Viceroy Snowmass

Class: Deluxe

Style: Stylish alternative

Rooms: 173

Ski hotels in general were a little bit late hopping on the design bandwagon. But you’d expect Aspen, more than most resort towns, to be sensitive to the aesthetic dimension of a winter holiday. And in some cases you’d be right — nowhere more so than the sparkling new Viceroy Snowmass, which lies at the foot of the largest of Aspen’s four ski mountains, offering ski-in/ski-out access to some of Colorado’s best skiing.

As in the other Viceroys this one’s public spaces are a Kelly Wearstler production — the Viceroy Snowmass is understandably a bit less Hollywood-glam than some of Wearstler’s previous efforts, but nor is it a typical entry in the rustic-lodge genre. There’s plenty of bare wood, for example, but none of it is exactly rough-hewn, and despite the occasional antler the look is more modern-Zen than Alpine-château. The guest rooms, by Jean-Michel Gathy, are perhaps a little more sober, the bedrooms stylish and the living spaces nothing if not tasteful.

As for the more tangible comforts of the accommodations: they’re outfitted a bit more like apartments than hotel rooms, all 173 of them suites, at least nominally, from studios on up to massive four-bedrooms. There’s a full-service spa along with a fitness center, and one welcome touch that’s seemingly straight out of Hollywood or South Beach — namely the cabanas on the pool deck, a warm-weather conceit that works surprisingly well in these wintry climes.