A guide to booking bed and breakfasts in Utah
Packing in great summits, world-class ski resorts, cacti-speckled canyon walls and wiggling rivers, Utah is a bona fide outdoorsy playground. Throw in the buzz of Salt Lake City and some arty resorts with their cable cars and film fests, and you start to get a small idea of just how amazing the Beehive State can be. Bed and breakfasts in Utah are doozy for getting a local’s welcome, and for exploring some of its more off-beat corners and towns…
What types of B&Bs in Utah are out there?
The pointers below reveal just a few of the various types of bed and breakfasts you can expect to find in the Beehive State. From dusty saloons that’ll leave you feeling like a rancher to sumptuous ski resort stays, there’s all types…
Mountain escapes of all sorts
There are bed and breakfasts in Utah where you can wake to visions of the cathedral-like bluffs of Canyon Country. There are others that’ll put you at the base of the whizzing ski slopes of Park City. And there are some that cluster between the blinding white summits and fir forests of Dixie, adding the scrambling paths and the rock-climbing faces of Zion National Park just outside the door.
A Utah inn that’s steeped in history
Give a “yeehaw” and a “giddy up” – Utah is the picture of the Wild West. Carved monument mountains and totem-pole hoodoos give way to snow-mantled Rocky peaks in this land of breathtaking wonders. Between it all are some immersive dust-blown mining towns from the 1800s, along with old frontier settlements where the inns have been hosting adventurers since the days of the pioneers.
The undeniable romance of a bed and breakfast in Utah
Just imagine it – soaking in a steaming hot tub as the stars twinkle overhead and the serrated tops of the Canyonlands loom in silhouette. Or, think about being pampered in a pretty alpine lodge, with flickering fireplaces and patios where you can sit watching skiers shoot down the diamond runs. Yep, there’s plenty of romance to go around in Utah’s B&Bs.
Great destinations in Utah for booking B&Bs
There’s certainly no shortage of spots in Utah that will get you pulling out the camera and snapping shots. What’s more, B&Bs offer a unique chance to get out and about in smaller towns, more off-beat destinations, and even on the fringes of amazing national parks. There’s just a taster below…
In the shadow of the mountains in Sandy
Consistently rated as one of the best places to live in the country, sleepy and loveable Sandy is a great suburban cutout of Salt Lake City. But its B&Bs aren’t uniquely urban. They also look out over the nearby summits, and they are perhaps the closest you can get to Twin Peaks and the world-class ski runs of the Alta resort.
Parowan, Utah, bed and breakfast escapes
Quaint and charming Parowan, Utah, is ringed by more national parks and state reserves than you can shake a guide to the Rocky Mountains at. The orange-tinted bluffs and majestic hoodoo clusters of Dixie National Forest are just to the east. Meanwhile, Zion National Park and its Shangri-La of waterfalls, green-glowing rock pools, and mighty climbing walls is south. It’s a place that really beckons adventurers.
A desert jaunt out in the Moab Valley
The extremities of western Utah are taken over by the rust-red landscapes of the Moab Desert. It’s more hospitable than it sounds, don’t worry. In fact, there are big and luxurious B&Bs in these parts, opening up to grounds where bubbling spa baths have front-row seats over great gorges and escarpments.
Ways to secure bargain B&Bs in Utah
With a whirlwind of ski lessons, off-trail snowboarding jaunts, wild kayaking adventures down the meanders of the canyon-ringed Colorado River, horse riding in the Moab, and oodles, oodles more on the menu, it’s easy to see why you might want to keep things on the low-cost side when it comes to Utah accommodation.
Always book your stay well in advance
It makes no difference if you’re coming to pull on the ski suit and hit the slopes of Alta, or to clip onto ropes to conquer the rock faces of Zion National Park, it’s always going to be cheaper on the B&B front if you opt to book nice and early. Otherwise, the best deals are bound to be snapped up by other travelers.
Know the changes of the seasons
Winters see prices shoot skywards in the ski resorts of the Wasatch Range. Summers are high time in Salt Lake City’s monument-filled blocks. Hikers like spring and autumn in the national parks. The upshot? Knowing when’s hot and when’s not can really help you pinpoint that all-important moment when bed and breakfasts tend to be cheapest.
Go a little off-radar
There are loads of ways you can dodge the crowds and escape the peak of prices in B&Bs in Utah. Adventures to the southern reserves, for example, can be bargain-friendly if you decide to choose Parowan bed and breakfasts a little away from park boundaries. Meanwhile, suburban getaways like Sandy are typically easy on the wallet, though they still come with the awesome winter resorts and big sights of SLC on the doorstep.