Review: St. Regis Aspen, Colorado

Much prefer the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch at Beaver Creek. Been both to St. Regis Aspen and RCBG multiple times each over the past eight years and STA leaves a lot to be desired for a luxury ski resort. There's no apres patio scene and the atmosphere here is much more muted. Doesn't feel like you're at a world-class mountain resort like the Bachelor Gulch. And honestly, Ajax is such an overhyped mountain.

Kudos to the St. Regis Aspen for being honest and not having a resort fee, especially on a room with a cash rate of around $13,000 or whatever you said it would have cost if paid in cash and not points.

I would be curious to know the staffing level. Colorado is struggling big time because hotel and restaurant staff in mountain resort towns cannot find anywhere to live. All the apartments they used to occupy were rented out to remote workers at the beginning of then pandemic or converted into Airbnb rentals. It's actually a huge problem. While other destinations have struggled, Colorado has had record tourist seasons since the pandemic. In fact, summers in Colorado are now as busy as ski season.

But I digress.

My one complaint is the $52 breakfast benefit. That's just non-compliant. At St. Regis, Marriott platinums and above can select breakfast for themselves and one guest in the restaurant. Limiting it to $52 is absurd when it's basically impossible for two people to get a hot breakfast with coffee, tip, and tax for $52.

But, St. Regis is genuinely luxury whereas Ritz-Carlton is fake luxury.

Am I the only one who thinks the St. Regis Aspen will probably increase to 200,000 or 250,000 points per night once award-redemption categories go away?

Lucky,

If you were a betting man, where would you wager this hotel (and those like it) end up in posts cost after March / in 2023?

Many people are expecting Marriott to peg the points value to a pretty hard .5 cents per point ratio. This would result in this hotel costing 400K points a night, compared to your pricing of 400K for five nights. It’s hard for me to see that. I am personally expecting peak redemption cost of 200K a night for a standard room and off peak at closer to 125K to 150K. But curious as to your thinking

I think 200K is feasible. The thing is that is actually probably fair value for Marriott points (about 1 cent) in the current crazy hotel rate environment. Luxury hotel room rates have permanently inflated higher in many markets.

I stayed at the Jerome, which is an Auberge Resorts property, when I was in Aspen last year. My friend stayed at the St. Regis so I visited him there. While it was nice and the location was a smidge better, if you're paying cash go for the Jerome and reserve through a Virtuoso-related travel agent. Bigger rooms, a design aesthetic that more clearly reflects its Aspen location, and better food in the restaurants. The Jerome is a little bit further from the mountain, but they basically have on-demand rides to both Ajax and all the other nearby mountains. Also a way better hot tub set up. But that's just my opinion.

Great review! It brought back some memories of living in Aspen 23 years ago as a broke young man! The hotel was phenomenal back then, even though I could only afford to do a drive by. I would love to visit again…only now I have a dollar to my name.

@ tef0306 -- Good to know, thanks. I've only had dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch (while staying at the Park Hyatt), and thought it was nice but not that memorable. I'll definitely check it out at some point.

Personally I still appreciate how in Aspen the hotel is right in town. For the entire five days we were there I didn't once have to get into a car, which was kind of nice. That's not really the case in the Beaver Creek area, and for that matter there's not nearly as good of a restaurant scene, for those who care about that.

St Regis Deer Valley’s breakfast benefit is $40 per day per room..

@ Anthony -- This is an excellent question. I've been meaning to write a blog post about predictions for Marriott's devaluation, so let me get right on that. Stay tuned!

Ritz Carlton is like the Ruth's Chris of "luxury" hotel chains. It's fine but sterile and very 90s and you could do a lot better.

Ajax is one mountain, but all 4 mountains make Aspen way more compelling than Beaver Creek/Bachelor Gulch. Plus the town of Aspen is way better than anything you get in Beaver Creek or in the general area.

Agree with Ben.
in Aspen everything is either a walk or easy shuttle ride away.
Whereas if you stay at the Ritz Carlton BC you are near nothing. And yes, there's really no great meals in the Beaver Creek area that are easily accessible. Though I do love this strip mall Italian place down the hill in Avon. And the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek wasnt that great either. When I stayed there the food was mediocre. But I did enjoy their 'smores presentation at the end of the day on the patio outback. That was fun.

Unfortunately I really dislike Remede toiletries. Smells horribly minty.

@ Jason -- I hear you. If I were spending $2K+ per night at a ski resort (which I wouldn't) I'd probably book more of a boutique property. To me the real benefit of the St. Regis is the loyalty angle, but otherwise I've heard good things about the Jerome and of course the Little Nell.

You missed the best part! The champagne sabering ritual.

This post made me happy. We just stayed at the new Viewline Resort in snowmass (Autograph Collection) for 50-60k per night and was regretting not paying the extra points for the St. Regis. For the decor, suite size, skiing and breakfast benefit the viewline seems to win on all points. The only downside is we had to shuttle into Aspen if we wanted to go out there. We enjoyed the Snowmass Village, however. It was our first time not staying in Aspen proper.

"I was also looking forward to comparing it to the St. Regis Deer Valley, which I reviewed last year."

I'm interested (and somewhat surprised) there wasnt a more direct comparison of the two properties. Do you view them as roughly equals or is there one that you'd be more likely to return to (whether thats a preference for the town or something else one resort excels at)?

This year I'm staying at the Limelight. It was renovated in the fall and still right in the heart of Aspen, but with a more accessible price point than the Jerome or the Little Nell. Perhaps I'll return to those another time, but for now I agree - $2K/night is too much. Limelight was well below $1K when I booked, and the location is great. So we will see!
Glad you had a good stay at the St Regis. I enjoyed visiting my friend there, seeing the property, and meeting some interesting characters in the hot tubs out back.

@ ECR -- In my Deer Valley review I mentioned the pros and cons of each property, and I don't think my feelings have changed much there.

The pros of the Deer Valley property are that it's ski-in/ski-out, there are lots more suites (so upgrades are easier), and I prefer the hotel as such.

The pros of the Aspen property all basically involve that I have a strong preference for Aspen over Deer Valley. I think that the town is much cuter and has better restaurants, and I like that the hotel is right in town. Also, I have a strong preference for Colorado over Utah when it comes to laws around alcohol, etc.

What was the cancellation penalty (how much, cancel by date)?

Thanks!

@ Beachfan -- You have to cancel 30 days in advance. And if you have to cancel within that timeframe, this lovely policy applied:
"A monetary fee in the amount of 99 percent of your reservation’s entire room rate at time of booking will be charged for any cancelled room nights of your points reservation. The monetary fee is charged to the credit card on file in your reservation. The monetary fee is nonrefundable. Any points are returned to your account for all cancelled room nights of your reservation."

Infuriating policy, so you've really just gotta hope for the best...

Into skiing and dont mind taking a car or shuttle to dinner go to Beaver Creek /Vail. Into everything besides skiing go to Aspen. Pretty simple. Ritz Bachelor and Park Hyatt Beaver are amazing if you are skiing all day. Nothing better than not having to walk one step in your gear and being able to walk in during lunch and change into some fresh and dry gear before heading out for some afternoon laps.

I stayed at the Limelight last year for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with it. Back in the day it was bascially a hostel where you stayed when you truly could not afford anything else haha, but they have done a good job with it. As you mention, it's a substantial price point below St. Regis, Little Nell, Jerome etc, but it's a great location and perfectly nice. Kitty corner to St. Regis so the location is great.

Disagree. Vail is obviously a much bigger mountain but overall I really prefer the skiing at Ajax and Aspen in general. It has more exciting terrain, especially compared to BC. Of course I'll agree with your comment about skiing right into the ski valet, but it's no big deal to take a 1 min. shuttle to St. Regis (or other hotels), or you can ski in/out of Little Nell. You're only options in Vail for skin in/out are the Arrabelle, Grand Hyatt, and Vail Lodge... no thank you... Aspen as a town has so much more to offer than the other two on top of all that.

If you had showed me the pictures of the interior of the hotel (without seeing the outside and the location) I would say it was the Grand Hyatt in Vail. I am pretty sure the same designer did both hotels. The finishes, the room, bathroom, breakfast area are exactly the same.

Thank you for revealing The Other Side of Aspen to your audience, BJ.

This reminds me of John Dutton’s fight to save his ranch. Even though it’s fictional, can’t help but think there would have been many locals in these towns who must have felt that way.

No mention of Kitty, their Bernese Mountain Dog? That's the best draw of the hotel!

Oof on the generic small ice-cube-maker cubes in that Old Fashioned. I wouldn't serve myself that at home, and would certainly expect the St. Regis to give you a single big, clear cube.

This cancellation policy should be a story in and of itself.

Thanks so much for the review--and for commenting on the reason I have no intention to stay there. I'm also Titanium and "hope for the best" on a five-night points stay has a potential $10,000 out-of-pocket loss if cancelled less than 30 days out. That's a pretty big disincentive and far in excess of many credit card trip cancellation insurance policies. 30 days is a long time, and if I am cancelling a trip, it means something really bad has happened, so this would just add to the pain. There are other nice places around.

Have not stayed there but have been to events there for Aspen Food and Wine-Bests Chefs etc..(the Place is a total Zoo then) They used to have the Chef's CLub with Visiting Top Chefs from all over the US. It was fun to eat there then....

ooohh. I had this booked for a bit but then cancelled due to the one month cancellation policy. Are you using stock photos or was the place just that empty. I don't like crowded, but I don't like empty either. Snowmass has a nice ski in ski out Marriott redemption place I stayed at previously, but I really wanted to venture to Aspen town center to try that mountain too and see if the vibe was good. Might still make it this season, but not likely. If there's fresh snow, I could make that place a ski in ski out.

Is this the hotel where Harry and Lloyd stayed at ?

St Regis Aspen has always had a dinner restaurant....The Velvet Buck must have closed when a lot of things closed in Aspen, around March 2020, and now must be having staffing/other issues to not be open for dinner. It's great they can manage the twice-daily housekeeping, and all the other great services.

The Viewline (former Westin) Snowmass has the stupid 30 day policy too. I was actually supposed to stay there this weekend on points and last minute did not want to go. However they contacted me last week saying they would not be fully in Bonvoy for my stay so I had the option to get all my points back with no penalty. Score!

On a side note I cannot get over the Ritz BG and Park Hyatt BC this season. I live in Beaver Creek and have had friends who want to go stay there when my place is full - they are either sold out or $2500+ every weekend this season. Bonkers. At least the Ritz apres party is still going off!

My dog swam in that pool

WHAT A JOKE, no nickel and dime?
Just because there is no resort fees?

First, the cancellation penalty of cash. If you're going to set a very restrictive 30 day policy, it's only fair to penalize in the currency you used to book.
I can't book cash rate and choose to pay the cancellation penalty in points.

The $52 breakfast credit is already violating Bonvoy T&C. The "only" time you get 'continental' breakfast is when the lounge is closed.
You are confusing with Hilton, which only guarantee 'continental' breakfast.
Per Bonvoy T&C, they distinguish the breakfast.
"1,000 Points per Stay or amenity per Stay or breakfast in restaurant per night of Stay for Member +1 (including Resorts)"
and
"Globally: U.S. $100 If no continental breakfast or continental breakfast alternative was offered to Member"
I would have demanded my $100 welcome guarantee.

The property seem fine and reasonable priced for luxury in Aspen. Resort fees are straight out scam, which is good for them to not have it. But this property is far from no nickel and dime.

@ Eskimo -- I wasn't suggesting there was no nickel-and-diming just because of the lack of resort fee, but also because of all of the other inclusions, from coffee, to an airport shuttle, to a town shuttle, to the ability to rent a car for four hours for free.

Next, the standard Marriott elite benefit is for continental breakfast, not for a full breakfast. I'm 100% sure of this. Some hotels do offer a hot breakfast when they don't have to, but globally hotels are only required to offer continental breakfast.

Lastly, I totally agree the cancelation policy is ridiculous. Unfortunately this is much more common than you'd think. It's not just this hotel, but there are many hotels of different brands that have similar policies.

Every high end resort everywhere in the country seems to have this weekend pricing for the rest of the year. Try the Rosewood Montecito/ Santa Barbara. Resorts on Nantucket. All over $2000 per night every weekend for the rest of the year. It's insane.

I want to know too!

The spa is unparalleled. Shame you didn't visit it

You are just wrong. You are confusing the breakfast benefit.

There are two breakfast benefits.

The "continental breakfast" benefit applies at legacy Marriott properties that are supposed to have a club/executive/concierge/M lounge. If there is no lounge or the lounge is closed, you get a choice of a continental breakfast or 750 points.

At legacy Starwood brands and at legacy Marriott properties with a resort designation, you get a choice of breakfast in the restaurant at check-in. This is a completely separate provision of the Bonvoy terms and conditions from the lounge access guarantee. It is supposed to be a full breakfast in the restaurant. It must also include tip and tax.

Thanks!

That is not true, Ben. You are confusing Marriott's admittedly confusing breakfast benefits.

At certain legacy Marriott properties without a resort designation, eligible elite status guests get a choice of 750 points per day or a continental breakfast if the property doesn't have a club/executive/concierge/M lounge or said lounge is closed.

At certain legacy Starwood properties as well as certain legacy Marriott properties with a resort designation, eligible elite status guests get a choice of a restaurant breakfast at check-in. Notably, this benefit is not defined by Bonvoy as a continental breakfast.

These two benefits are completely different and are governed by completed different provisions of the Bonvoy terms and conditions.

@ FNT Delta Diamond -- Right, to be clear, all that's promised is restaurant breakfast. It's not stated whether it will be a full, hot breakfast, or continental. Therefore a continental breakfast is within the guidelines, no? Because if it isn't, a vast majority of hotels in the United States aren't following the rules.

This just isn't true, Ben. You are confusing two separate and distinct Marriott breakfast benefits.

The "continental breakfast" benefit is part of the lounge access benefit that applies at certain legacy Marriott brands without a resort designation. At properties with a closed club/executive/concierge/M lounge or at properties without said lounge, eligible elite status guests are entitled a choice between 750 points per day and a continental breakfast.

By contrast, St. Regis falls under a separate elite status benefit that applies to certain legacy Starwood properties as well as properties of certain legacy Marriott brands without a resort designation. At these properties, eligible elite status guests are entitled to a choice at check-in that includes a restaurant breakfast. This is NOT a continental breakfast. Bonvoy deliberately only uses "continental breakfast" in the context of the separate lounge access benefit. Notably, there is no dollar value attached to this benefit. Any property limiting the breakfast to $40 or $52 is in violation of the benefit if that amount doesn't the true cost of breakfast, tip and tax.

Admittedly, this is confusing but you are wrong when you state a guest at a St. Regis is only entitled to a continental breakfast.

Sorry for all the duplicate posts but comments were not posting and displaying. So I kept retyping them.

This is the one thing Hyatt is clearly better, they actually define breakfast.

My understanding is the standard breakfast benefit is "breakfast", not full nor continental. So in technicality they can get away with it and as I customer I can also get away from that property. I avoid several properties due to this very reason. In this case, they can't even hide behind the restaurant is closed excuse.
My personal test for "breakfast" is simple. Had I booked the room with breakfast rate, will I get the same breakfast. That's when I would feel the property failed to delivery my 'breakfast in restaurant' amenity. My expectation also grows with the brand so I would think this much at Aloft.

@FNT Delta Diamond
It is separate provision between the welcome gift and lounge alternative.
But you might be wrong too. As far as I remember, during the SPG days, it was continental or 500 starpoints. MR has no breakfast welcome gift.
Both had club access but MR had continental breakfast as alternative but SPG has no alternative.
It was after Bonvoy, that 'breakfast in restaurant' was introduced as a welcome gift. So I don't think it's a legacy thing either.

Stayed there also in 1 bedroom suite but in summer a few years ago. Butler service was fine and hotel was in a reasonable shape. Perhaps, because it was summer, I found the entire building somewhat claustrophobic and dark. Food was fine but that what you expect from St. Regis. Overall, it was an unremarkable stay.
I had better stays at St. Regis Princeville and Monarch Beach - both hotels are no longer in the Marriott portfolio.

The overall impression I get from your review is that the place is dark and dingy.

It’s good to see a hotel without a resort fee… but with rates from 1000-5000 dollars a night shafting the customer for the extra 40 bucks for all the amenities you graciously offered and have mostly been unavailable for the last 2 years due to Covid should be a crime.

Truly is…just finished a treatment!

Our butler offered free spa access as well for my husband who didn’t otherwise get a treatment. This might have changed since the start of the year, but guests can purchase spa access separately for $75/pp/day. “This per day fee allows for full access to the spa facilities, including use of lockers. Amenity access is included with reservation of any service $65 or more. Spa guests enjoy complimentary access to all Remède features including steam caves, cold plunges, hot tubs, a fitness center, oxygen lounge and confluence waterfall pool.”

The entire area is just gorgeous & my personal favorite amenity of the property. I’d actually book into the property just to use its Remede spa!

I’d stay here for the spa alone. Just had a treatment, the best!

Might have chgd since beg of the yr but you can now buy spa access for $75/pp/day:

“This per day fee allows for full access to the spa facilities, including use of lockers. Amenity access is included with reservation of any service $65 or more. Spa guests enjoy complimentary access to all Remède features including steam caves, cold plunges, hot tubs, a fitness center, oxygen lounge and confluence waterfall pool.”

Our butler gave us a btl of champagne & free spa access for my husband who didn’t get a treatment.

Btw the buffet is now $55/pp!