The holidays are coming, and if you are like most people in the world, you are simply not ready to face the craziness of Thanksgiving or the chaos of Christmas, but that’s ok. The world is getting smaller every year, and your holiday celebrations can be held anywhere, with Sun Valley, Idaho becoming one of the top holiday vacation destinations in the nation! As the clock keeps ticking down and you rip another page off the calendar, now is the perfect time to start planning a holiday getaway in one of our Abode Sun Valley holiday hideaways that are large enough to handle your entire family for Holiday Family Gatherings, including much of your extended family.
Your Holiday, Your Way
Chances are you have very strong feelings about how both your Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations should look, and we agree. You should be able to celebrate the way you want, and for many people, they want to spend it with us! Our homes are large, spacious, and already cleaned until they sparkle, which means you won’t have to do a thing except unpack your clothes and stock your cabinets and fridge.
The charm of our mountain town will reflect in your celebrations, and no matter how you and your family spend your time with us, we can promise that you will feel at home and maybe even more comfortable than you do in your own home. Below, we are offering a glimpse in how wonderful your favorite holidays will be when spent in Sun Valley, Idaho.
An Idaho Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is for family, and family may go back several generations and expand exponentially with each new spouse, new child, and new grandchild that becomes a part of your “gang.” Our largest properties are quite grand indeed, offering 7 bedrooms and room for up to 20 guests, so everyone is invited to join in the festivities in our large estates in Sun Valley! We also offer plenty of smaller properties if you decide to run away from your extended relatives and celebrate with just your nuclear family. This is a no judgment zone, all that we care about is that you have the opportunity to enjoy Thanksgiving that will become a most cherished memory!
Something Different
If you don’t live in a mountain town, you may not realize that in most, including Sun Valley, Thanksgiving is the start of ski season. Our holiday celebrations often involve a day on the slopes, with the traditional feast occurring later! If you are choosing to cook a turkey, you will need to have someone stay home to monitor its progress, and in our families, the person on turkey watch is always a happy person, enjoying a few hours of warmth and quiet before the hordes return and the big celebration begins. There will be some restaurants open on the holiday, (We’ll talk about those a little further down the page!) so if you don’t want to miss out on the fun on the mountain, and you still want to eat a Thanksgiving feast, dining out may be your best solution.
Large Homes Offering Large Kitchens
Traditions are important at the holidays, and devouring a Thanksgiving feast is one of those very important decisions, but you may be wondering if there will be room in the kitchen for more than one chef. No one wants to cook for the hordes all alone, but everyone wants to enjoy their favorite dishes, and we have the solution. Our largest homes offer our largest kitchens, including ranges with double ovens, extra-large refrigerators, and even wine refrigerators. The spacious footprints of our kitchens are designed to handle the flow of multiple chefs, and the sous chefs can be seated at barstools, chopping, dicing and sharing in the joy of the holiday. Our supersized kitchens provide plenty of counterspace, so you will have a place for every dish you make. Whatever you do, don’t forget the dinner rolls!
Open for Thanksgiving
As we mentioned above, even our luxuriously appointed kitchens may not entice you to stay in and cook the Thanksgiving feast, and there will be no judgment over this decision. There are more than a few restaurants in town that will serve you and your family a delicious and traditional feast, and we have listed our favorites below!
The Ram, Sun Valley Resort
The Ram has been serving hungry people for over 80 years, including celebrities such as Bing Crosby and Marilyn Monroe, and their four-course prix-fixe Thanksgiving meal is a tradition you won’t want to skip!
The Sawtooth Club, Ketchum
Another local landmark, the Sawtooth Club, has been open for business for over 80 years as well, offering a traditional menu on the holiday. Open on Thanksgiving from 1:00 PM till 5:PM, you won’t be able to ski and dine, but you can always wait until everyone is Black Friday shopping to take your inaugural trip down the slopes.
The Grill at Knob Hill, Sun Valley Resort
Open for Thanksgiving dinner at 3 PM, you may be able to get a few runs down the mountain before heading home to clean up and go out to this very wonderful restaurant. This year’s meal will be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that we know you will love.
Your Idaho Christmas Cottage
Now that we have explored the ways our homes will make your Thanksgiving more thankful, it is time to turn the page on the calendar and visit our mountain town for Christmas. If you ever wondered what it would be like to live inside a snow globe, your Christmas in Idaho will give you the truest representation, and our homes somehow seem to jump out of the pages of Christmas stories when snow is blanketing the landscape. Our homes shine in any season, but as colorful lights on local businesses reflect against the white of the snow, and as Christmas carols can be heard everywhere you go, these spaces experience their own glow up, even if we haven’t decorated for Christmas.
Maybe you will stay up late on Christmas Eve, sipping wine with your spouse as you wrap last-minute gifts, A Christmas Story playing on our state of the art television and a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. Or maybe you are a last-minute shopper, and you find yourself dipping in and out of local shops on Christmas Eve, trying to finish your list before the stores close early. It doesn’t matter how you spend your Christmas Eve with us, just that your Christmas Day is everything you dreamed it could be!
Soothe Your Tired Muscles
Even though you didn’t have to clean the house from top to bottom, chances are you will be tired from your time on the slopes. Our Christmas present to you, in this case, can be found bubbling happily on our large back decks, and our larger homes will also offer larger hot tubs, so more of your traveling party can enjoy the hot tub experience at the same time. The roar of the jets that are magically hitting every achy spot won’t deter you from conversation, you just have to speak up a little louder to be heard. And as the snow falls gently on the landscape, your holiday getaway in our holiday hideaways will be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
Sticking with Your Traditions
We all have our own personal Christmas traditions, and just because you have traveled halfway across the United States, it doesn’t mean you have to skip the ones that are most important to you.
Some families like a Christmas Eve lasagna followed by a midnight mass; our fully equipped kitchens will help you make short work of the construction and baking of said lasagna, and everyone is welcome to midnight mass at our local Catholic Church.
Others save the big meal for Christmas day, preferring to watch holiday movies on the biggest of screens, something you will find in our properties with home theaters. Wake up early to the excited cries of children who can’t wait another second to start tearing into the presents you wrapped so carefully, munching on muffins or other pastries you baked yourself or purchased from our local bakeries just the day before.
Or maybe Christmas isn’t your holiday at all, and you choose this week to hit the slopes on a winter day that may not be as crowded, because yes, the slopes are open on Christmas Day. There are so many ways to celebrate any holiday when you choose Abode Sun Valley you may not be ready for all the good times to end at the end of your holiday visit.
Why Christmas Will Be Fun Again
Just as you may have stopped being thankful over Thanksgiving, it can be difficult to feel festive and fun at Christmas, but don’t worry. We’ve got your back, and your Christmas adventures at home will be ones you remember forevermore.
Deep tubs in the bathrooms entice you to grab a book, a glass of wine, and play some more Christmas music as you soak in the peace and prepare for a night filled with sugar plum dreams. Your kids may be just down the hall, practically vibrating with the excitement of the holiday, and may not even fight over gets the top bunk.
In the living room, the fire will be dying down, the snow will be falling on the landscape outside, and quite possibly the small tree you picked up from the Moss Garden Center will be decorated and lit with strings of lights and surrounded by colorfully wrapped presents. This Christmas card scene come to life will become a memory you cherish forever, with our large and welcoming abodes playing a very important character in the tale.
Don’t Forget About New Year’s Eve
It’s true, people don’t often travel over the New Year’s, but if you choose to start your new year and end the old with us in Sun Valley, our homes will be a welcoming place from which to celebrate! Night skiing is a popular activity on New Year’s Eve, offering moonlit turns, music, and a fireworks display that begins promptly at 9, ensuring you will be home soon after to partake in your favorite New Year’s Eve traditions. Watch Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s on televisions so large, it will feel as if you are standing in Times Square (only you will be comfortable, cozy, and warm), keep extra bottles of champagne chilled in wine refrigerators, and when that clock strikes 12, fireworks may be felt when you experience that first kiss of the new year.
Reserve Your Favorite Holiday Hideaway Today
Whether you’re looking to enjoy a white Christmas or start the new year off in a new way, our holiday Abode Sun Valley Rentals for Large Groups will provide a comfortable place to enjoy the season. Contact us today to reserve one of our Sun Valley holiday rentals!
