BOL at the Solaris in Vail Colorado
Vail (Day 3 of 3) — Maybe your four year-old wants to ice skate with Cinderella. Maybe your kids want to see a reindeer.
No request is too difficult for guests staying at the ultra luxe Solaris in Vail Village. The 79-unit Solaris Residences–the six bedroom unit facing the slopes is to die for—is the kind of place where no guest request is too outrageous. The reindeer? They were brought from a ranch in northern Colorado, said General Manager Bill Marshall.
For a proposal, the hotel had a pair of skis custom crafted with “Will You Marry Me?” on them. And placed them in a secluded glade on the mountain—champagne on ice waiting, of course.
Maybe your teen wants a Thai massage. Your personal vacation assistant can arrange all that and more—grocery deliveries, an artisanal vodka, a baby sitter….a fly fishing lesson
Let’s not forget BOL, the bowling alley where you can watch ski movies while you bowl or get a burger–$50 an hour and you always need a reservation, Marshall said.
“It’s not just the hotel, it’s everything around it,” said Marshall, gesturing at the ice skating rink just outside, the bowling alley and the hotel’s Matsuhisha restaurant.
Of course none of this comes cheap. A one bedroom unit can run $800 or more a night. Here’s a tip—come in summer to hike, raft, mountain bike and fly fish and you might be able to afford to vacation like the one percent—rates here and elsewhere could be half what they are in winter.
Down the pedestrian-only walkways in Vail Village — lined with shops featuring everything from huge glass sculptures to fine jewelry, designer ski wear (for kids as well as adults) to tee shirts and hoodies – is the new Sebastian Hotel, also going all out for the family market with a brand new children’s program that might include a meet and greet with the ski patroller and his pooch—and a lesson on avalanche safety.
There’s also a Tyke’s Room with toys, children’s books and a toy kitchen where kids and their parents –or nannies can come to play. That’s if you can get them out of the pool (mountain view of course) complete with hot tubs and even a fire pit.
I like that there is fresh fruit in the rooms (as well as hand-crafted sodas in the fridge) and snacks that are complimentary.
But my favorite is the expansive library and lobby that are comfy enough for people to fall asleep on the couches in front of a fire, read or play a board game
Checkers anyone?