Utah Vacation Homes  recently received Flipkey and TripAdvisor’s “Rated Excellent” digital badge.  The badge is awarded to rental managers who have outstanding properties and provide excellent service based on reviews from past guests.

We’re excited to receive the badge as a result of the quality of properties we manage and the diligent work our team does to help create a positive and memorable Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah vacation.

Park City is a well known winter ski and snowboard destination, but summers in Park City are becoming increasingly popular and with good reason – there is something for everyone.

As I posted a few days ago Park City is home to the Deer Valley Music Festival, but Park City’s summer entertainment doesn’t stop there.  The Park City Food and Wine Classic begins today at The St Regis Deer Valley with Wine on the Mountain Kickoff Celebration and ends on Sunday July 10 with High West Beerunch.

This year the 42 annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival will be held August 4-7, 2011.  (If you come for the Arts Festival be sure to attend Deer Valley Music Festival, that weekend concert will be Broadway Rocks).

As far as free events go free concerts can be found at Deer Valley on Wednesday evenings, at NewPark and Silver Star Cafe on Thursday evenings,  and at Canyons Resort on Saturday evenings.  For a good resource of Park City’s summer music scene visit Park City Live Music.    For other Park City events check-out VisitParkCity.com

Please let us know your favorite Park City summer activity.

Deer Valley has hosted Utah Symphony’s summer weekend classical and pops performances for more than 20 years, and the Deer Valley Music Festival for eight seasons. The weekend classical and pops performances and Deer Valley Music Festival have joined together and are a huge success with amazing concerts. The 2011 festival will be no different and is sure to entertain.

Deer Valley Music Festival begins July 16 with “The Music of the Eagles”. As the title states it’s music of The Eagles performed with the Utah Symphony. For those “Sound of Music” lovers the Von Trapp great-grandchildren will perform music from musical on July 22. This concert should please the whole family. The festival ends August 13 with “The Music of Queen”.   Concerts are every weekend between July 16 and August 13 with others throughout the week.

To make a concert evening even more memorable bring a picnic. Concessions are provided for concerts at Deer Valley Resort, but they also allow you to bring your own food and beverages.

If you go please share your experience with us.

Visit Deer Valley Music Festival for more concert and ticket information.

You may wonder why all the fuss about Redstone in Park City.   One of my co-workers, Lisa, describes  Redstone “as the new Old Town – with parking”.    There are so many activities available at Redstone including a movie theater, shops, restaurants, bowling, and more.

We recently celebrated one of my nephews birthdays at Jupiter Bowl at Redstone.  His younger brother remarked “this was the best birthday he had ever been to”.  He was right.  Everyone was more than entertained and our group consisted of  kids as young as 3 and adults near 70.  We’ve done bowling birthday parties before, and one of our family traditions has been a bowling tournament Thanksgiving night.  While we have always had fun, Jupiter Bowl was especially fun, it was “bowling in style” (Jupiter Bowl won “Best Bowling in Style” in City Weekly’s 2011 Best Of).

In addition to a great bowling alley that doesn’t feel all grimy, Redstone has fabulous restaurants, one of my favorites is Red Rock Brewery.  If you go to Red Rock make sure to try the French Onion Steak Sandwich – AMAZING.  Another favorite is Hapa for sushi.

If you’re looking for lodging close to all the action at Red Rock our Fox Point #2 is a perfect fit.  It’s also on Park City’s complimentary shuttle route an added bonus to easily get to Park City’s other major attractions.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Utah Arts Festival.  If you’ve never enjoyed the festival  this is the year to go.  The festival features something for everyone, even kids.  Kids are sure to enjoy the Art Yard and Target’s Mad Hatter.  While music lovers will be blown away by local and national musicians playing blues, funk, bluegrass, jazz, rock, indie, celtic, and salsa.  I’m really looking forward to the glass blowing workshop, as I’ve always wanted to try it.

The Utah Arts Festival begins June 23 and lasts until the 26th.  Adults entrance is just $10, seniors (65 and older) is $5, and children (12 and under) is free.

Let us know if you go and what you enjoyed.

Some of our guests call and ask, “Is it really ski in ski out?” I can understand why they ask. Hotels and condo complexes in many ski resort destinations advertise that they are ski in ski out properties. Some really fit the bill, but many others are streaching the truth. If it takes time or distance to get on the snow, you really miss out on the fun. Vintage on the Strand is the real deal. Take a look at the video clip to see just how easy it is to get out and skiing or snowboarding on the snow at Canyons Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah.

I get that it’s May and most of us are ready to hike, mountain bike, golf, and just enjoy some warm weather – I’m ready for those things too.  However before we enjoy the warmth too much I want to brag about an epic ski season that I posted about clear back in November.

Most of Utah’s ski resorts have closed for the 2010/2011 Ski Season, but it isn’t due to the lack of snow.  Snowbird will remain open for skiing and boarding on weekends at least until Memorial Day weekend.  It seems likely to be later than that, perhaps even as late as July 4, which has only happened two other times in 2005 and 1995.

On average ski resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons (Alta, Brighton, Solitude, and Snowbird) receive 500 inches of snowfall, however the last several years have been AMAZING with snow totals well over average.   Snowbird has received over 600 inches for four consecutive seasons, and as of today this years snow total is 711 inches.  WOW!!!!

Maybe next season Snowbird won’t get 711 inches, but it’s almost a guarantee they’ll receive over 500 inches of Utah’s famous powder.  So while you’re pulling out your bike, clubs, hiking boots, swim suit, or other summer gear don’t put skiing or snowboarding too far out of your mind and maybe make some plans for 2011/2012.

Written by: Apryl Wissler

Even though we had a rough start to our little vacation Slopes and Shores #2 made it all better. With the snow storm on top of us we just wanted to be in a warm home to relax. Once we were all inside after getting everyone up the mountain we were able to relax. The best way to relax was in the hot tub, even with the snow! The sensation of sitting in the hot tub with the snow falling was wonderful. We wanted to stay out there all night just to relax! Once it got late it was time to go bed but the bed was so comfortable it didn’t take long to fall asleep! Even though you may have a rough start nothing beats being able to relax to de-stress!

I’m excited to share a recent press release detailing a TV show that our clients will enjoy. Our clients have already experienced the great option of renting a vacation home. More and more Americans are also discovering the advantages in staying in a rental home rather than a hotel. I’m looking forward to watching this and the other destination episodes.

New PBS Reality Travel Series Brings “Togethering” to TV – Getting Away Together highlights the real experiences of travelers sharing vacations with friends and family across America

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 28, 2011) – The Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) today announced its new PBS reality television show Getting Away Together. The first travel show to focus on the “togethering” trend, this exciting new series is set to feature diverse groups of real travelers vacationing together across America. The program will also follow participants staying together underneath the same roof in vacation rental homes, villas and condos – one of the fastest-growing lodging segments today.

“More than 25 million American households are interested in staying in vacation rentals during the next two years, and many will be doing so for the first time,” explains Alex Risser, President of the VRMA.

The organization introduces the show as part of its Discover Vacation Homes awareness initiative, together with series sponsors TripAdvisor®, CSA Travel Protection and 13 dynamic travel destinations. According to the second annual vacation rentals survey conducted by TripAdvisor.com, 40 percent of respondents said they are planning a vacation rental stay in 2011, indicating that rental homes are poised for a busy year ahead. Thirty-three percent of travelers said they stayed in a vacation rental in 2010.

Getting Away Together debuts in October 2011, calling attention to compelling life stories, destinations, “best-kept” travel secrets and takeaway tips to help viewers make decisions about their upcoming travels. From girlfriend getaways to family reunions and milestone celebrations, each episode features a new group of travelers as they unwind with meaningful travel experiences in fun locales, with vacation rentals as their home base.

The VRMA, together with its series and destination sponsors, have committed to producing the show in support of vacation rental hospitality, which boosts vital tourism economies across North America.

The series is produced by Emmy Award-winning PineRidge Film & Television Company for distribution exclusively on PBS member stations nationwide.

For information and updates about Getting Away Together, please visit www.GettingAwayTogether.com or “like” the series on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GettingAwayTogether.

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About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, Vacation Rentals, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor, TripAdvisor.com and the TripAdvisor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

©2011 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.

About CSA Travel Protection

CSA Travel Protection, a Europ Assistance company, is dedicated to providing affordable travel insurance and emergency assistance services to protect travelers’ valuable investments and provide the peace of mind one deserves while traveling. Since its inception in 1991, CSA has developed a reputation for standing behind its customers and products and services to meet their needs. Through superior customer service, extensive experience and industry-leading innovation, CSA is with its clients every step of the way, whenever and wherever they are needed.

About the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA)

The VRMA is the professional trade association of the vacation rental property management and hospitality industries. Founded in 1985, the VRMA has served up to 600 property management and associate members throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean.

About VRMA’s Discover Vacation Homes Initiative

Discover Vacation Homes is the trusted public voice on vacation rentals, providing an official resource for vacation rental travel information. As the awareness initiative of the VRMA, it has represented up to 150,000 rental homes, condos and villas from more than 500 of the most well established vacation rental management companies in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

About PineRidge Productions

As a division of Jerry Smith Film & Television, PineRidge Film & Television Company develops, produces and delivers quality television programs, utilizing an Emmy Award-winning production team. Since 1985, PineRidge has commissioned more than a thousand half-hour shows and 34 hour-long Prime Time specials. Perhaps best known for their series on Discovery Travel Channel including Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America and Samantha Brown’s Weekends, PineRidge also produces for HGTV, Fine Living Network, Food Network and PBS stations nationwide.

Media Contact:

Amanda Drake, Ypartnership, (727) 420-8395, Amanda.Drake@ypartnership.com

Each year two groups of people descend on Park City during Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival. The first group is as suspected – film buffs and celebrity stalkers. It’s fun to see LA move up north for a few weeks. The second group flies under the radar. This group is made up of die hard skiers who know the slopes will be less crowded than normal. For this group, a chance to ski while the action is in town is a delight. Whatever group you belong to, enjoy the opportunities brought by the Sundance Film Festival and our three amazing ski resorts – Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and Canyons!