Top Five Reasons to Bring the Whole Family to the Four Seasons Vail

With spacious and beautiful rooms, a prime location in Vail Village, plus an awesome heated outdoor pool, the brand-new Four Seasons Vail appeals to discerning travelers who enjoy top-notch accommodations and amenities while vacationing. I’d certainly recommend a getaway to this mountain resort for a couples’ escape or for a gaggle of girlfriends who would take advantage of the hotels’ ginormous spa. But families, too, are oh-so welcomed at the Four Seasons Vail. Here’s a peek at why you might consider a family vacation (even a long weekend) at this five-star property that just opened its doors in December 2010:

Kids club facility offers free child care for guests; children ages 5 to 12 are welcome.

1. Kids For All Seasons: This kids’ club program is available at many Four Seasons properties worldwide and activities and playspace varies according to the resort. In Vail, kids can play Wii and board games, and do arts & crafts, among other activities, in a small but colorful room across from the spa on the ground level of the hotel anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Kids are fully supervised by friendly, caring child-care attendants, and best of all, this service is completely complimentary!

I think this is an incredible option for parents, as I’ve seen similar kids’ clubs charge $50 to $90 a day at other Colorado mountain resorts. All parents need to do is register their children once, and then they can be dropped off for an hour or all day at any time during their stay. If the kids are playing in the room through breakfast or lunchtime, they can order off of a kid-friendly menu (also available for in-room dining and at the resort restaurants), that features items like French toast and cheesy scrambled eggs in the morning, and burgers, grilled cheese, chicken fingers and fish sticks in the afternoon.

Pool and foosball are among the activities in the Young Adults Club at the Four Seasons Vail.

2. Young Adults Club: This area just down the hallway from the Kids For All Seasons room is intended for tweens and teens, with a pool table, foosball table, teen magazines on the coffee table and books for borrowing (think Wimpy Kid, Twilight and Harry Potter) on the bookshelf. Kids can also access free internet here (bring your own laptop and ask the spa attendants for the password) and can borrow Playstation video games from the spa, as well. We saw a family with young children (about 5 years old) playing video games here, and my 8-year-old preferred playing a Playstation game over the Wii offerings in the kid’s club room. No one seemed to care that children under that “tween” age used the facilities, which was quite nice.

My kiddos loved their robes and slippers that fit them perfectly!

3. Amenities just for young guests: Kids are made to feel extra special at the Four Seasons when they enter their rooms to find special treats just for them. This year it’s a “grizzly bear in a can” for each child; every season the hotel offers a different little animal, so returning families can amass a collection of stuffed souvenirs from annual visits. A food amenity — like a chocolate-covered rice krispie treats or cookies and milk — also welcome children to the property.

In the rooms, it’s standard to find child-sized robes (to bring down to the awesome outdoor pool and hot tubs) and stools to help them reach the bathroom sinks. Everything in the Four Seasons is so nature-centric — beautiful dark hardwood and natural stone — I did find it strange that the kid-sized stools were green and white plastic; I thought it would fit the environment of the property more to offer a natural-wood stepstool. (The plastic was just glaring in this eco-friendly property.)

The outdoor pool is in a pretty courtyard below looming Four Seasons Vail.

4. Heated outdoor pool and hot tubs: As I mentioned, the 75-foot outdoor pool, the two hot tubs and the adjacent fireplace are so inviting for families. The water features are open year round, and we hung out in the steamy whirlpool (the kids braved the slightly cooler pool) while snowflakes fell during our visit. Robes and towels are warmed in an oven (!) next to the fireplace, and every afternoon a complimentary snack is served poolside, such as warm brownies or apple pie.

5. Still more free food: Children ages 5 and under eat for free off a children’s menu at the hotel’s Flame restaurant for breakfast and dinner, and coffee, tea and muffins in the lobby prior to 8 a.m. (My husband went down to the lobby looking for a place to buy bagels or pastries after 8 a.m., and the front desk kindly sent him to the restaurant, where staff there gave him some bear claws and muffins – nice!)

Just a couple more nice complimentary offerings at the Four Seasons Vail: Baby items on request, such as cribs, nightlights and baby bath products; a ski valet right at the base of Vail Mountain, steps from the Vista Bahn lift; DVD players in the room, with complimentary DVD lending library; espresso makers in the rooms (I would have preferred a regular ol’ coffee maker, but the front desk said did not have those on hand).

Television embedded into a room's mirror; first time I've ever seen this! Very cool.

Room configurations vary here. As guests of the hotel, we enjoyed a spacious Deluxe Mountain View One Bedroom Suite (with a TV in the bathroom mirror!) adjacent to a Mountain View Room that featured two double beds for the kids and a huge soaking tub. Indeed, this resort is pricey and nightly rates vary depending on time of year; it will be most expensive to stay here during the ski season and then slightly cheaper in the summer. For best value, check out prices in the shoulder seasons of spring and late fall; the least expensive rates I found for a family of four in a double-bedded room was $245/night in mid-May. Also peruse the special offers and multi-night packages.