Alta Lodge

About Alta Lodge

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Alta Lodge has hosted skiers since 1940 as Alta’s first ski lodge, a family-run, European-style inn at the base of the mountain and a mile from Snowbird. It offers 56 rooms without televisions, saunas and hot pools facing High Rustler, the classic Sitzmark bar and a winter stay that includes breakfast and a four-course dinner.

Alta’s first ski lodge

Alta Lodge opened in 1940, one of the first slopeside inns in North America and the first ski lodge in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It stands at the base of Alta Ski Area, a mile from Snowbird, and keeps to its traditions: classic ski photos on the walls, books and board games on the shelves and only two televisions in the building. More than 70 per cent of guests return each winter, the lodge says.

Saunas and hot pools

There is no spa, but the lodge has two saunas, one for women and one for men, and shared hot pools behind 30-foot windows facing High Rustler, Alta’s famous run, plus a sundeck over the ski area. A one-hour yoga class runs 7–8am in winter, included for guests, and massages by Cottonwood Canyon Massage are given in your room by appointment.

A traditional, European-style, historic mountain inn, in the lodge’s words, with ski-in and ski-out access at the base of Alta.

The rooms

The 56 rooms range from large slope-facing corner rooms, several with a fireplace and a private balcony facing High Rustler, to small dorm rooms. There are no televisions in the rooms; wifi is included throughout. Each room has a ski locker on the bottom level, with the slopes right outside the locker-room door.

Eating and drinking

In winter, breakfast and a four-course dinner are included in the nightly rate. Breakfast brings house-made pastries, granola and eggs to order; dinner changes nightly, with soup, salad, a choice of three mains including a vegetarian dish, and house-made desserts, with full wine service. Lunch is served à la carte. The Sitzmark Club, the classic ski bar in the original lodge, opens at 4pm for lodge guests and members aged 21 and over, with a fire and a view of High Rustler. In summer the lodge opens to the public for Sunday brunch from June to October.

Families

The Kids’ Club, included for guests for more than 25 years, runs 4.30–8.30pm daily for children of 4 to 12, with crafts, games, sledding, an early kids’ dinner at 5.30pm and a film to finish. A lodge shuttle takes children to ski school at Albion Basin at 8.45am and back at 3pm, and during the Early and Spring seasons children stay at no extra charge in their parents’ room.

Our advice: book a corner room with a fireplace and balcony facing High Rustler, and if you have children, take advantage of the Kids’ Club so you can enjoy dinner in peace.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Alta Lodge before you go.