Beaver Creek Colorado Health & Fitness Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Outdoor Adventures Spas Vail: Colorado Lion Square Lodge mountain residences outdoor activities Solaris Spas summer fun Vail Vail Vitality Center
by maribeth
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Pampered, Privileged and Fun-Loving Vail
Solaris Residences in Vail
Private Terrace at Solaris
More Stylin’ at Solaris
Maybe you’re a part of the one percent and are looking for a great lodging recommendation in Colorado. Maybe you just want to peek behind closed doors to see how the ultra rich vacation. Or, maybe you just want some insider tips on where to find some family fun in Vail, Colorado. Either way, please read on and enjoy my pictures.
Sleeping in Style
Sweet Dreams
Like many other travelers, the ultra rich have discovered the joys of vacationing in our mountain towns winter and summer. What’s changed in recent years, however, is that in addition to staying in hotels and houses, they like to stay–or reside in–residences. I’m talking full-service spreads that can make them feel at home in sprawling style while delighting in the benefits of the amenities of a full-service hotel.
Sweet Basil
Sweet Basil in Vail, Colorado
Oh, sweet basil. I hope you’ve been delighting in plenty of this ambrosial herb this summer, especially served up with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo milk mozzarella, rich olive oil and aged balsamic. Hallelujah. I love this time of year. And perhaps no other ingredient conjures up images of a memorable, aromatic meal than sweet basil.
Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Salad in the Heart of the Rockies
Sweet Basil. Such an appropriate name for a restaurant that creates and presents dish after dish of extraordinary flavor, texture and finesse. And they’ve been doing so for some thirty-three years. In Vail, Colorado, in perhaps the top mountain destination of North America where jet setters and regular folk flock season after season in search of great skiing, tons of mountain fun and always a fine meal to be enjoyed in a tony setting.
If it’s a warm, late or Indian summer day, start out with a Pimm’s Cup, perhaps out on the front patio of this Vail Village restaurant, a refreshing opener of Pimm’s, the ever-so flavorful gin-based liqueur, served with fresh-squeezed lemon and garnished with lime and cucumber. That, or a perfectly chilled glass of rosé, will accompany your study of Sweet Basil’s glorious lunch and dinner menus just right. Menus that take you on a journey through Colorado’s most delectable offerings of locally-sourced products, prime ingredients from all over the country and dishes prepared with great originality and panache. But it’s never too much. Just like sweet basil, you can always count on the perfect balance of flavor in all that you taste within this lovely dining establishment.
Sweet Basil: Always a Lively Scene
At times Sweet Basil can nonetheless be downright astonishing. I was dazzled by one of my most memorable dishes ever here: a compressed watermelon salad consisting of warm, grilled haloumi cheese, cool filets of condensed watermelon (sous vide or vacuum packed) mint, watercress and aged balsamic. Fabuleux! And that was only for starters.
I’ve lunched twice at Sweet Basil and it now ranks among my top recommendations for best culinary experience in Colorado. As for the ambiance, it can’t be beat either. I love the mix of locals and international guests, all casually yet smartly dressed and clearly quite ebullient about the stories they have to share over lunch and dinner. As for the decor and service, it’s top notch, too, without a hint of snobbisme. And here’s another bit of good news: Sweet Basil has a book coming out this fall, so I’m confident I’ll be bringing sweet basil home more than ever. I’ll keep you posted.
Sweet Basil, 193 Gore Creek Drive, 970-476-0125, SweetBasil-Vail.com
Colorado Mountain Living Spas Telluride: Colorado epic snow year Madeline Hotel Spa mountain life mountain spas Spirit of the Mountains Telluride treatments
by maribeth
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Taking a Break from Skiing at the Madeline Spa
The Glorious Pool at the Madeline
Boy, what a season it has been here in Telluride, Colorado! I’m sure you’ve heard of the record-breaking snowfalls we’ve had. The skiing and riding have been extraordinary. But with all the joy that came with so many powder days, the massive accumulations of snow also created a lot of hassles and unfortunately many sorrows. Daily drives to and from work in slick, whiteout conditions were numerous. (One day after the marshal helped me dig out my car, I careened into a snowbank down the road. Thankfully there’s always a capable mountain man with a big rig in these parts that shows up happy to help out at just the right moment.)
It was so cold and snowy that the Telluride School District closed twice, something that rarely happens even once a year in this rugged mountain town. And yes, the avalanches were plentiful. Their force barreled down in parts that hadn’t slid in years, leaving all kinds of destruction in their paths, creating road closures, evacuations of homes and businesses and sadly in Telluride, two deaths of locals. In a small community such as ours, you’re up close and personal to such events and each happening packs a wallop, a harsh reminder of the force of nature and the immortality of us all.
Indeed, it was a winter that most of us here in the West weathered with grit.
For me, it was additionally challenging because I had a body part that crapped out on me. That seems to happen to a lot of us ski instructors. So when I finally learned that the pain I was enduring was due to a worn out hip–bone-on-bone–no less–I heard firsthand from a seemingly endless stream of instructors, patrollers and just general mountain people about their tales of “replaced parts.” Yes, I’m in need of a hip replacement, something I’ll do this off season in order to be in shape for next ski season. Fortunately I have a surplus of friends and acquaintances that have assured me that “it’s no big deal.” Such is life in a mountain town.
A cortisone shot, Celebrex, CBD salve and a little extra wine have helped me through. But I have to say that it’s been tough keeping up with the physical therapy and soaks that I promised myself I’d make a part of my regular regime. Life has a way of getting away from you, especially during a banner ski year!
I did, however, have the luxury of experiencing The Spa at Madeline Hotel & Residences, an Auberge Resort, here in Telluride. And I swear that the half day spent there was like the equivalent of several PT sessions and Epsom Salts baths combined. It was so healing and restorative!
