The Sebastian - Vail — Hotel in Vail

We recently stayed at this hotel while attending a wedding, choosing to extend our stay to explore Vail. Unfortunately, our experience was consistently disappointing, and I feel compelled to share the full scope of what occurred. However, I will say that the staff definitely made the stay more pleasant and tried to accommodate the best they could hence giving it 4 stars. In addition, there were several members of the staff that agree there are issues at the hotel.||1. Reservation Issues|We had a room block for the wedding, but the booking link did not work properly. Around January 2025, I called the hotel directly. A staff member assisted me and provided a confirmation number, but I never received a confirmation email. When I followed up, the second representative couldn’t find any reservation under my name. If I hadn’t double-checked, I would’ve arrived with no room reserved. This was both frustrating and stressful given the nature of our trip.||2. A/C Problems|Upon arrival, we discovered the air conditioning wasn’t working—and no one informed us at check-in. Only when we asked at the front desk were we told it would be fixed the next day. It took two full days, and even then, it never cooled below 71 degrees (despite being set to 65). We had to sleep with the windows open, which only opened 4–5 inches and faced a busy road. Traffic noise and warm temperatures made for uncomfortable nights. Others from the wedding party also had to be moved due to extremely hot rooms.||3. Bellman & Room Upgrade Confusion|Victor, the bellman, was excellent—friendly, informative, and welcoming. We appreciated his tips. However, we never received the water we requested to be sent to our room. I had upgraded our room but wasn’t informed of what the upgrade entailed. When Victor showed us in, the connecting room was unlocked, so he left it open, assuming it was part of the upgrade because we didn't know what the upgrade included. We didn’t use it, except to take the water that was there since ours never arrived. Kimberly later kindly provided bottled water from the lobby when we walked down to request it.||4. Concierge Unavailable|We attempted to reach the concierge, Steve, multiple times, both in person and via phone. He was never at the desk when we asked, and despite leaving messages, he never returned our calls.||5. Room Assignment Mix-Up|Robert from the hotel called about the attached room, but I missed his call and returned it shortly after. He was busy, so I hung up and went to the lobby—only to overhear him discussing my situation with the mother of the bride (MOB). He incorrectly assumed we thought the extra room was ours and stated it was meant for her mother, who had to have her room switched three times. He also claimed it was a handicap-accessible room, which I confirmed it was not after personally showing the MOB. Another person attending the wedding heard be at the desk and said I ditto everything she said, she was having the same frustrating experience.||6. Privacy Violation|While in our room, which has a hallway leading from the main door, I heard a faint knock. Before I could get to the door, a lead housekeeper entered the room—despite the “Do Not Disturb” sign being displayed. I was shocked. She said she needed to access the adjoining room, but I reminded her she had a master key. She claimed her key didn’t work. I let her in and unlocked our side of the door to find that the other side was also closed. She said thank you and was ready to leave when I informed her that a bathroom lightbulb was out, and the door latch was missing—a true safety concerns. Neither issue was addressed during our stay.||7. Unauthorized Entry (Again)|Later, we returned to our room to find a bottle of champagne and macaroons—with no note—despite the DND sign being on the door. While the gesture was appreciated, i had just requested that no one enter our room due to the incident with housekeeping. In addition, no one at the front desk could confirm who sent it. I later learned it came from the event coordinator as an apology—but only found that out after we were already home. ||8. Housekeeping Miscommunications|When I asked a housekeeper for towels, she brought robes instead. Small, but frustrating, especially when added to the larger issues.||9. Lack of Follow-Up|a couple of staff members said they’d call me back and either never did or didn’t follow through as promised. Communication throughout the stay was lacking.||10. Billing Confusion|I noticed a charge on my card from a bike shop affiliated with the hotel. No one could identify the charge at first, though they later confirmed it was for a bike rental after i questioned it. In addition, I thought they were affiliated and asked the rental place if we got a discount, they said not. Later I found out we should have received 10% off. This should have been clearer from the start.||11. Wedding Dinner Service|At the wedding, seating was mixed up, so we weren’t in our assigned seats. A server tried to place the fish entrée in front of my husband, who had ordered beef. When we explained the seating issue, she became visibly frustrated, placed the plate down abruptly, said “whatever,” and walked away—never returning. Another server apologized and said she would notify the manager.||12. Front Office Manager Interaction|When I shared my concerns with Haley, the front office manager, she seemed indifferent and annoyed—not nearly as empathetic as others I spoke with.||13. Room Condition|The leather couch in our room was visibly dirty and uncomfortable.||14. Final billing|the bill was extremely confusing. The credits were hard to understand and lacked back up information. There were credits under the payment column. The total was the same under payment/credits/billed information. Took us hours to go through ourselves and figure it out. ||Positives:|Kimberly, Mia, and Mary (spa) were all kind, empathetic, and helpful.||Victor, the bellman, stood out with his hospitality.||Bryanna, the group room coordinator, was professional and understanding.||The bed was comfortable, and the rooms themselves were well-designed, although the suite layout was strange, with it being separate rooms plus the adjoining room, all off the same hallway.||Mary at the spa gave me 50% off, which was appreciated.||The hotel did provide some Compensation: |40% off for three nights - provided to all at the wedding for the AC inconvenience. Most didn't have the other concerns/issues we had, or at least I didn't hear of them other than a few having to move due to the heat. ||One free night||upgrade fees waived||Parking fees waived||Resort fees waived||However, given the sheer number and seriousness of issues we encountered, I truly felt the entire stay should have been comped. I expressed this to both Haley and Bryanna. Bryanna said she would ask. Haley later called back and offered us one free night on a future stay. I explained we don’t plan to return to Colorado anytime soon. She reiterated that was all they were willing to offer. For context, one night at the hotel is about $400, and they had already comped about $1,100. For the remaining $600, they were willing to accept my review instead of fully owning the guest...

My boyfriend and I booked a last minute 3 day vacation at the Sebastian in Vail, Colorado over MLK weekend. It has been exactly two years since I’ve skied, after sustaining a major ski collision two years ago at Vail Mountain, and recovering from a ACL and meniscus surgery. I previously lived in Vail for 9 years, skied almost 40 days every season, and was excited to get back for Day 1 on the mountain. I have three major complaints about the customer service and quality of the room at this property:

1). After booking this hotel, the hotel called me and left a voicemail with a pre-check-in courtesy call. They asked for me to call back and share any anniversaries, birthdays, and reason for the visit. I called the hotel back and it took about 4 attempts to finally get routed to the correct person. The front desk person had no idea why I would be calling, did not understand why someone from the hotel was calling to ask about anniversaries, and I felt incredibly awkward and foolish for calling to explain that this was my two year anniversary of a debilitating injury and first time skiing again. They noted the “anniversary”, and said they were excited to welcome us to the property. Upon arrival, there was no acknowledgement of our conversation, or my injury, not even verbally, and no recognition of our purpose for the visit. I felt like an idiot for even have responding to the voicemail that the hotel left me, and wonder why the hotel even goes out of the way for these pre-courtesy check calls if they don’t acknowledge any of the questions that they have you answer. The hotel made me a little excited to expect something upon arrival – and there was nothing. To the hotel: don’t call and ask if you aren’t prepared to celebrate milestones or anniversaries with the guests.

2). Upon check-in, I received my skis and boots that were shipped to me from my attorney (after my ski collision accident), and the hotel did not offer to send them to “Base-Camp”, which is the area by the gondola that guest skis and boots are stored for easy ski-in and ski-out privileges. I had to call the front desk several times to ask for the equipment to be picked up and transported to Base Camp. Each time, the front desk said that this was a service not provided, and I needed to wait until the morning to take my own equipment to the gondola. In the morning, I checked again, and the front desk apologized, had someone pick up our equipment and transported to Base Camp, which is supposed to be included as part of our stay. This took about an hour for the equipment to be transported due to the busy morning (when it should have been done the night before at check in), and we were late to miss first tracks on the mountain.

3). The bath tub in the property was clogged and water was quickly filling the shower/tub. I removed the drain, and there was a disgusting amount of hair that pulled up with the drain, and made me gag and nearly vomit. See attached picture.

At nearly $1,000 a room night at this hotel, I would expect the highest of customer service, cleanest property, and better guest services. Never ever again will I stay at this hotel. I’d rather go across the way to the Sonnenalp, Four Seasons, or even Christy Lodge in Avon. The Sebastian gives Vail a bad name, and as a former local, I’d hoped for a better welcome...

For expensive Vail, The Sebastian is a welcome upscale hotel that puts the guest experience first with a plethora of included amenities. Yes the nightly rate can get high, but it’s Vail, and this hotel is really a great value for a true 4star hotel. The rooms are stocked with large refillable water bottles, free trail mix, and Nespresso machines with pods - all of which you can get refreshed at any time. WiFi is free (hate being charged for that these days), and they have tea and coffee in the library most of the day until they put out afternoon cookies and hot chocolate. It’s very dog friendly and a great deal for bringing a pup as the flat $150/stay includes a dog bed, bowls, and treats which is such a nice touch getting a little something for the pet fee and I love that it’s not a nightly charge (much more fair that way). The rooms are very nice - nothing extra fancy or special but updated and clean and everything you need for a nice stay. I think they have a modern instant hot water system as every time we took showers it takes about 3-5mins to get hot water but that’s totally fine as long as you know to wait for it (we first thought they ran out of hot water). The pool area is such a treat with 4 hot tubs and a heated pool to enjoy year round. The Gym is great too - much bigger than the photos, and yes they have 2 Pelotons with baskets for regular sneakers (which they should advertise). Every single staff member was incredibly friendly and helpful from the valet and front desk to concierge, room service and housekeeping. The room service online ordering system is awesome - really nice touch and comes usually within 30-40 mins - food was okay, nothing amazing but did the trick for breakfast. The ski valet system for your ski gear by the gondola might be my favorite amenity!! What a treat to avoid clunking through town in ski boots hauling all your gear around. They have a retail shop just for the hotel near Gondola 1 where your ski gear is taken upon hotel arrival, and you can walk over and store any items you don’t want to take skiing in their provided bins. HUGE luxury on a ski trip! Then just call to have your ski gear sent back for checkout or whenever you ask for it back at the hotel. The hotel is in a great location, right in Vail Village. Couldn’t be happier with our stay, and we’re actually locals who live 15 mins down the street in Edwards but stayed here during a conference of my husband’s instead of driving back and forth, and I got to enjoy a stay-cation. Couldn’t have asked for a better value stay and experience! I’m definitely a fan of the guest experience...