After selecting our Essential 38 ski town hotels yesterday, we're back to present our readers with the most beautiful lobbies in ski country. From the funky Sky Hotel to the understated Washington School House Hotel to the award-winning lobby renovation at the Hotel Jerome, we've put together seven of our favorites.
? Stowe Mountain Lodge While the de facto Vermont design centers around quaint and cozy, Stowe Mountain Lodge's capacious two-story lobby gives plenty of room to breath and see the slopes with floor-to-ceiling glass. A central circular nave makes for a central meeting place, while the real highlight is the columns of birch trees that bring the forest feel indoors.
? Mount Washington Valley Resort 250 Italian craftsman were brought to the White Mountains at the turn of the 20th century to build coal magnate Joseph Stickney's grand resort, and its lobby is one of the great products of their labor. Exuding an old-world elegance seldom found in ski country, the vast rectangular lobby is broken up by several reading nooks and handsome chandeliers.
? Viceroy Snowmass A modern and asymmetrical take on the classic hotel lobby, the reception area at the Viceroy Snowmass is highlighted by a gas fireplace ensconced in a tubular glass case and wall dividers made up of Aspen branches laid together like earthen wrought-iron gates. The adjoining Eight K lounge & restaurant is even more of a visual trip, with horizontally-laid wine bottles contrasting with vertically-laid wood slats along the walls.
? The Sky Hotel Aspen's funkiest hotel gets the point across immediately upon entering, with its signature oversized chairs, like something out of Alice and Wonderland, featured prominently in the lobby and in many Sky party photo booths. A single, prominent dinner table gives you the feeling of walking into a wild but comforting home, while big windows facing Aspen mountain and the large tree trunk beams maintain the connection to the hotel's natural surroundings.
? Hotel Jerome Aspen's oldest hotel underwent a massive renovation in 2012 that completely turned around the Jerome's dated lobby, despite the requirement that the renovation preserve original interior features of the 124-year old building. The effort by local design firm Rowland & Broughton was spectacular enough for Forbes to name it one of the top ten hotel renovations of the year. We'll let the photos speak for themselves.
? Washington School House Hotel The most understated of our picks here, the living room/lobby at Park City's Washington School House Hotel uses a few key pieces, namely the antler chandelier, fireplace, gold-trimmed mirror, and a few quiet pieces of period furniture to bring a measured level of old-world grace to the space without being overbearing in the least bit.
? The Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe The Ritz, mid-mountain at Norhstar-at-Tahoe, relies on a powerful central architectural feature – its 55-foot tall stone fireplace – to anchor the octagonal lobby that grows outward from the flames coming from the fires at the center towards the overhead wooden beams. It's a space that commands your attention as you stop for a drink after the ski day.