Virtuoso Luxury Travel Mart & Montage Deer Valley

Last week I attended my first Virtuoso Luxury TravelMart at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was four days, jam-packed with four minute speed dates with THE MOST incredible and exclusive 5-star/5-diamond hotels and resorts in the WORLD.  I had over 350 speed meetings in those four days – with whom at many times, were with the owners of these fabulous places or the CEO’s of all these highly specialized tour companies. Meeting the owners of The Jade Mountain Saint Lucia was like meeting a celebrity family to me. A place I have dreamed about and admired for a long, long time, and here are the owners sitting right in front of me!

It was an incredible experience. I met with people from places I didn’t know existed and I got to know the representatives of The Four Seasons Jackson Hole, Amangani, Snake River Lodge & Spa and other regional luxury resorts. I hit it off with the gal that was there representing Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort and can’t wait to go visit her and their resort! I also got to know some of my Elite Travel International team as well as meet Erina and Michael with SmartFlyer (our East Coast Virtuoso affiliate).  I found myself pinching myself the final night at the gala dinner. Here I was – sitting amongst some major powerhouses in the industry. How did I get so lucky?!

Stacy Small, who is Elite Travel International’s founder and president, heads our table. She just rated #16 in the world as a “Most Influential Traveler”.  This is a woman that I admire a lot.  To think I used to read her monthly magazine column in agent@home like The Bible, and now here I am - part of her team.  All the ladies that make up Elite Travel International are as different as night and day - but we all share a common goal and passion as well as the determination to succeed.  I was most impressed with the 20 year old L.A. intern Stacy has, named Mina. I’ve never met a more level headed, driven and no-nonsense young lady in my life. Supermodel beautiful and kind hearted, Mina didn’t even know who “Snookie” was.

And then “Luxe Tiffany” as she is better known in the twitter world, sits down right beside me for dinner! She just rated #11 in the world as a “Most Influential Traveler” and represents Conde Naste as their Luxury Hotel Inspector.  Her husband even treats her to turndown service at home, because he knows she likes it so much; and she was so sweet and nice to talk to that I’m sure he loves doing it for her.  I just felt so, so privileged to be sitting amongst such influential and savvy people. I came home inspired and motivated in whole new ways. To say seeing all of these western luxury lodges got my wheels spinning thinking about Frontier Town is an understatement…  My dreams and plans just keep getting bigger and better…

Before I flew off to Las Vegas, Ty and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary at Montage Deer Valley in Park City Utah.  In perfect harmony with its majestic Wasatch Mountain setting, this refined Mountain Craftsman resort evokes the splendor of North America's great mountain lodges through mountain-inspired décor, extensive artwork and architecture that remains authentic to the region. Equal parts recreational haven and inviting private residence, Montage Deer Valley's 154 guestrooms and more than 66 suites and residences offer spacious accommodations with gas fireplaces and breathtaking alpine views.

 

 

Guests enjoy extensive 24-hour services, amenities and recreational programs that make the most of the location amidst thousands of acres of pristine, wooded forests. Their 35,000-square-foot Spa Montage offers alpine-inspired treatments and daily fitness classes. Savory culinary experiences range from the signature mountain American grill specialties of Apex and slope-side après-ski terrace to the modern gastro-pub classics of Daly's Pub & Rec with its very own bowling alley. In addition, Compass Sports mountain outfitter will provide full ski/bike concierge and signature valet services.

 

Movie under the stars featuring 'smores with homemade gourmet marshmellos!



Spa Montage

A wealth of inspiring private venues - the resort features more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space including two sprawling seasonal lawns with stunning mountain and valley panoramas - provide a picturesque backdrop to any occasion you bring to the mountains, from intimate anniversary celebrations and executive strategy sessions to grand wedding receptions. Their year-round repertoire of abundant indoor/outdoor activities and family-friendly pursuits makes Montage Deer Valley an idyllic place to reconnect with nature, family and friends. And for many of you Rock Springs people this is a quick two hour car trip. Keep this place in mind if you want to treat yourself and your family to an incredible mountain experience in beautiful Park City!!!

My First Memory

Life is an interesting thing. The paths we take and the dreams that inspire us. It's the difference between just talking about achieving your goals or chasing your dreams and DOING IT. Anyone that knows me, knows that it is my biggest life's dream to own my grandfather's Frontier Town out of Helena, Montana. As a young girl I grew up in this amazing frontier fort city that my grandfather had built single handedly over 30 years starting back in the 1940's.  I was very much the frontier princess. Oblivious to the cherished moment in time I was living in.

For my first official blog ~ I'll share with you my first and one of my favorite, honest-to-God memories.

I was four and half years old... It was summertime 1985 in Montana, and the annual Western Rondezvous of Art was being held at Frontier Town, as it had been every year. The festival brought artists from all over the region to set up their easels, tables for carvings, or other works of art on the mountainside atop MacDonald Pass, home of Frontier Town. It was invite-only this year and it was an absolute full house on the mountain that afternoon.

It was a perfect summer day. I remember the breathtaking 75 mile view of Montana's capital city and the Helena Valley being picture perfect with cotton candy clouds that day as I remember making out a turtle in one of them. the air smelled of fresh Rocky Mountain air, the sweet, almost vanilla-like perfume of pine trees and occasionally a drift of deliciousness from the back door of the Frontier Town restaurant.

I was what people may have called a bit mischievous or maybe even bratty as a youngster, and that day I decided to run away from my babysitter to hide amongst the artists and wander about looking at the paintings, drawings, and other various art on display. It was nice to not be leashed to a babysitter for the moment. I had no idea that the moment upon which I was about to chance would etch itself in my memory as one of my first, and most significant memories in my lifetime.

I'll never forget meandering in and out of people, poking in and out of booths as artists set up with their easels, and skipping around like I owned the joint, because, let's face it, I kinda thought I did since it was MY grandfather, John Raphael Quigley, descendant of the Montana Pioneers, who single-handedly (with occasional help) founded, created and built Frontier Town.

I parted through a group of people and almost ran right into my grandfather sitting in one of his handmade log chairs, laughing and talking to an artist who was sketching an incredible colored pencil rendition of him. I stood there watching as he told the artist a story, swirling his whisky around in his glass while she sketched him flawlessly. Her artist's eye was paying special attention to the buckskin fringe shirt that was my grandfather's signature look, and capturing his persona perfectly.

Even at that young age, I knew it would have been inappropriate to have gone up to him and flung myself into his lap, arms around his neck, like I so badly wanted to do. So, I just stood back and watched. He never saw me or was aware of me. In fact, it was like I was watching it all through a bubble. I stayed and watched for a few more minutes before I raced off to find my mother. You see, my grandfather had died in 1979, three years before I was born...

Upon finding my mother and babysitter, who were both furious at me for taking off, I tried to explain through gulps of air, what and whom I had seen. We all went running back to the spot where the artist and my grandfather were set up. We parted the crowd very much like how I had done ten minutes earlier. And when we did... there was no one there. No artist. No easel. No Booth. No grandfather. Nothing. That night I went to my closet where I knew my grandfather's buckskin shirt hung in the way back ~ behind winter coats and other seasonal clothing. It was on the other side of my closet, like it has just been hung up. I'll never forget the feeling that came over me in that moment, and I haven't questioned that memory since. It happened.