Status of Hotel At Hidden Valley

The old hotel at Hidden Valley has been shuttered and mothballed for close to a decade(if not more) now and is falling into serious disrepair.

Anyone have any intel on what's going on here?  Such a shame as this at one point was a beautiful facility.

The "Convention Hall" or Center - I am not sure but true, the lower part of that is in bad shape.  They have redone the signs there that show the unit numbers for the lodging down there. I have not been in any of the units in particular, but I suspect they are not in good shape.  Last year at the Vail kickoff event for returning employees, they announced that they would be opening those units up for overnights / weekenders. Haven't heard much more since then or if they were even used last season.  Since I don't believe Vail operates any of that (ski operations only), not sure why that statement was made "via Vail" at the rehire event at 7S.  The ingress and egress is bad, too, full of potholes and such.  Certainly not the vision that the Kettlers had when bringing much of that into existence.  (And I get that people had issues with the way they were running things years back.)

As a homeowner there at 16 years now, I'm of course disappointed, but what can you do? You have essentially an HOA foundation / community separate from and adjacent to a ski area that nobody cares to invest in. 

The setup worked better when there was a little more coordination and collaboration between the community there and the current operator of the ski area proper. 

Anyone else have better intel?

Better intel.  Thanks!

^ True.  There's always a bit of "announcements" at homeowners meetings and season kickoff events.  Many are based on hearsay and not rooted very much in reality.  To be fair, some are actually based in reality, like improving water filtration and quality within the HV and surrounding community infrastructure, for example.  Not all doom and gloom.

I'm happy to be proven wrong when Vail rehabs all that stuff, but honestly that never pinged on my radar. In terms of priorities - fix the entrance road to the area and stop patching it shittily.  Do something like that before talking about reopening lodging.  

I think at the HV ski area the same recipe still holds true regardless of the owner: Keep the kids coming in and learning to ski; feed them to 7S and LM.  And honestly, even though I sort of have a stake in the game, I can't honestly say I'd do much differently.

Additionally, and not to sound like a skipping record, the HV homeowner community is of a decent size, and guarantees a good chunk of season pass sales for not only HV 7S and Laurel, but now the resorts covered on the NE Value Pass.  I am not trying to say that's why improvements aren't made, but if you combine guaranteed pass sales each year, and then add in all the kiddos that funnel in weekend after weekend for 125 dollar lessons - it's hard to make the argument that there's any incentive to deviate from the status quo - as ridiculous as that sounds (to me, and perhaps to you, too!)

Lastly, even if that area were rehabbed, HV doesn't have the amenities to support a full-up lodge full of weekenders, whatever that might look like...   HV has a functional ski area, usually very good snow, and an apres that ends around 11:15.  By that measure, (in 2026) it isn't a "resort" as much as it is a "ski area." It's a nice and nestled place where you can learn to ski pretty easily if you take a day or two there. It has a nicely designed front and back that can bring you from absolute beginner to mid-intermediate. That, from my estimation, is its appeal. 

Laurel Highlands wrote:

You would think that Vail would have done due diligence looking into the condition prior to signing a lease? Sounds like lots of complications as to who would make needed improvements. Am surprised Vail would have even beem open to it considering their focus on ski operations and general lack of interest in anything else.

The fairly accurate rumor when they acquired the resorts from Nutting was that they didn't do very good due diligence and were taken aback (once they owned it) by the state of things, esp at HV.  So if they can't even be bothered to do due diligence when buying the entire resort, it's not all that surprising that they didn't before signing a relatively short lease for a facility.

At this point we have to call a spade a spade.  Nutting we knew what we had.  Vail is pretty similar.  HV gets the bare minimum investment of any kind.

... especially if it appears to be profitable in some way in its current condition. 

Expanding or rehab'ing the lodging (or lodge for that matter!) makes little sense, when in reality first you need a good connector road from frontside parking lot to the bottom of north summit, guaranteed shuttles going places, and another place to eat other than the 2 they're using to death.   That kind of change requires a concept and plans (like the ones formulated when HV was initially developed), and of course, money, and labor.  

Remember when... https://www.dcski.com/articles/1039

HVdad wrote:

Remember when... https://www.dcski.com/articles/1039

I've made these exact comments on here before...but back when Kettlers owned it, I was an instructor there and I taught Clarence Kettler's daughters how to ski.  Even though things weren't perfect (iffy snowmaking, that was when season pass prices were a "race to the bottom" thing in the industry, etc), I really thought well of him.  He was a nice guy, he always treated me with respect.  His daughters were good kids.  Their family actually spent time at the resort they owned, and seemed to care about it.

Buncher ownership was a positive change.  The investment in the resort, in particular the snowmaking, is quite possibly the only reason HV is still standing today.  I wish their timing would have been better and they would have retained the resort.

Nutting and Vail ownership has not been positive, as I am known to complain on here.  The only positive thing out of any of it, is LM operating again, which Nutting only leased to keep Buncher out.  

Leo wrote:

HVdad wrote:

Remember when... https://www.dcski.com/articles/1039

I've made these exact comments on here before...but back when Kettlers owned it, I was an instructor there and I taught Clarence Kettler's daughters how to ski.  Even though things weren't perfect (iffy snowmaking, that was when season pass prices were a "race to the bottom" thing in the industry, etc), I really thought well of him.  He was a nice guy, he always treated me with respect.  His daughters were good kids.  Their family actually spent time at the resort they owned, and seemed to care about it.

Buncher ownership was a positive change.  The investment in the resort, in particular the snowmaking, is quite possibly the only reason HV is still standing today.  I wish their timing would have been better and they would have retained the resort.

^ Agreed.

Nutting and Vail ownership has not been positive, as I am known to complain on here.  The only positive thing out of any of it, is LM operating again, which Nutting only leased to keep Buncher out.  

^ Also agreed, because Laurel's a pretty special place when the weather cooperates.  

I wouldn't go that far...

but-- always "fun" to watch (depending on your idea of fun):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TM3n1R2wc