Zephyr Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Winter Park

I spent a week here with my ski club. We all had 2 BR/2 BA condos that were quite similar but, since the condos are independently owned, there were definitely some differences.||Condos are spread across two buildings: Slopeside and Riverside. The Slopeside building is true ski-in/ski-out. The Riverside building requires a short walk across the plaza to reach the gondola. The two buildings are joined by an underground parking garage. While both buildings have their own hot tubs and self-serve laundry facilities, only Riverside has a small gym. Both buildings also have a ski locker room that's large enough for both skis/boards as well as boots. The room key will work on the ski locker.||Our condo was on the top floor of the Slopeside building. Condos 1700-1702 are a bit larger (not sure if there are corresponding larger condos at the other end of the floor) as there is no unit on the other side of the hall. The views in these condos all face away from the ski hill. The 2BR units I visited all seemed to have the same layout; the difference was the square footage of each room. Upon entry there's a hook for coats and a place for boots just inside the door. Many units had a bench there as well. On the other side was the kitchen. It's efficient but feels crowded with more than one person standing in it. Our unit could have used a few more place settings so we didn't have to run the dishwasher as often.||Going further into the room, the living area with a gas fireplace and the sofa was just past the kitchen. On the kitchen side was a door to the master bedroom and on the other was a door to the second bedroom and another door to the bathroom.||The kitchen has a narrow bar-type counter and in many units this was the only type of "table" available. One unit I visited did have a drop-leaf table tucked against that counter but it also interrupted the flow of walking into the master bedroom. Our larger unit had what was essentially a picnic table with chairs though it did have a bench on the side nearest the kitchen which helped create a larger walkway into the master bedroom.||The larger units have a balcony that extends from in front of one bedroom, across the living room and in front of the other bedroom. In the smaller units the balcony is only in front of the second bedroom, which cuts into its square footage.||In the larger units the master bedroom was a very nice size and had its own en suite bathroom. One weird thing about that bathroom in our unit was that the light switch only controlled the light over the sink. The only light over the toilet & shower/tub was the heat lamp!||The second bedroom in the larger units were also a good size. We had a six-drawer cabinet and a very small closet with 6 hangers. The owners closet was also in this room. When the rooms are renovated it would be good to consider adding more electrical outlets. The outlet nearest my side of the bed was occupied with a lamp and the alarm clock. Fortunately I'd brought an extension cord with multiple outlets on it. My roommate's nearest outlet was actually behind the bed so she used one across from the foot of her bed but that meant unplugging the floor lamp.||The hall bath is much smaller than the master bath but was generally fine. I did find it was a rather tall step into the tub. Aveeno hair and body products in very small containers were provided. If you have long or thick hair and are staying for any length of time you're going to need more. Extra hooks/towel racks would be greatly appreciated in the second bath. There are two towel racks and they're initially loaded up with four towels and four washcloths. That's great, but once you use a wash cloth where is it supposed to hang? I'd suggest adding little hooks (like those with Command Strips) inside the shower area. Those would be great not only for wash cloths but also to hang wet swim suits. The provided hair dryer is only about 1500 watts so if you have long or thick hair you may want to bring your own. All the toilet seats seemed very small. They were the round shape vs the oval shape. May be fine for little kids but as we age and start to "spread" those bigger seats are a lot more practical!||The master bedroom had a king bed and the second bedroom had a split king; that is, the king could be split into twins which is what we did. The sofa in our unit was also a sleeper so theoretically 6 people could stay here but it would be quite crowded.||Our condo was on the top floor and it was warm all the time. We looked at the thermostat and it was set as low as it would go so all the heat was coming from the floors below. In our second bedroom we even had a foot-level window opened for our entire stay and we were still very warm at night.||One gripe several of us had was the wi-fi. While it was free, sometimes it would drop for no apparent reason, even as you're using it. It was not really an issue while streaming or on a Zoom call but if you were, say, reading a web page and then went to the next page, the connection may have been lost in the meantime. When I left the condo and came back my phone never automatically reconnected although that's not an issue I have other places. In that case we usually just had to hit the 'Sign in' button again but if it dropped while we were using it we often had to turn off the wi-fi on our devices and turn it back on, which was frustrating.||As far as I'm aware this is the only ski-in/ski-out property in Winter Park. I would certainly stay here again for the convenience and it generally...

Long story short, the hotel should have been closed. It was an unsafe, chemical-ridden, construction site.

Details Booked room for night of September 10th. Showed up to widespread construction; the elevators had been removed (we were advised to take the stairs up to the lobby), the whole parking structure smelled of O-zone and chemicals. (Which makes sense, given that the elevators had just been cut out of the building.)

None of this was indicated to us at the time of booking. No heads up of the construction was given.

When we asked how to get to our room, we were instructed to walk back down into the parking garage, through the garage, and back up the stairs on the other side, to get to our room. Why? Because the path between the lobby and our room was closed for construction.

To add insult to injury, the entire courtyard of the hotel (the main attraction, in the summer, and why we were coming) was an even bigger construction site - and completely closed off.

And if that wasn't bad enough - our room wasn't ready when we arrived.

And when we had finally had enough, we let the check-in staff know that we were not going to be staying because my wife is pregnant and we were concerned about being around so many chemicals, the staff had the nerve to tell use that we would not be refunded.

Mind you, the furthest, at this point, we had gotten into the hotel was the lobby. We hadn't even come close to a room, let alone even enter a room.

When we spelled out what the check-in staff was telling us, did they finally say 'well we'll see what we can do about refunding you'.

It's worth noting that we hadn't even entered a room, let alone stayed in one. And we were leaving because the property was not at all advertised like it is on the website. The website shows a lovely courtyard, functioning lobby, great spaces to enjoy. When we showed up there was none of this, and a distinct impression that the air you're breathing is not safe.

Frankly, I'm surprised the OSHA is OK even with the workers there working in the conditions in which they were working. As far as I can tell, the ventilation systems had been disabled as part of the elevator install, so all the residual O-zone and other harsh chemicals hung in the air, stale and putrid. My guess is that the same high-voltage lines that run the elevators, run the ventilation systems. So when the lines had to be disconnected to pull the elevators, the ventilation was disconnected as well.

Anyways, it was really bad. I couldn't stand breathing it, and even more so couldn't stand that my pregnant wife was having to breathe it.

When I reminded the hotel staff, once again, of all these reasons, of the bait-and-switch that had been done, finally they confirmed that they'd refund our money.

So in short: It was advertised as nice, calm retreat into the mountains. It was actually a putrid, unventilated, O-zone ridden construction site. Despite not staying, the staff was insistent on charging us for the room.

It was a shocking experience.

Oh, also: It's listed as having air-conditioning in the summer. It doesn't. This, of course, was the least of our concerns given the that the whole property was in shambles upon...

This Lodge had the perfect location at winter Park. Very easy access to the slopes and the restaurants/bars on site.

I've only stayed in the two bedroom condos. The condos are clean and well stocked (with a few exceptions). Employees are always willing to lend a hand or help out however you need. The condos have a full kitchen with stove, oven, microwave and dishwasher. The refrigerator is full size and has an ice maker. The living room has one couch, an oversized chair and a gas fireplace that throws out an impressive amount of heat. The revamped condos do not have a table. Instead they have a bar counter overlooking the kitchen. Three stools fit comfortably, but not the fourth. The beds are comfortable. Linens are tidy. The bathrooms are very large but have little storage. They are stocked with shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion. The master bedroom has a king size bed with a small dresser. The second bedroom has two twin beds with a very small open triangular shelving unit stuffed in a corner. Some condos have different bed configurations. Both rooms have a closet. The condo comes with plenty of dishes, glassware, pots, etc. There is a coffee maker and toaster. Our unit even had a toaster oven but that does vary. The units are fairly quiet between units but you do hear noise from outside the condo, especially the snow grooming or moving equipment You can also hear people in the hallway. There is a small bench next to the door for putting on boots. There are four hooks for jackets, a few small cubbies for gloves/hat and a too high basket. Two sets of boots easily fit under the bench. There is a small patio off the living room with two chairs.

The Lodge is separated into two buildings, one called slopeside and one called Riverside. Both have condos facing the mountain and condos facing away. Both have their own set of jacuzzis. Both have a ski locker area. The ski lockers are new and large enough to easily hold four pairs of skis and poles. They are electronic using a key fob. The setup is strange so look at the map first to find where your locker is. Both buildings have a common area, but the lobby is only in Riverside. The elevators have been upgraded and are nicer and faster than before.

What I'd like to see next time (why they lost a star) -a sponge or scrubber of some type (there was none), a dimmer on the can lights (it's either shining in your eyes or too dark), more seating (replace the oversize chair with a small love seat), bring back a dresser in the second bedroom. What they do right? Location, comfy beds, good kitchen setup, large rooms, lockers, nice welcoming...