Nestled in the Wasatch Mountains near Park City, Utah, Deer Valley Resort is emerging as a top destination for travelers who seek year-round outdoor experiences.
From skiing in the winter months to hiking and swimming in the summer — and dining any season — Deer Valley’s offerings are becoming increasingly enticing to travelers. And the resort’s accessibility to and from the nearby Salt Lake City International Airport — rivaling that of other top ski resorts across the country — makes it all the more attractive.
Deer Valley, which first opened in 1981, is expected to capture additional attention following an extensive expansion of the resort that will add more than 3,700 acres of skiable terrain as well as 250,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The majority of the resort’s ski improvements are set to open as early as the 2025-2026 winter season.
The project, Deer Valley East Village, is currently underway by Extell Development in collaboration with Alterra Mountain Company and is already drawing major hotel projects. In November, the 436-key Grand Hyatt Deer Valley opened as the anchor of the Deer Valley East Village redevelopment. Hilton, Four Seasons and other luxury hotel brands are next down the slope.
Amid the ski market’s growing popularity, Hotel Dive spoke with the developer behind Deer Valley East Village as well as local hotel and travel professionals to learn more about the resort’s expansion, including its uniquely diversified hotel ecosystem.
Hitting the slopes
Travelers are increasingly seeking immersive experiences and connection to the outdoors, as evidenced by the growth in visitation to Deer Valley Resort.
The resort has experienced a steady uptick in travel demand over the last several years, driven by a combination of strategic enhancements and evolving guest preferences, Emily Summers, director of communications for Deer Valley Resort, told Hotel Dive.
While Deer Valley has a cap on daily skier numbers — to “preserve the premium on-mountain experience,” per Summers — the resort has seen a consistent rise in visitation.
During the 2018-2019 ski season, skier visits increased by 12% year on year, following the resort’s inclusion in the Ikon Pass program, Summers shared. More recently, the 2023-2024 winter season saw bookings up 3% year over year, “reflecting strong and sustained interest,” she said.
Deer Valley is seeing steady visitation from families, including multigenerational groups, according to Summers. These guests value Deer Valley’s “approachable terrain and exceptional service,” including the resort’s ski school and children’s programs, she said. Multigenerational travel is a leading trend to watch in 2025, hospitality pros told Hotel Dive earlier this year.
Jarrod Finley, area director of sales and marketing at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, echoed the sentiment. “Deer Valley is a family-focused destination,” he told Hotel Dive, adding that at the Grand Hyatt, there are many “small children getting on skis for the first time with their parents, and grandparents are there too.”
In the first months of 2025, Finley said, the Grand Hyatt saw “a plethora of luxury travelers and families coming through the hotel.”
Visitors are particularly attracted to Deer Valley because of its ease of accessibility, Kurt Krieg, executive vice president of resort development at Extell Development, told Hotel Dive.
“Each resort and each brand that comes on board is going to have a slightly different angle and a niche to the consumer. We don’t see it as competition at all, because it’s just really elevating the Deer Valley East Village experience.”
Jarrod Finley
Area director of sales and marketing at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley
There are zero traffic lights from the Salt Lake City International Airport — which has undergone $4 billion worth of upgrades in recent years — to the Deer Valley East Village development site, making it a convenient destination for guests, Krieg noted.
The ease of accessibility gives Deer Valley a leg up on other popular U.S. ski destinations, including Lake Tahoe and Colorado mountain towns like Vail, where the resorts are “materially further” from an international airport, according to Krieg.
“What this allows [for] is on both ends — the day you come in and the day you leave as a guest — you can pretty much ski a half day if you choose to. So it really enhances the guest experience,” Krieg said.
Not just for skiers
It’s not just leisure visitors coming to Deer Valley, though, and it’s not only the winter months driving demand.
“Deer Valley is a true all-season resort,” Finley said.
Krieg echoed that sentiment, telling Hotel Dive that “when you really look at a true four-season resort, you need water, golf, hiking and biking — which we have.”
While the summer months attract plenty of leisure travelers, Finley noted that the off-season is when Grand Hyatt’s business mix “really does shift and becomes more meetings- and events-oriented.”
“We do see that avid adventure seeker that is looking for an elegant ski environment, but we also see groups and conventions,” Finley said. “Fortune 500 companies are bringing their top 20 customers out to wine, dine, entertain and get them on the ski slopes.”
The Grand Hyatt has roughly 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, including a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, making it one of the largest mountainside event facilities in the U.S., according to Hyatt.
The Grand Hyatt and other high-end lodging in the Deer Valley East Village pipeline are driving guests to the area, Summers noted.
Atypical alpine lodging
In addition to the Grand Hyatt, the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Deer Valley and a Canopy by Hilton lifestyle hotel are coming to Deer Valley East Village amid the resort’s expansion.
Announced in December, the Four Seasons property will offer 134 guest rooms and suites as well as 123 one- to six-bedroom private residences ranging in size from 1,200 to 7,000 square feet. The luxury resort will have wellness and fitness facilities with saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools and spa services as well as four dining options, including a ski-in/ski-out lounge with an outdoor terrace and fireplace.
The 180-key Canopy, meanwhile, will offer more than 9,600 square feet of food and beverage space across multiple concepts, including an après-ski lounge, a grab-and-go cafe and a rooftop lounge with mountain views. The property will also have a pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, fitness center and golf simulator, along with a dedicated ski reception lobby and ski locker room.
Deer Valley Resort’s existing reputation and destination appeal drove these big hotel brands to the table, Krieg said. And the uniquely diversified nature of the redevelopment’s hotel landscape has made these brands confident in the market’s viability going forward, he noted.
“One of the reasons that the brands were willing to come in, is because we’re not replicating,” Krieg said, noting that all the hotel concepts slated for Deer Valley East Village will complement, rather than cannibalize, one another.
The Grand Hyatt, Krieg noted, will cater to business travelers in the market, while Canopy by Hilton’s lifestyle offering will attract a younger, more leisure-oriented guest. The Four Seasons, with its residential component, will draw families and those looking for a luxury experience, he added.
“Each resort and each brand that comes on board is going to have a slightly different angle and a niche to the consumer,” Grand Hyatt’s Finley said, echoing Krieg. “We don’t see it as competition at all, because it’s just really elevating the Deer Valley East Village experience.”
It’s all uphill from here
Deer Valley’s diverse hotel ecosystem is growing beyond the publicly announced Four Seasons and Canopy projects, Krieg shared.
Another luxury hotel is set to break ground this spring at Deer Valley East Village, according to Krieg. While he declined to share the hotel brand, he noted the property will have a residential component.
Additionally, to accommodate an influx of hospitality workers, Extell is planning to build more than 660 units of permanent workforce housing at the project site.
The resort will have “everything from apartments to condos to dormitories and townhomes,” Krieg shared, noting that Extell aims to provide differentiated housing options for hospitality workers, just as it offers a mix of accommodations for travelers. The redevelopment is expected to create approximately 2,000 new job opportunities, per Extell.
When all is said and done, Deer Valley East Village will be North America’s newest luxury alpine village to be developed since 1981, according to the developer’s website.
