The Arrabelle at Vail Square looks as though it has been lifted from an old Austrian town square. With its painted facades, clock tower and steep gabled roofs, it is the centrepiece of Lionshead Village, a few steps from the Eagle Bahn Gondola. Inside, it is an intimate luxury hotel with just 62 rooms, a rooftop pool with mountain views and one of the best ski valets in Vail, while the square outside becomes an ice rink in winter.
The Arrabelle at Vail Square looks as though it has been lifted from an old Austrian town square. With its painted facades, clock tower and steep gabled roofs, it is the centrepiece of Lionshead Village, a few steps from the Eagle Bahn Gondola. Inside, it is an intimate luxury hotel with just 62 rooms, a rooftop pool with mountain views and one of the best ski valets in Vail, while the square outside becomes an ice rink in winter.
Location: Lionshead, Vail, Colorado
The Arrabelle sits on Vail Square, at the heart of Lionshead Village, the western of Vail's two main base areas. The Eagle Bahn Gondola is just steps away, so you can be on the mountain within minutes of leaving your room, and the square around the hotel is lined with more than 33,000 square feet of shops, galleries and restaurants. Vail Village is a pleasant walk or free bus ride away.
Vail is one of the largest ski resorts in North America, with more than 5,300 skiable acres spread across the front face, the famous Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. The town, built in the 1960s in the style of a Tyrolean village, sits in the Gore Valley along Interstate 70, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Denver. Eagle County Airport is around 55 kilometres away, and Denver International Airport is usually a two- to three-hour drive, depending on traffic and snow.
Rooms and suites at The Arrabelle
There are 62 rooms and suites, averaging around 50 square metres, plus around 25 private residences with one to five bedrooms. The design draws on the old towns of Innsbruck, Salzburg and Prague, with a warm, European Alpine style: rich fabrics, carved wood, stone fireplaces and soaking tubs.
Many rooms have balconies over Vail Square or towards the mountain. Residences, with full kitchens and living rooms, suit families and groups, and a personal butler service is available. For the best experience, ask for a room facing the mountain and the gondola.
Facilities at The Arrabelle
The rooftop pool is the hotel's most memorable feature: a heated lap pool and hot tubs high above Vail Square, looking up at the slopes. A soak here at dusk, as the lights come on across Lionshead, is a quintessential Vail experience.
The RockResorts Spa offers massages, body wraps and treatments designed for tired skiers, and there is a fitness centre. The ski and boot valet will have your equipment warmed and waiting each morning, with the gondola just across the square.
In winter, Vail Square becomes an outdoor ice rink, which is especially popular with children. The hotel has its own restaurant and bar, and dozens of restaurants, cafés and après-ski bars are within a few minutes' walk. Guests also have access to the private Red Sky Golf Club in summer.
The mountain moment
The Arrabelle moment is the end of a Vail ski day: you click out of your skis, hand them to the valet and walk across the square to the rooftop pool. As the sun sets behind the mountain, you float in the warm water while skaters circle the ice rink below and the clock tower lights up, as if you were in an Alpine village in Austria rather than the Colorado Rockies.
Why The Arrabelle is one of the best mountain hotels
The Arrabelle earns its place for location and charm. It is one of very few Vail hotels with the lifts on its doorstep, and its European design, intimate scale, rooftop pool and ice rink give it a real sense of place. The rooms are not as large as some of Vail's newer hotels, and the square can be busy in peak weeks. But for convenience and atmosphere, it is outstanding.
For big-hotel luxury on the edge of Vail Village, see Four Seasons Resort Vail. For a family-run classic, try Sonnenalp Vail.
When to go to The Arrabelle
The ski season usually runs from mid-November to mid-April, with the best snow from January to March and the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin usually fully open by midwinter. The ice rink operates through the winter. Book early for Christmas, New Year, February and March holiday weeks.
In summer, the Eagle Bahn Gondola carries hikers and mountain bikers up to Adventure Ridge, Vail hosts music and food festivals, and the Red Sky Golf Club comes into its own. September brings golden aspens and quieter trails.
Questions, answered
- Is The Arrabelle at Vail Square ski-in, ski-out?
- Effectively, yes. The hotel is steps from Lionshead's Eagle Bahn Gondola, and the ski valet stores and warms your equipment.
- Does The Arrabelle have a pool?
- Yes. There is a heated rooftop lap pool with hot tubs and mountain views.
- Is there an ice rink at The Arrabelle?
- Yes. In winter, Vail Square in front of the hotel becomes an outdoor ice rink.
- Is The Arrabelle in Vail Village or Lionshead?
- It is in Lionshead Village, the western base area of Vail. Vail Village is a short walk or free bus ride away.
