Cedar House Sport Hotel: luxery in the mountains

Why do we go to the mountains? Sometimes I think it is about being surrounded by the smell of cedar and pine. If the trees could talk, they’d be saying, “Welcome to the high country, city girl, what took you so long to get here?” Breathing in their scent reminds me of seeing an old friend I haven’t talked with in a long time. Who cares what we’ve been up to, let’s go have some fun now.

And so I arrived in Truckee, CA with my five-year-old to introduce him to the snow, the trees, and the fun of trying new things. We don’t often have an opportunity to spend one-on-one time together. This called for an overnight that was a little more special than normal. I couldn’t have called it better when I found the Cedar House Sport Hotel. The hotel is divided into several buildings. All of them look as though they were built from the surrounding trees, all smell of fresh cedar.  One thing I love about this particular place is that it demonstrates that you can be both environmentally friendly as well as high-end. The rooms are contemporary in style. Each room offers individual down comforters, thus you don’t need to have the thermostat on at night. A well-thought out plumbing system allows for instantaneous hot water in each room. (The shower heads also have anti-scald devices.) Not many snow-surrounded hotels can offer such guilty pleasures. Also worth mentioning, a water-retention pond was built at the front of the property so that run-off water stays on site and can be used again.

Dare I ask for more? It’s a gorgeous place to stay, it’s environmentally conscious in design… but can we call it kid-friendly? My five-year-old was sold when a plate of cookies adorned the mini-bar near the front desk. The hotel was originally designed as a couples’ getaway. Patty, the owner, mentions that although not originally intended to attract families, they have many families who come back year after year. Five of the hotel’s rooms are apartment-like suites, great for extended stays with kids. Ten rooms have two queens in a standard sized room, the other 27 rooms have one bed, and all include a mini-fridge.

Also on the property is Stellas, which serves dinner several days of the week and where the complimentary gourmet breakfast is held. Many hotels offer a complimentary breakfast – often a buffet of cereals or bagels and donuts. My chin about hit the floor when we came down to breakfast and found white linen tables and a menu of delicious home-cooked choices. The waitress offered us a choice of pastry items from a basket as we first sat down. Then my son had the bagels with cream cheese and lox with fruit on the side, and I chose a vegetable omelette. We had juice, chocolate milk, and coffee as well. It was more food than either of us could finish.

And if you are still not sold on the Cedar House Sport Hotel, let me also mention they are pet-friendly (some restrictions apply and a pet fee is required). Need some ideas of things to do? The hotel has partnered with adventure activity businesses, and offers a range of winter packages. You can have multi-day clinics at the North American Ski Training Center, take a Wilderness Adventure Dog Sled Tour, go on a guided snowshoe hike, learn to rock climb or mountain bike, or book an ice-skating package.  Check their website calendar for onsite cooking and gardening classes which occur in the spring.

Its true that my visits to the mountains are often short. But like my visits with my oldest friends, I will keep talking about them for years.

Note: I received a complimentary night’s stay. This article is, however, is my own reflection of our experience.