The Art of Escaping: Finding Luxury in Nature at Sundance Mountain Resort
As a New York City resident, life is extremely fast-paced. In addition to blogging about my travels, I work full time as an attorney; one of the most intense industries! My need for resetting and recharging has increased as I’ve gotten older. For me, what that means is I’m looking for an escape where I can leave the buildings and noise of my daily life behind and disappear into the great outdoors. I crave the fresh air that you can only get surrounded by forest trees. I want to stare out and see mountains. I want to hear the sound of rivers and waterfalls. It’s more than just mental at this point, it’s physiological. This summer, I found the perfect place to do all of that: Sundance Mountain Resort—the best outdoors resort in Utah!
Sundance made its impression on me early. My wife and I had a difficult trip into Utah; our flight was delayed several hours, and we didn’t actually get into Sundance until 11:45 PM. Even then, the staff was incredibly helpful. Knowing that the restaurants were closed and we weren’t going to be able to get a meal before sleep (we had not eaten all day), they put together for us snack boxes of various snacks that were left over during the day. It was extremely thoughtful, and the tip of the iceberg of what was truly excellent service throughout our stay. We were on property for three nights and didn’t have a single need left unmet. To the truly excellent staff at Sundance, thank you.
The excellence does not end with the service. There’s so much to do at this resort. And with every breath of fresh air, my soul was nourished. First things first, let’s talk fly fishing. This is my newest outdoor love and the Sundance experience was exquisite. We fished in the lower Provo and the trout were plenty and massive. Linda caught the biggest trout of the day!! Second, the hiking was fantastic. There are several trails close to the resort and one directly on property, which features an incredible waterfall at the end. You can see mule deer and other interesting wildlife and bird life as you make your way into the forest. It was awesome. Of course, there was also the ski lift scenic ride to the top of the mountain. That was amazing, and the views unmatched. On property, you could also visit the spa and get some amazing treatments. And once you’re done with that, go take a dip in the pool and hot tub. Indoors, there were plenty of board games and other fun things to do to keep you busy as you rest and recharged.
One of the most unique things about Sundance is its relationship to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. For those who don’t know what Bluebird Cafe is, it’s basically a hub for singer songwriters to collaborate and create music; a lot of that music is what you hear on Spotify or Apple Music–either from popular musicians for the songwriters themselves. The Bluebird Cafe does shows in Nashville, and during the summer, several singer songwriters come up to Sundance to do a show under the stars. We were lucky enough to check out one of these shows and it was amazing! This experience is undoubtedly going to be a yearly ritual for Linda and I. I’m big on storytelling, and I love hearing how the music I’ve come to love came to be.
Of course, none of my reviews is ever complete until we discuss the aesthetics. As a seasoned luxury traveler, the aesthetics of any destination I visit factors a lot into my enjoyment of a property. Your resort or hotel is your home for the stay; and everyone loves to be comfortable at home. Anyway, the property exceeded all of my expectations. Sundance embodies Mountain chic. The way the property embraces and deploys earth tones is spectacular. Every detail is well executed, and the entire time you’re there, you feel entirely immersed in the world you’re in. An absolute smash hit!
Look, I can talk Sundance all day; but I figure y’all have other things to do today, so I’m going to wrap it up after this one last thing: the food. The food at Sundance is the cherry on top of what can only be described as the perfect sundae. We had everything form superb casual eats to exceptional fine dining. Every taste bud was buzzing throughout our stay.
Sundance Resort is one of the easiest 5 star rating I’ve issued! To see more content from our trip, check out my Instagram page here! Do yourselves a favor and get out there! And if you’re a skier, get out there in the winter too—I’m told the skiing is top tier!
For other hotel ratings from our previous trips, click here!
