Ritz Heads for the Hills

Oct 23, 2002

The $160-million Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, the Colorado Rockies’ first luxury resort hotel to open in 10 years, opens Nov. 21 in the Vail Valley. The 237-room property, nestled in an upscale mountain community, is the only hotel in Bachelor Gulch, and it promises to offer plenty of intimacy and exclusivity. In fact, it will even have ski-in, ski-out access to 1,625 acres of terrain in Beaver Creek and Arrowhead via its own ski lift.

Unlike many of the earlier Ritz-Carlton hotels, its architecture and interior design reflects its setting in the mountains, using indigenous materials such as logs and stone.

Guest rooms offer marble baths, terry-cloth robes, televisions, DVD players and high-speed Internet access. Most provide mountain views, and 77 feature balconies.

A 21,000-square-foot spa includes 19 treatment rooms, men’s and women’s lounges, a coed rock grotto relaxation area, a sauna, a steam room, whirlpool tubs, an outdoor heated pool, cardiovascular equipment and an aerobics room. Other hotel amenities include 40,000 square feet of meeting space, a Ritz Kids children’s center, three restaurants and three cocktail lounges.

Besides skiing and snowboarding via the Bachelor Gulch Express high-speed quad lift, resort guests have access to the new Red Sky Golf Course, which will offer two 18-hole, championship courses when it opens next summer.