My ski club stayed here for a week while enjoying Winter Park resort and the nearby towns of Winter Park and Fraser. We had a number of 2 BR/2 BA units across the two buildings that comprise the Zephyr Mountain Lodge.
Location
Zephyr Mountain Lodge is currently the only ski-in/ski-out property at Winter Park – and that’s only if you’re in the Slopeside building. The Riverside building is a short walk across the plaza to the gondola. To me that would not be a big deal but some folks may find that a hassle.
If you’re driving to the resort or are arriving on a small shuttle bus you’ll likely turn on to Zephyr Way, the circle drive that’s in front of the Riverside building. That will put you at the main front desk in that building. If you arrive as we did, on a motor coach, you’ll come in on Nystrom Lane which leads to a circle drive in front of the Slopeside Building. The property management offices are located in the Slopeside Building.
Zephyr Mountain Lodge Slopeside Building
photo from Planet of Hotels.com
The two buildings are joined by a underground parking garage and if the snow is particularly deep or it’s very icy outside you may find it easier to travel between buildings this way, especially if you’re moving luggage.
2 Bedroom/2 Bath Unit
My friends and I (a couple and another female) were assigned unit 1701 which is on the top floor of the Slopeside building. Units 1700-1702 (on the left side as you look at the photo above) are slightly larger than some of the other units because there are no corresponding units across the hall. As you can see in the photo above, the balcony of the sixth floor sticks out a big and due to the large amount of snowfall, the snow was quite stacked up. I had to hold the camera up about a foot above eye level to see over it!
View from unit 1701 after quite a bit of snowfall
On one side of the door is a rack with several hooks, a great place for coats. A number of our units also had a bench immediately underneath that and this is where the spa towels were set out.
Kitchen and Front Door. Just to the right are coat hooks and a small bench.
On the other side of the door was the kitchen which was compact. When two people were in the kitchen it was a bit crowded. We didn’t cook much other than a frozen lasagna and some eggs in the morning and we had the dishes we needed for that. It would have been nice to have a few more place settings so we didn’t have to run the dishwasher so often.
Due to the extra length of the room (since there was no unit across the hall) we had enough room for a table and chairs. Having the bench on one side helped keep chairs from blocking the path into the master bedroom. Most of the other units we visited did not have a dining table but had bar stools by the counter.
The great room, large enough for a dining table.
Fireplace, TV and porch door
The sleeper sofa and the chair were quite comfortable and the large TV over the gas fireplace were nice. The door to the porch was sometimes left cracked open because heat rises and even with the thermostat turned all the way down it could get quite warm in this unit. The porch extended both ways in front of each of the two bedrooms and had a small table and two chairs on each side.
The master bedroom had a king bed with a chair in the corner and a six-drawer chest with a TV on top. It also had a good-sized closet and its own bathroom.
The master bath was quite large with its dual sinks, on the left and shower/tub and toilet on the right. The weird thing was that the light switch only handled lights over the sink. The only light over the toilet and tub was the heat lamp!
The second bedroom in this unit is a split-king and it was set up as twin beds for my roommate and me. This window is a bit smaller than the one in the master bedroom. We left the bottom right pane cranked open during our entire visit. It was so warm that we were sleeping in t-shirts/shorts and only using a sheet. I had the near bed and used the large chair to store my backpack on. This room (and I assume the master bedroom) could also use some more or better-positioned electrical outlets. My night stand had a lamp and an alarm clock so there was nowhere for me to plug in my phone or tablet. I had brought my trust extension cord with its multiple outlets and was able to use that for the lamp and my electronics. My poor roommate’s nearest outlet was directly behind her bed so she used the ones at the foot of her bed, which meant they weren’t easily accessible through the night.
Second Bedroom with split king bed
The six-drawer cabinet across from the bed had a small TV on it but we never used it.
Second bedroom chest and TV
The closet in this room is quite small since this is also where the owner’s closet is. As a result I put my shoes in the corner in front of the owner’s closet so my roommate could use the little floor space in our closet. We each had only three hangers.
Second Bedroom Closets
Our bathroom was in the hall, just inside the main entrance.
Hall Bathroom
While it did the trick, I had a few gripes about this room:
- The shelves above the toilet were so narrow I couldn’t even lay my Dopp kit down so I had to extract a few commonly-used items and set them on the shelf.
- There’s practically no counter space. We used a glass from the kitchen as a toothbrush holder.
- There’s only one hand-towel ring. I would assume most of the time there will be two people in the second bedroom so there should be two towel rings.
- Not visible in this photo are the two bath towel racks positioned across from the sink. I assume there were four sets of towels/wash cloths in case the sleeper sofa is in use. But that leaves nowhere for wet wash cloths to be hung. I would highly recommend some small hooks (like Command Strips) be added to the shower area not only for wash cloths but as a place to hang wet swimsuits (nowhere to hang those either!).
- The hair dryer was a measly 1500ish watts. My long-haired roommate was very glad she’d brought her 1875-watt one from home.
- The toilet seat seemed tiny. It was a small round shape and not the oval ones I’m accustomed to. As we get older, we tend to spread!
- Lastly, just a warning, when stepping into the tub it’s a bit of a higher step than some may expect.
Of course none of these are huge deals, just things that could have been better thought out. I did love that the shower head had an adjustable spray so I could get it as concentrated as I could. Note that once folks in the building begin coming in at the end of the ski day that the hot water is harder to come by. I always had plenty but I’d have to position the handle further to the hot side if I waited until afternoon to shower.
Toiletries were by Aveda and I liked the scent. I have short hair and there was enough in these small bottles for the shampoo and conditioner to last me for a week but only because my roommate began using her own products. For multiple people, much less folks with long and/or thick hair, you’ll need more than one set of bottles if you’re staying for any length of time.
Aveda Toiletries
Elevator Lobby
Each floor’s elevator lobby had a different mural. I quite liked our snowboarder on the edge!
Seventh Floor Elevator Lobby – each floor had a different design
Hot Tubs
Each of the buildings had two hot tubs. One an oval shape and the other circular. In the Riverside building the round one was out of order during our entire stay; it didn’t even have water in it. In our Slopeside building, on the one day I used the oval tub it was fine though not super-hot (folks who’d been in it on other days agreed). The round tub was in use some days and not on some other days. I’m not positive the jets worked in it.
Laundry Facilities
I’m not positive if the self-serve laundry facilities were available on every floor or maybe every-other floor but there were several in the building. These were old-fashioned coin-operated machines (one set of W&D per floor) and it was $1 to wash and $1.50 to dry.
Typical laundry room
Fitness Room
The small fitness room is on the bottom floor of the Riverside building so I trekked through the parking garage each day to visit it. It’s open 6 AM to 10 PM with quiet times being 6-8 AM and 9-10 PM. Three days I briefly shared the room with someone else but our stays never overlapped for long. You will need a room key both to get into the first floor area (there are lodging units further along the hall) and into the fitness room itself.
Upon entering there’s a barbell set on the left side. It can be positioned for anything from bench press to standing squats.
Fitness Room in Riverside Building
In the middle is a universal machine where the pulleys could be adjusted for numerous upper body exercises and a cuff was included to allow some leg exercises. Against the outside window were three cardio machines: a treadmill, an elliptical and an upright bicycle.
Fitness Room in Riverside Building
Against the same wall as the door was a set of hand weights, kettle bells and medicine balls.
Fitness Room in Riverside Building
In the end
These are not luxurious or especially large condos but they’re they only ski-in/ski-out units on the mountain. And that’s only if you’re in the Slopeside building. So the location is fantastic and it makes getting to the slopes quite easy each day, even if you have to walk just across the plaza.
2B Traveling 
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