Stein Eriksen Lodge

Established in the Eighties by the legendary Norwegian ski champion Stein Eriksen, this luxury lodge has, in spades, what so many ski hotels lack: personality. Studiously avoiding Mountain West clichés, the Stein Eriksen instead opts for a subdued European design, with robust wooden furnishings, massive stone fireplaces, and cool Scandinavian colors.

Though visually simple, the Stein Eriksen’s accommodations are anything but stripped-down. Trust a skier to know what a ski lodge needs — namely, tons of space, lavish creature comforts, and décor that’s not too delicate to take an accidental kicking from a ski-booted foot. These rooms come with plenty of closet space to hold all those winter layers, deeply enveloping king and queen beds, and to soothe the aprés-ski aches, whirlpool baths or even outdoor hot tubs. If you need more than that, the luxury suites offer added measures of space and comfort, and the grand suites (complete with full kitchens) are downright palatial, the largest sleeping up to fourteen.

The lodge is located at the foot of Deer Valley Resort, in the Wasatch mountains, of which Stein Eriksen himself is the Director of Skiing. There are resorts both more challenging and more trendy, but it’s hard to imagine a resort that more perfectly suits Eriksen’s mission as alpine skiing’s leading popularizer; Deer Valley is, along with Alta, one of the last resorts where snowboarding is prohibited, and it’s an excellent learner’s mountain, with plenty of smooth, wide-open groomed trails to complement its more challenging offerings.

Lodge facilities include a traditional Norwegian-style spa, and two restaurants, the upscale Glitretind and the more casual Troll Hallen. Both are excellent, and offer an experience you’d be hard pressed to recreate elsewhere — whatever you do, don’t miss out on pastry chef Raymond Lammers’s hand-made chocolates.