ice-free slopes."

The fleeting effects of Sundance come and go, but the snow steadily falls and the apres ski scene never dies. Here are three stellar spots to kick back and relax between smooth runs and story-worthy wipe-outs.

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Park City Mega Estate Up For Court-Ordered Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Auctions

A home in Park City, Utah which was once listed at $24 million will try its luck at auction next week. The last asking price for this home on 56 acres was $21.5 million but it will likely go for far less than that. The 6,800-square-foot home has four bedrooms and is right off of the Payday run on Park City Mountain Resort. It has never been lived in.

The kitchen has four dishwashers and multiple Sub-Zero refrigerators. All of the walkways and driveways are heated. A report on local station Fox 13 says that this home was originally supposed to be a guest house for a much larger home. It went into Chapter 11 and then Chapter 7 and is now being sold through a court-ordered U.S. bankruptcy auction. It is being sold with all of its furniture.

The auction takes place on January 25 at the home. A $100,000 cashier's check is required to bid. It is predicted that the home could sell in the $10 to $15 million range. More info is available at the auction website.

Gallery: Up For Auction In Park City

Tags: park city, park city real estate, real estate auction, utah real estate

Montage Deer Valley To Open Next Month

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The third resort in the ultra luxurious Montage group (following hotels in Laguna Beach and Beverly Hills) is the Montage Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. This resort customer will want different things than the guests staying at the California resorts and so Montage has created more casual, apres-ski friendly attractions including a gourmet gastro pub with games for the whole family, from billiards and bowling to video games and a Wii Lounge.

Daly's Pub is one of four dining venues at the lodge-style Mountain Craftsman resort. It offers four regulation bowling lanes, billiards tables, an English darts room, a Wii Lounge and nostalgic arcade games. The Wii lounge has four fully-loaded game consoles that enable people of all ages to play a variety of motion-controlled games, with high definition action displayed on 55-inch flat screens or go back to your youth with video game consoles featuring Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, and Frogger.

Other dining options include Apex, Montage's signature restaurant focusing on farm to table ingredients; Vista Lounge & Terrace, Montage's lobby great room and terrace serving classic bistro fare, cocktails and fine wines by the glass and Buzz Coffee & Tea, Montage's café offering specialty coffee drinks, organic teas and gourmet sandwiches.

Montage Deer Valley has 154 deluxe guestrooms and more than 66 suites and private residences ranging from one to four bedrooms, all with fireplaces and expansive views of the Wasatch Front.

Tags: montage, montage deer valley, Montage Hotel Resorts, park city, winter travel

11 Park City Luxury Estates Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Auctions

An auction of 11 luxury homes located throughout Park City, Utah is scheduled for August 27th. Accelerated Marketing Partners is holding the nation's largest residential sealed-bid auction with a total of nearly $80 million in property up for grabs. Published minimum reserves for the homes range from $1.495 million to $15.875 million and represent an up to 54 percent reduction in price.These are lavish estates, several have ski-in/ski-out access and overlook resort communities or are located in golf communities. The estates are being sold by motivated individuals who are ready to commit to the highest bidder.

"As the nation's largest sealed-bid, published reserve auction, this watershed event offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for prospective buyers around the country to purchase preeminent mountain homes at unbeatable prices," said Ken Stevens, west coast CEO and co-founder of Accelerated Marketing Partners. "As we have seen through our previous highly successful Park City sales, Lookout at Deer Valley and Silver Strike Lodge at Empire Pass, savvy buyers are out there, waiting for an opportunity to purchase luxury estates at price points they are comfortable with, and they determine."

The property shown above is DeerField Estate, a 15,000-square-foot estate developed by builder Eustace W. Mita of Achristavest, LLC. It was previously the highest listed property in all of Deer Crest and the fourth highest in all of Deer Valley when it was taken off the market a year ago at $28.975 million. The estate has seven suites, a private gondola for ski-in/ski-out access, indoor swimming pool, billiards, theater, family room with open truss cathedral ceilings and a wine room with 18th Century French cast-iron doors. The published reserve for DeerField Estate is $15.875 million, 54 percent less than the previous asking.

Tags: luxury real estate, luxury real estate auction, park city, park city utah, utah, utah real estate

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30 Luxury Properties Up For Auction In Park City, Utah

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Real Estate Developments

We've seen a rash of condo and luxury home auctions in the Park City, Utah area before but nothing like this. On May 1 30 luxury properties ranging from condos to land to luxury homes will be sold in an auction conducted by U.S. Auctions & Realty. Among the properties is the one that once belonged to cookie queen Mrs. Fields. The 24,000 square foot home is on 51 acres in Wolf Creek Ranch. The press release doesn't mince words saying that "the bank is willing to take whatever they can get." The mansion was appraised at $3.8 million and has a current starting bid of $1.6 million.

Should the cookie palace not interest you, you could score 61 acres adjacent to Mitt Romney's former home in Deer Valley or how about 9,300 square foot winter wonderland where Paris Hilton stayed while playing in Park City? In total five properties are being sold "absolute," meaning that they will sell regardless of the final bid price.

Franz Prossegger, a developer, originally listed his home for more than $8 million, and now the starting bid is $2.995 million. When asked why he chose to put his 8,300 square foot new home in Deer Valley (the site of a recent Hollywood movie) into the auction, Prossegger said, "I like the extra exposure the auction method brings. The right buyer will find this property and will get a great deal through the auction."

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Tags: auction, condo auction, luxury home auction, luxury housing real estate, park city, utah

More Condos Up For Auction In Park City

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Real Estate Developments

Fast on the heels of a recent auction in Park City, Utah, a new larger auction has been announced. Westgate Resorts will hold an auction for 44 condominium residences at The Lodge at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa, a development in the heart of The Canyons, resort in Park City, Utah. The event will be held on March 28, 2010 and minimum bids for the homes will range from $149,000 to $995,000, up to 56 percent below last asking prices. Advance registration for the auction is required and on-site conventional financing is available. There are no hidden reserves or buyer's premiums.

The new 488-unit project offers amenities and services at The Lodge at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa, including 24-hour concierge service and personal valet service to and from the The Canyons lifts, as well as a full-service, on-site ski and bike shop with private storage lockers and lounge area. The resort also has three pools, including an adults-only indoor relaxation pool and Utah's largest indoor/outdoor resort pool. The Serenity Spa by Westgate has an indoor grotto, lounges and 17 private treatment rooms; indoor/outdoor pool with sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi; fitness center with dance studio, and basketball and tennis courts. The development also has a business and conference center, library and laundry room and dining at the Westgate bar and restaurant, and on-site marketplace and deli. There is also the Westgate Kid's Club providing daily activities for children supervised by a professional staff, video arcade and a playground.

The units in the auction include 11 studio homes ranging in size from 360 square feet to 635 square feet, with minimum bids ranging from $149,000 to $249,000. There are 14 one-bedroom homes ranging in size from 775 square feet to 895 square feet, with minimum bids ranging from $295,000 to $339,000. The 14 two-bedroom, two bath homes range in size from 1,126 square feet to 1,135 square feet and have with minimum bids of $449,000. The largest homes are five four-bedroom homes ranging in size from 1,652 square feet to 2,150 square feet, with minimum bids ranging from $795,000 to $995,000. All residences are fully furnished and have balconies or decks with panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountain range.

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Tags: condo auction, CondoAuction, park city, ParkCity, ski condo auction, SkiCondoAuction, utah

Silver Strike Lodge Auction Finds Gold

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Real Estate Developments

Sometimes a condo auction can be a positive thing for a development. The auction of eight prime ski-in/ski-out condos in Park City, Utah turned out to be a boon for the project. The Silver Strike Lodge at Empire Pass units were auctioned off on January 17, racking up nearly $13 million in sales in just a half hour. Homes sold on auction day for an average of $1.620 million.

There are 34 units in the ski-in/ski-out condo hotel and although almost half the units sold when the project was launched in 2006, there were still quite a few available. The units qualify for Talisker Club Membership and the $100,000 fee was covered by the developer for all the winning bids. Following the sale Matt Mullin, principal of Ironwood Resort Development said that after the auction they have reset the prices for the remaining homes. Compensation for the membership activation fee will continued to be covered with all post-auction sales. Accelerated Marketing Partners, which also held a new development auction for Vornado's Bryant Back Bay in Boston that also sold multiple units well above the $1 million mark, sees this as a positive sign for luxury real estate.

Tags: park city, ParkCity, real estate auction, RealEstateAuction, silver strike, SilverStrike, utah

Park City Ski Condos Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Eight prime ski-in/ski-out condos in Park City, Utah will hit the auction block in January. The Silver Strike Lodge at Empire Pass will be auctioned off January 17. According to ParkRecord.com, developer Matt Mullin of Ironwood Resort Development says the auction is marketing strategy designed to help bring a market correction to the downward trend in ski real estate. There are 34 units in the ski-in/ski-out condo hotel and although almost half the units sold when the project was launched in 2006, there are still 19 unsold units. Mullin insists that it the sale is not a foreclosure or liquidation sale and is not an attempt to dump the property.

The units qualify for Talisker Club Membership. Accelerated Marketing Partners, is conducting the auction and has created a designated website for the event. Minimum bids are set very high. A two-bedroom unit measuring 1,689 square feet has a minimum bid of $1.15 million and prices go up from there.

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Tags: condo auction, CondoAuction, condominium, park city, ParkCity, utah

Wake Up (Early) Wherever You Are, Ski in Park City Free that Afternoon

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports

One of the advantages that Park City, Utah has over other Western ski destinations is its convenience -- it lies 35 major highway minutes east of Salt Lake City's airport. So if your desire to ski exceeds the time you have available to devote to the slopes, you don't have to lose an entire day to transportation: wake up at dark-thirty almost anywhere in the United States and catch a flight into Salt Lake and board your chair lift by the afternoon.

To sweeten the deal, you don't even have to buy a lift ticket on your first day. The Quick START Vacation program allows you to convert your boarding pass into a lift ticket at Deer Valley Resort, The Canyons Resort, or Park City Mountain Resort. You need to register in advance online for a voucher, which you present along with your boarding pass, a non-Utah driver's license or other official state identification at the ticket window.

Make sure you read all the rules and regulations on the website, since there's no flexibility in these requirements. Like, if you're a person who shuns printing boarding passes at home and relies on your PDA for check-in, you're going to need to change your ways to get this deal. And if the airline wants to keep your boarding pass, you're going to need to put up a fight.

As you'd expect there are also black out dates: you're not going to get this deal over Christmas week (December 25th, 2009 to January 2nd, 2010) or from Valentine's Day weekend through March 27th, 2010.

There are more Park City deals and promotions to be had, and I'm particularly keen on is a package offered by The Sky Lodge which is throwing in a complimentary breakfast and a 50 minute spa treatment with each night's stay November 26th to April 13th, 2010. The spa treatment deal is especially nice since the Sky Lodge's Amara spa offers all of its massage and body treatment clients a soak in traditional wooden Japanese tubs called Ofuro baths. Per Japanese tradition, you shower before entering the tub, which is filled with piping hot water I'll admit that the soak made me a little nauseous when I visited this past summer (when it was nearing an unusually sultry 85 degrees outside) but it would definitely be just the thing after a day on the slopes. Once again, there are blackout dates during peak periods, so from December 26, 2009 - January 2, 2010, January 21 – 31, 2010 and February 10 – 15, 2010, you'll be paying for your own spa treatment and breakfast.

Tags: hoteldeals, park city, ParkCity, skiing, snow, snowboarding, utah

Heber City, Utah, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's estate in Heber City, Utah offers the luxury of your own private lake. The home is a haven for the outdoor enthusiast offering fishing, hiking and more on 32 acres (additional acreage is also available for purchase). The six-bedroom home is a log lodge with an updated kitchen, stone floors and large windows showcasing mountain views. The decks are particularly wonderful, offering room to entertain with plenty of space that includes a dining table sheltered by a pitched roof. This home is listed at $9.95 million.

Gallery: Heber City, Utah

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, heber, log cabin, LogCabin, park city, ParkCity, utah

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News Flash: A Golf Course Community Opens

by Paul Rogers (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports, Real Estate Developments

Not long ago, golf real estate communities sprouted across the country every month, each project promising a higher level of luxury than the last. These days, they're as a rare as a postseason in baseball that doesn't include the Red Sox or the Yankees. Hence the curiosity of the Victory Ranch Club, an expansive (5,600-acre) development just east of Park City, Utah, that's to be designed around a just-opened--and, of course, camera-friendly--Rees Jones golf course.

The primary selling point of Victory Ranch is its mountain setting. The 7,600-yard golf course gambols across rugged topography that features deep ravines, bulwarks of ancient stone and high plateaus that yield sweeping views of the Deer Valley ski area and the Jordanelle Reservoir. Horseback riding on a network of trails and fly fishing in the Upper Provo River complete the tableau. Whether buyers will come at a time when the nation's high-end real estate market is reeling remains to be seen.

Gallery: Victory Ranch Club

Tags: Golf, Park City, ParkCity, Rees Jones, ReesJones, Utah, Victory Ranch Club, VictoryRanchClub

3 Ways to Do Park City in Summer: In the Air, Through the Woods, and Under Water

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports

Photo of freestyle skiing at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah

There's something about being at a former Olympic venue that makes me want to don performance fabrics and start to push my limits. (With the admiring crowds humming the tune from Chariots of Fire in unison, as slow, grudging clapping builds into a thunderous applause.) This is mere fantasy , as my lack of coordination at most activities is near legendary, or at least, known by people who know me.

But should you have the desire to transform your surely-more coordinated self into something of a athlete, or just learn a new activity, the summer season in Park City, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Games, is a great place to make it happen.

1 - Into the Air: Freestyle Skiing
It's a little strange to watch a person in skis shoot up into the air, execute mind-boggling flips and tricks and then land in a swimming pool, but that's the set-up at the Utah Olympic Park. And because anyone who's belly-flopped knows that landing in water can hurt, the pool is set up with special air jets that break up the surface tension and make for a softer landing. First, make sure you take in the Flying Aces Aerial show to see how the pros do it. Then, you can sign up to learn to perform these tricks yourself. There are organized camps for kids, but adult lessons can also be arranged.

You can also take a tour of the Nordic ski jump venue -- this is the tallest of its kind in the world -- and peer down from the top and just imagine yourself careening down that thing on skis. You can get some of the sensation by taking a zipline down the K120 ski jump hill. This is billed as the steepest zipline in the world, and you reach speeds of up to 50 m.p.h., which filled me with adrenaline for at least a couple of hours.

2- Through the Woods: Mountain Biking
Deer Valley has 55 miles of mountain biking trails, ranked from "easier" to "expert only", which you access via a chair lift ride. But even the "easier" trails are challenging, so the best bet here is to sign up for a private lesson or a clinic.

Another option for the ~~more nerdy~~ intellectual types is to ride the same chair lift and go for a three-hour guided history hike, which focuses on the mining history of the area. When Park City first became a ski destination, skiers were brought to the top of the slope via an underground mining trolley, and often came out covered with soot.

3- Under the Water: Scuba Diving
It's true, one doesn't often think of the mountains as a great place to learn to scuba dive. But the Homestead Resort has the Homestead Crater, a limestone rock hollowed out by melting snow and filled by water bubbling up from below. The water is warm -- 90 to 96 degrees -- and it's 55 feet deep, making Midway, Utah, the only warm-water diving destination in the continental United States.

None of these activities lighting your torch? Check out the gallery for a few more ideas.

Gallery: Park City Utah - Summer Sports

Froth Pool = Softer Landing for Freestyle Jumps at Utah Olympic Park

Tags: freestyle, mountainbiking, park city, ParkCity, scuba, scubadiving, skiing

The Huntsman Compound, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's expansive property belongs to billionaire industrialist Jon Huntsman Sr., father of Jon Huntsman Jr, the governor of Utah. The Deseret News says that Huntsman, Sr. put his 20,000-square-foot vacation property at the Deer Valley resort on the market in order to use the money for other causes including fighting cancer at the hospital that bears his name, the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He has also been spending more time fly-fishing in Idaho and he is also working on a development called Huntsman Springs.

This Utah property is listed at $55 million and includes three lots for a total of 63.83 acres. The main house is a 12-bedroom home with a game room, fitness room and two custom-built water features. The property also includes a pool and the land could be used for several more homes. The estate has been on the market for about two months, and the real estate agent says she has received several inquiries. It is the most expensive home in the area.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: The Huntsman Compound

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Tags: deer valley, DeerValley, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, jon huntsman, jon huntsman jr., jon huntsman sr, JonHuntsman, JonHuntsmanJr., JonHuntsmanSr, park city, ParkCity, utah

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Design with a Conscience at The Sky Lodge in Park City

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Jewelry, Luxury Travel & Hotels

I was already loving the look of The Sky Lodge, a boutique five-star condo hotel in Park City, Utah, before I spotted these really cool screen-style doors that divides the bathroom from one of the three bedrooms in the penthouse suite. It turns out that those screens have a very interesting story, and it made me love the property even more.

But first let me back up and say that Sky Lodge's penthouse is where I'd want to a host a party during Sundance, since it's got 2,736 square feet inside, and almost as much -- 2,600 feet -- outside in the form of an enormous wrap-around deck with views of the mountains and Park City, all easily enjoyed from the hot tub. (Check it out in the gallery.) I'll further digress and say that while this suite runs approximately $5,000 a night during the winter season, if you visit during the summer, you can get this three bedroom suite for around $1,500 a night.

Back to the doors: they're made from an opaque ecoresin, into which is embedded beads and coiled copper wire. It turns out that these are "Ithemba", a product of 3form USA's "Full Circle" program, which attempts to marry environmental consciousness with social awareness to create beautiful design products. The beads and woven copper are created by South African women who are impacted with HIV, they recieve training in business skills, job skills training, marketing assistance while they're earning a living by maintaining traditional crafts. "Ithemba" means hope in Xosi. Just knowing this made me enjoy my time in Sky Lodge's Amatsu spa all the more.

If you're not in the market for a screen or a door, check out the cuff bracelet in the gallery below, which you can order here.

Gallery: Sky Lodge Park City Penthouse

Sky Lodge Penthouse: Gotta Have a Baby Grand

Tags: design, hiv, hotel, park city, ParkCity, penthouse, south africa, SouthAfrica, spa

Ten Biggest Real Estate Price Drops

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The most expensive real estate in the country has taken some pretty major price cuts over the past year or two. In the past, mega-mansions with huge pricetags would often sit on the market a year or two without a price cut with owners secure in the knowledge that the right buyers would eventually come along. These are uncertain times and there are some very motivated sellers testing their luck in the real estate waters. Our list of top ten reductions of U.S. properties we've covered in the past starts at a $10 million cut and it only gets higher from there.

10)The Sloane Mansion, was $64 million, now $54 million
Price Cut=$10 million
The Henry T. Sloane mansion on East 68th Street in New York City is located just steps away from Fifth Avenue on the East Side. The building has 18,500 square feet total spread out over five stories and there are 15 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a ballroom and a rooftop garden. The mansion was designed by architect Charles Pierrepont H. Gilbert for Sloane, the heir to a furniture empire, in 1905. The home is classic Beaux-Arts style and five of the rooms have all their original details intact including wood-paneled ballroom with original oil-painted murals. It has been on the market for over a year but may need to go lower than $54 million in this economy.

Tags: dunellen hall, DunellenHall, estates, hamptons, new york city, NewYorkCity, palm springs, PalmSprings, park city, ParkCity, price cuts, price drops, PriceCuts, PriceDrops, san francisco, SanFrancisco, santa barbara, SantaBarbara, suzanne somers, SuzanneSomers, utah