alta lodging (on the cheap)

While both of the Extended Stays are relatively close to a bus stop, the one on Fort Union in Midvale allows a direct ride to LCC. The one on Auto Mall Drive in Sandy goes to BCC and would require a transfer at the 9400 South park and ride lot if you were going to AltaBird.

I'd be somewhat leary of the Majestic Rockies Motel. Yes, it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for. It might be fine - it might be a dive. It might be noisy due to its State Street location, but the two Extended Stays are also in high traffic areas. It's advantage over the ESs is its proximity to the Trax light rail line for downtown SLC access.

There are a bunch of other motels on Ft. Union Blvd in Midvale - a Super 8 and a Days Inn among them. There's also a Crystal Inn right next to I-215 in the Ft. Union area (I-215 Exit 9).
 
We were very happy with the Homewood Suites in Sandy. Suspect they're a bit more than the others you mention, but it includes a nice breakfast and even Mon- Thurs. a light dinner (nice salad and a main course like pasta or chicken --even includes a bad but drinkable wine). It's a block from the ski bus, but I suspect you'd have to transfer to get to Alta.
 
One website that has good info plus some deals is http://www.skisaltlake.com/

Last year we stayed in SLC and booked last-minute rooms at Hotwire.com, you can select the neighborhood (sandy or downtown, and the hotel class - of lack thereof) we picked the 4-star option and got the Hilton downtown for about $79. When we decided to stay an extra day, the front desk wouldn't let us stay at the same rate, so we walked to the library, got online, and booked one more night that way- it turned out that we didn't have to change hotels (or rooms)
It could be a long slow bus ride to the lifts from downtown, I haven't used the UTA busses.

Key advantage of staying downtown: take the TRAX to the end of the line and walk a few more blocks to teh RED IGUANA-

There's a couple of websites that offer weeklong stays at pretty good rates at the base of the canyons in apts or condos, maybe someone else has the details.
 
Marc_C":2b1gektg said:
I'd be somewhat leary of the Majestic Rockies Motel. Yes, it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

There are a bunch of other motels on Ft. Union Blvd in Midvale - a Super 8 and a Days Inn among them.
Click to expand...

Back 18 years ago we stayed a week at Majestic Rockies. It was extremely basic then. Some rooms had a small cooking facility and some rooms could accomodate pile a lot of people. We haven't returned...as you get what you pay for.

Other than clean and quiet, our lodging requirements haven't increased much since 1987. SLC has many good options. We have stayed at the motels mentioned above. We have also had good luck with a National 9 (next to I-15 and on 7200), which is very near the beginning of the BCC and LCC canyon bus routes. The LaQuinta Inn at I-15 & 7200 is also an option, but a buddy and I found the air irritating on one trip--perhaps from mold in that particular room.

Cheers,
Jeff
 
Thanks for the scoops. The most important for me is cheap, clean and convenient. a kitchen is nice since it will save money on meals. this is really a budget trip for me and just the first leg of a utah -> jackson -> big sky road trip. i'll be scrounging every dollar to make it happen :). alta is the only place where i don't know people anymore so lodging will be a significant expense.
 
woostahDave":2objowez said:
the first leg of a utah -> jackson -> big sky road trip.
Click to expand...

Curious what the drive time between Jackson and SLC is? I'm thinking of hitting SLC for my spring break and maybe J-hole too.
 
option_ride":35jx42xa said:
Curious what the drive time between Jackson and SLC is? I'm thinking of hitting SLC for my spring break and maybe J-hole too.
Click to expand...

4.5 to 5 hours if the roads are clear.
 
Tony Crocker":2dapvjrh said:
Better stay in SLC during spring break unless you like skiing glue or it's a VERY unusual spring.
Click to expand...

Is this due to low elevation? Seems like I remember something like that from another post.
 
It's due to the toxic combination of southeast exposure, March sun and steep ungroomed terrain.

A simple test to illustrate the importance of exposure in March: Go out on a warm spring day at Snowbird and compare Little Cloud and Mineral Basin, which have very similar terrain but opposite exposures. Jackson's March exposure/snow conditions are like the area near the Mineral Basin chair's liftline when it's warm, or worse if it warms up and then freezes.
 
Tony Crocker":310rd67u said:
Better stay in SLC during spring break unless you like skiing glue or it's a VERY unusual spring.
Click to expand...

Yep. In 1987 during the 4th week of April we spent a week skiing Snowbird during afternoons. Most skiers abandoned the slopes by 2 PM. I remember the shock of being launched out of my skis after coming off a blue slope and hitting the glue on the flatter terrain.

After that week we always spent our mid-Aprils in Summit County, CO and later Whistler and Mammoth. We usually skiied lots of spring snow, but we have never found hit the glue that I found at Snowbird in '87.

Cheers,
Jeff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top