Headed out to Salt Lake City for some snow and fun. I recently did a status match with
Delta Airlines and was pleasantly surprised to get upgraded. It will be interesting to see with the changes United is making to their mileageplus program if I'm better off switching to another carrier. It will be strange since I've primarily made Star Alliance and United my main carriers.
I was able to get dinner at
Hoof and Vine upon landing into Salt Lake City. I was attending a group dinner and the preset menu included an option to have elk. Not a common dish for me, I found the elk entrée excellent. I finished off the meal with the peach bread pudding.
 |
| Snowbird Resort |
Checked into the
Homewood Suites Salt Lake City Draper for the night before heading out for snowboarding. The hotel was nice, the suite was an oversized studio. Good space for all my extra large gear with me. The breakfast option was the typical Homewood Suites menu. The next day, I went to
Snowbird Resort to catch some packed powder on the mountain. Luckily, a snowstorm had hit and the locals/tourists hadn't arrived into the resort. A relatively empty mountain, I was able to hit the runs without fear of hitting into someone or being clipped by someone else.
 |
| Homewood Suites Salt Lake City Draper King Studio Suite |
I had mistakenly made an un-cancellable reservation at the
Waldorf Astoria Park City. So I 'had' to stay the night in Park City. On this trip, I would be given a King room. I do reminisce for the good old days when Diamond was difficult to achieve and the hotels would automatically give you a suite. The room was still nice as I remembered. The front desk agent made it sound as if the hotel had undergone renovations but I didn't see much of a difference from the first time I stayed here.
 |
| Waldorf Astoria Park City King Room |
After a day of snowboarding, I was tired and went straight to the hotel. Dinner was at Powder (inside the hotel). The only available seating was in the bar area which was fine with me. I found dinner good and pricy. I enjoyed my squid ink duck ravioli. The 'beignets' were undercooked for me. Luckily, the nightly s'mores at the hotel fire pit made up for the lack of dessert.
 |
| Waldorf Astoria Park City Fire Pit/S'mores |
 |
| Waldorf Astoria Park City Gingerbread House Lobby Display |
The next day, I had breakfast at Powder. I did not care for breakfast as much and should have went with the continental option. The breakfast sandwich was fine but I found it a little bland. Typically, Waldorfs don't give breakfast options to Diamond members so this is a recent change in loyalty perks.
I had debated about doing a second day of snowboarding but opted to get a massage instead in the Waldorf. It was a nice change of pace and the masseuse did wonders on my back. I didn't have time to explore all of the spa amenities but it was nice from what I could see.
The hotel didn't let me do a late checkout (at least not until 4 pm) so I opted to head back into Salt Lake City and grabbed lunch at
R&R BBQ before heading to the airport. Had my two meat plate of baby back ribs and chopped brisket. I wanted to buy a bottle of their hot sauce but they had run out with their Christmas promotion (four pint glasses and one bottle for $20).
 |
| R&R BBQ |
For the return flight home, I flew on
Southwest Airlines. Although I would have flown back on Delta, a free flight can't be beat (I'm a designated companion passholder). I did miss the priority luggage aspect compared to United.
Comments