photo: Dan Campbell
photo: Park City Chamber/Bureau
photo: Mike Tittel
bask beyond | by jenn thornton
Just one hour in Park City, Utah and already I’ve shaken
hands with three locals who, when its revealed that I’m bunking at the historic Washington School House Hotel, all give a familiar nod—and, in the case of the kindly octogenarian I encounter out front, an actual tour of the place. While regaling me with tales of his life in Park City—its various incarnations including both a boomtown and a ghost town—he bounds inside rather robustly for a man of his age, swiftly pointing out his likeness in one of the black and white classroom photos gracing the walls (presumably for proof ), then his very first classroom (coincidentally, my suite). Everyone in Park City, it seems, has some kind of connection to the Washington School House Hotel, be it loose or legitimate. It does, after all, have quite a past— built in 1889, it’s served as everything from a war-years veteran’s hall to a crash pad for wayward hippies.
Today, its luster comes in part from its storied surroundings. Park City sits amid a montage of rambling fields, snow-dusted mountains, and sprawling backcountry— with prime access to the area’s vaunted assets, including world-class recreation and, thanks to a little undertaking called the Sundance Film Festival, significant culture. Situated near buzzy Main Street, the hotel is just minutes from Park City’s Town Lift, and mere steps away from the Kimball Art Center, shops, and restaurants, yet far removed, in both tone and translation, from the crowds. What the tiny in-town hotel lacks in the flashy expanse, it more than makes up for in uniqueness. Ritzy in all the right ways, the refurbished schoolhouse is sophisticatedly spare, featuring an elegant mix of antique furnishings with splashes of 56
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modern accents. Modified spaces give way to contemporary spoils, including a pool, mini apothecary, and a luxe lounge appointed with plush banquettes, a magnificent fireplace and, glistening overhead, a dramatic white-lacquered chandelier.
This tasteful interplay extends to all 12 of the hotel’s western-chic roosts, including my two-story lofted one-bedroom suite, which functions more as a quiet corner apartment. Downstairs, a chandelier dripping in melodrama lords over a setteappointed living area, complete with towering 9-foot windows and a spiral staircase. Upstairs, a separate open-loft sitting area features an inviting French daybed and a serene bedroom hosting a king-size bed draped in crisp-white Pratesi linens, made all the more brilliant by the contrasting rich hardwoord floors. A cascade of curtains, meanwhile, cocoons the space for sectioned-off slumber.
Elsewhere the situation is equally generous, with the staff clearly taking its cues from the at-your-every-whim service playbook. Always attending, yet never chaperoning, they hit just the right pitch, supplying insider dish on Park City and French press coffee around the clock (even, ahem, during the middle of the night, without raising an eyebrow). This discreet turndown also turns up original beside amenities—one night it’s a hardcover tome of Henry David Thoreau essays, and the next a gourmet twist on freshly baked s’mores. Breakfast, meanwhile, produces a surplus of fresh-off-thegriddle pancakes, satiating omelets, and mountain-ready muffins, while afternoons brings après-ski snacks—that are especially delightful enjoyed fireside after chilly day of exploring. Now that’s class! WashingtonSchoolHouseHotel.com