Skiing is unsurpassed on Beaver Creek Mountain in
Colorado’s legendary Vail Valley. In the summer, the slopes turn
lush green, with trails winding past waterfalls, pine forests,
crystal lakes and wildflower meadows.
So it’s little wonder that year-round outdoor play
is the main draw at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek a ski-in, ski-out
resort at the base of the Gore Range, 10 miles west of Vail. To
cater to adventuresome guests, the hotel hosts “hike weeks” in
summer and “ski-technique weeks” in winter, complete with gear and
guides, meals and massages.
“The idea is to acclimate guests to the Colorado
Rockies and give them an experience that they wouldn’t or couldn’t
do on their own,” said former World Cup skier Cory Carlson, the
resort’s senior manager of leisure travel.
The hotel’s ski and hiking weeks are part of the
new Adventure Hyatt programs in the United States and Caribbean.
Travelers can choose from more than 50 active-vacation packages
specific to the destination from hot-air ballooning to desert
biking, snorkeling to dog sledding. Guests at the Hyatt Regency
Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Florida can go on guided kayak
excursions in search of dolphins. Adventures in Hawaii range from
helicopter rides to parasailing, and the Hyatt Regency Huntington
Beach Resort and Spa invites guests to “hang ten” with a U.S.
National Surfing Champion.
While specific offerings and prices vary by hotel,
all the adventure packages include accommodations, lessons from
trained guides, necessary gear and in some cases, meals, snacks,
gifts and spa treatments. For example, hikers at Beaver Creek get
(and can keep) hiking poles, socks and backpack as well as loaner
raingear and hiking boots if they didn’t pack their own. Plus, a
hiker’s massage awaits clients after the trek.
The best bargain may be the five-night windsurfing
package at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort and Country Club in Puerto
Rico ($866 per person), while perhaps the most over-the-top is
offered by the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek. The five-night Ski
Technique Week costs $1,975 per person and includes personalized
lessons by world-class instructors from Vail/Beaver Creek Ski
School, individual videotaping, small-group ski sessions with pros,
powder workshops, après ski parties, dinners and an awards
presentation at week’s end.
Hyatt’s one- to five-day packages can be customized
to all levels of adventure-lovers, greenhorn to hardcore. Your
clients don’t know how to use a hiking pole? The patient and highly
trained guides will show them. Worried your clients will struggle
to summit steep slopes? The guides will demonstrate a nifty trick
called the “rest step.” If guests ask about the wild berries along
the trail, the guides will explain and even pick a few samples. If
clients don’t know the difference between fir, pine and spruce
trees, they will by the end of the walk.
“We make adventure accessible,” Carlson said.
But wimps should be forewarned: “Accessible”
doesn’t mean “easy.” On the final hike at Beaver Creek,
participants are challenged to climb to the top of one of
Colorado’s famous “fourteeners” (mountains that are 14,000 feet and
higher) guaranteeing ample adrenalin spikes and aching quad
muscles. But it’s well worth the effort, for at the end of the
trail, a hiker’s massage awaits not to mention a satisfying sense
of accomplishment.
Commission: 10 percent
www.adventurehyatt.com
Arizona
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch
Desert biking, hot-air ballooning, horseback riding, hiking
California
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach
Surfing, scuba, Harley Davidson rentals, equestrian lessons
Hyatt Grand Champions, Indian Wells
Jeep tours, helicopter rides, hiking, rock climbing, horseback
riding
Colorado
Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
Hiking, ski technique, snowmobiling, hot-air ballooning,
cross-country skiing
Florida
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Bonita Springs
Kayaking, snorkeling, airboat rides, Harley Davidson rentals
Hyatt Key West
Snorkeling, sailing, parasailing, jet skiing,
kayaking
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando
Harley Davidson rentals, equestrian lessons, canoe trip, airboat
rentals, hot-air ballooning
Hawaii
Hyatt Regency Kauai
Ocean kayaking, waterskiing, windsurfing, scuba, mountain biking,
hiking
Hyatt Regency Maui
Windsurfing, parasailing, waterskiing, catamaran/Hobie Cat rentals,
scuba, snorkeling, helicopter tours, ocean rafting
Hyatt Regency Waikiki
Seawalker tours (wear an underwater suit and walk among sea life),
submarine adventures, parasailing, seaplane tours,
scuba
Maryland
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, Cambridge
Biking, sailing, kayaking, canoeing
Nevada
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe
Telemarking, dog sledding, snowmobiles, biking, horseback
riding
Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas
Helicopter tours, Hummer tours, hiking, kayaking
New Mexico
Hyatt Regency Tamaya
Hot-air ballooning, rafting, Jeep tours, trail riding, downhill and
cross-country skiing