FORBES: Pass The Champagne—Europe’s Fun Après Ski Scene Has Come To The U.S.
The Vintage Room is a large greenhouse-style 1,600-sqaure foot structure erected each winter right on the edge of the trail, immediately next to this classic Forbes 4-Star luxury hotel. The St. Regis has arguably the best location of any of the several luxury hotels in and around Park City, and guests inside can walk out the door and into the venue without touching snow, while returning skiers can slide right up, unclip and enter—or for hotel guests, drop their gear at the hotel’s luxury slopeside ski concierge next door and change into more comfortable footwear. The St. Regis also has its own funicular linking it with the main base of the Deer Valley resort, Snow Park, so guests staying elsewhere can easily access it.
While the Vintage Room has been open for a few years, it reinvents itself each season with a new floorplan, new menu and new vibe. What hasn’t changed is that since it debuted it has been the hottest and most in demand après option at what is probably the toniest ski resort in the nation.
For this winter they changed the floorplan to put the reserved VIP tables in the middle, around the dance floor, rather than the perimeter, creating a more open flow and less separation between the standing room crowd and seats, turning it into a more unified party atmosphere. They go through a lot of oversized format champagne bottles and have caviar service and raw bar, but the house special cocktails are fantastic, the St. Regis has several custom craft brewed private label beers, and of course, the brand’s famous signature Bloody Mary’s (the cocktail was invented at the New York St. Regis and today every single hotel has its own regional special version, a topic I covered in depth here at Forbes). This year they added more hot cooked foods, such as Asian dumplings, as well as sushi. There is a live DJ and busy, energetic dance floor.
The Vintage Room is a two-in-one treat, open for lunch as a more sedate though luxurious and special dining spot, then it morphs into an après spot with a distinctly Euro day-club vibe. When I visited a couple of years ago it was mostly people off the slopes in ski gear. Now people are making it a special trip, going home and changing and hitting it as a precursor to dinner and a big night out. As much as 80% of the traffic is from outside the hotel, including a lot of Deer Valley and Park City locals, and reservations are very hard to get—they open on a specific day near the end of each winter month for the following month, which sells out completely in minutes. But the St. Regis is an excellent service-focused hotel that takes excellent care of its guests, which includes holding spots. Still, it is a good idea to plan ahead as much as possible, and if you cannot get a reservation through the site, let the concierge know as soon as possible and ideally in advance of your arrival if you want to have an après experience there during your stay. It is extremely popular, and one of many reasons why repeat guests choose the St. Regis over the competition.
