Delta Residences at Sun Peaks Resort

The best of all worlds written by Susan M. Boyce for the BC Homes & Resorts February 23rd to March 23rd, 2007 edition of the real estate magazine. Added to the Condo Blogger because it provides useful information for the Delta Residences at Sun Peaks resort recreational real estate market. Well written and personal, Susan M. Boyce does an excellent job with creating the resort atmosphere and master planned community at the Delta Residences at Sun Peaks.

It’s no secret I have a soft spot in my heart for Sun Peaks. Crisp air, lush forested setting, the whimsical Sud-Tyrol architecture that always makes me think of sipping wine on the balcony of an Italian chalet in northern Italy – it just feels good here.

And every time I visit I’m amazed how fast the Delta Residences at Sun Peaks is taking shape right before my eyes. Of course, I’ve been following construction via the site’s web cam for months, but there’s nothing quite like being able to actually touch the building and walk through the spaces – naturally with my trusty hard hat planted firmly on my head.

I’m not the only one eagerly watching the Delta Residences at Sun Peak Resort’s progress either. “Real estate buyers are stopping by all the time to see for themselves or just to say hi,” says Craig Anderson, marketing consultant with Pilot House. “And now is the prime time to buy because you’re still getting preconstruction [presales] pricing on all remaining units.”

An Investment for the Future

Delta Residences at Sun Peaks is committed to introducing a new level of luxury and opulence to the community. Granite countertops in kitchen and bath, deep soaker tubs plus separate glass showers, cozy fireplaces, rich wood-tone detailing, and an abundance of jewel-tone fabrics – it’s all about relaxation and being pampered to the ultimate degree.

Personally though, my favourite feature is the fact every home owner enjoys full access to all the amenities of the adjoining Delta Sun Peaks Hotel – pool, hot tub, health club, room service, and even housekeeping. “Even though you’ve got full, gourmet kitche, if you don’t feel like cooking you just order from room service – easy,” Craig says grinning broadly. “I’ve bought here, and I can’t wait.”

But the Delta Residences at Sun Peaks is more than a luxurious vacation retreat – it’s an investment in the future. “Sun Peaks Resort still has so much growth ahead, and as people see the vision of what this community will ultimately be, they recognize this is a stable, long term investment” says Francis Argouin, sales and marketing director for Sun Peaks Resort.

“We are now starting phase two of four real estate development phases,” Francis says. “The Delta Residences, however, is the last ski in/ski out property that will be built in the heart of the Village – that makes it even more desireable.” And with some local houses now pushing past the benchmark $1 million mark, he believes these units will do nothing buy appreciate.

Year Round Enjoyment

Every Sun Peaks visit I learn something new. Last time I discovered Sun Peaks is the second largest skiable terrain in BC. But not being a skier myself, this trip’s gem is far more interesting on a personal level. “Our mountain bike park is the second largest in BC and fifth largest in North America,” Craig tells me. Wow! He adds their 18-hole golf course will be open for the season by the time I visit next – just in case I want a break from canoeing and hiking.

The Delta Residences at Sun Peaks offers a total of 41 fully furnished condominium retreats with quarter ownership starting as low as $99,900. The Delta Residences at Sun Peaks presentation centre is open 11:00am to 6:00pm daily in the Village next door to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. For more information call 1-877-578-7781, or you can visit on the web anytime at www.deltaresidences.com.

A Real Estate Tour of Canada’s Hottest Ski Country

Perfect travel opportunities are waiting for you in terms of the latest and greatest Canadian resorts where you can own a recreational real estate property. This article was written by B.D. Maxwell for the Ski Press Magazine on Global Snow Culture Volume 21, No. 3.

You don’t have it all until you have one of these. G.D. Maxwell sees what your money will buy in Canada’s ski country.

If not now, when? If not you, who? Let’s face it, the economy is booming, the dollar is high and the drive home is… ah, the drive home.

If ever there was a compelling reason to think about buying ski-country real estate, it’s that long drive home. Whether your drive is Autoroute 15 between Tremblant and Montreal, Highway 400 from Blue Mountain to Toronto, the Trans Canada from Banff to Calgary or the scenic construction zone known as the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Whistler to Vancouver, long days, tired muscles, heavy eyes, and gridlock have a way of diminishing the high you felt on the mountain.

Wouldn’t it all be so much easier and gratifying if it were just a short hop – or even shorter ski – to your own slice of heaven? Wouldn’t your day trips turn into weekend trips? Excuses to call in well on Mondays? You can almost feel your commuter cares melting away in your own hottub. So if now’s your time to buy, what’ll your spare loonies get you at your favourite Canadian ski-country playground?

Tremblant, Quebec

Like so many places graced by the Midas touch of Intrawest, Tremblant has grown from a regional ski hill to a destination resort bustling with great skiing, great shopping, oodles of accommodation and that Quebecois je ne sais quoi. Steven Lefave, director of sales for Intrawest at Tremblant, thinks this is the time to acquire. “It’s a buyer’s market,” he says. “there’s a lot of inventory right now.”

Opportunities in Tremblant run the gamut from timeshare to stratospheric – sometimes in the same property. You can, for example, buy a quarter share interest in a well-appointed, three-bedroom, three-bath, 1,252 square foot getaway in Le Sommet des Neiges, a condo-hotel just steps to the chairlift, for $223,000. It’s yours one week in four. But if you’re a gotta-have-it all kind of person, you can pick up all four quarter shares of a one-of-a kind, 1,567 square foot three bed, three and a half bath palacio in the same building for $1,495,000. Go for it!

What if you’re not keen on being right at the base of Tremblant mountain? Cottages near Tremblant offer space, lakeside living and more for your money. Thirty minutes away on Lac Cameron, you can get a four-season, 1,020 square foot, three bedroom, one bath cottage with some serious waterfront and gardens for $375,000.

But hey, High Roller, if ya got it, flaunt it. How does six bedrooms, six baths, your own indoor swimming pool, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, three double garages, a wine cellar and all the status you can handle sound? On beautiful Lac Quimet – yes we’ll even throw in a lake – all 33 rooms can be yours for $11.9 million. At that price, we don’t even bother with zeros?

Blue Mountain – Collingwood, Ontario

If you live in Toronto, and don’t have the great fortune to belong to one of the many private ski hills dotting the Niagara Escarpment, Blue Mountain is probably your playground. Since Intrawest arrived on the scene in 1999, Blue Mountain has undergone the development spree typical of Intrawest resorts.

But Ian Hunter of Royal LePage says the driving force in the real estate market right now is lifestyle. “WE’re seeing a lot of people buying into the area for a lifestyle change. They’re cashing out of the city and buying into a less hurried way of life.”

If you’re hurriedly looking for a place to hang your skis though, you can enjoy liftside living at the Weider Lodge. $199,900 will get you a furnished studio in this condo-hotel and a spot in the hot tub when you walk in off the slopes.

If you can walk in ski boots, you can get more space, say, a 1,756 square foot three bedroom, two bathroom townhome in Snowbridge, just east of Blue Mountain, for $495,000. Still within walking distance of Blue Mountain’s northern lifts, you can après in a 1,900 square foot, four bedroom, two and a half bath log-and-stucco chalet for $430,000. It might be 28 years old, but it’s got its own indoor hot tub. Party on, dude.

And if you don’t mind dodging golf balls in the offseason, you can swing a three bedroom, two and a half bathroom condo on the first fairway of Monterra golf course for a mere $349,900.

Canmore, Alberta

As usual, they do things differently in Alberta. With Banff and Lake Louise in national parkland and sever ownership/resident restrictions in place, Canmore is Alberta’s ski-country boomtown.

“We’ve been on fire the past few years,” says Doug Topp, associate broker at ReMax Alpine Realty in Banff and Canmore. “Recreational ownership of real estate from Calgary is driving our boom and while inventory is creeping up, it’s still a sellers’ and builders’ market.”

If your needs are small, $119,500 gets you into a 410 square foot studio near downtown Canmore. The 17-year-old bachelor pad has been remodelled and comes unfurnished. Nudging upmarket, a two bedroom, one bath condo within walking distance of Canmore’s main drag is furnished and is part of an active rental pool. At $150,000 it typifies properties in older buildings … at least those not undergoing renovations.

A recently remodelled three bedroom on bathroom 1,110 square foot unfurnished apartment with underground parking is listed at $366,000 and is a reflection of the discount you can find in an older real estate building. Compare it to nearby, five year old, 700 square foot apartment with two small bedrooms that goes for $229,000, also unfurnished.

Of course, Alberta’s not Alberta without wide open spaces. Like 3,169 square feet of living on a quiet street with four bedrooms, three baths, a double garage and the high-touch amenities you need to feel pampered for $1,498,000.

Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is ski-resort real estate for travelers. The ersatz Eurovillage would never have gotten off the ground if it weren’t for the dream of travel skiers to avoid the drive home. Dean Linnell and his team at Whistler Real Estate are still calling Canada’s big mountain resort a buyers market. “But we’ve been seeing prices firm up for the past six months. All price points are selling well,” he says.

As befits Intrawest’s first foray into mountain travel resorts, you can find everything in Whistler, from one bedroom in the middle of the village for $361,900 to a one bedroom right next to Blackcomb’s Wizard lift for $379,000. If that’s too busy, you can buy a lot at Kadenwood, above the Creekside base, for $2.3 million and build your own starter castle.

The bargains – such as they are – are in the residential parts of town. A 2,203 square foot five bedroom, four bathroom home in Twin Lakes is listed for $689,000. If that doesn’t seem like a bargain, consider a 30 year old, 900 square foot one and a half bedroom, one bathroom knockdown in Alpine Meadows – the other end of town – for $598,000. That’s a bargain … in Whistler.

At least compared to log beauty perched on Blueberry Hill. Modest, with three bedrooms and three and a half baths, the 3,494 square foot home with the million dollar view is, well, $4.5 million dollars. What are you waiting for?

For more information about real estate Whistler and other Whistler properties and travel packages, please click here.

Travel to Sun Valley Idaho for your next vacation

ResortQuest is one of the world leaders in premier accommodations in resort destinations, and Sun Valley ID in the United States is one of the best places to take your family and loved ones during your next vacation. For more information about ResortQuest and Sun Valley Idaho, please read below or contact Resort Quest today to book your vacation.

We’re in the Rocky Mountain rustic, we’re old fashioned travel luxury and – winter or summer – we’re the perfect destination holiday location for you and your family. ResortQuest Sun Valley Idaho offers all the variety in lodging for your next travel vacation including cabins, condominiums, and town homes to exclusive, one of a kind vacation retreats.

Winter travel at Sun Valley ID offers adventurers an outstanding selection of activities such as downhill skiing and boarding, Nordic skiing, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and even fly fishing. World-class Baldy Mountain offers the world’s largest snowmaking system along with the most consistent fall-line skiing in North America. Baldy is a monster, providing 3,400 vertical feet of skiing, 65 runs on 2,054 acres and 3 luxurious lodges; its’ formidable but, at the end of the day, also forgiving. Dollar Mountain, on the other hand, is a beginner’s dream, with 5 lifts and a terrain park designed especially for kids and novices.

Summer travel at Sun Valley Idaho in the mountains surrounding Sun Valley extends your vacation with up to 15 hours of daylight during the month of July. Even with all the extra time, it’s still hard to exhaust all the available activities. Your best bet is to wake up with the sun and get going. There’s tennis and golf, white-water rafting, classic road and mountain biking, fishing the world-famous Silver Creek Preserve (boasting over 5000 fish per mile!) and exploring all the amazing Sun Valley mountain grandeur by trail.

The Sun Valley ID Scene at a Glance

Get your ski shoes off and your Orvis on. Sun Valley Idaho is a four season resort and what better way to spend your vacation with family and friends than at a ResortQuest luxury accommodation. Travel to Sun Valley is easy and effortless, so if you are looking for a great destination vacation holiday, Idaho will provide you just that!

Events at Sun Valley Idaho

- Ice Skating, Ketchum Alive Concerts & Antique Fairs (June to September)
- Springfest and Ketchum ½ Marathon (June)
- Summer Concert Series at Sun Valley (June to August)
- Sawtooth Mountain Mamas Arts Fair (July)
- Wine Action at Sun Valley (July)
- Ketchum Arts Fair (July)
- Sun Valley Summer Symphony (July to August)
- Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival (August)
- Northern Rockies Folk Festival (August)
- Wagon Days & Labor Day Parade (August to Septemer)
- Earnest Hemingway Festival at Sun Valley ID (September)
- Training of the Sheep (October)
- Jazz Festival at Sun Valley (October)
- Opening for Winter Downhill and X-Country Skiing (November)
- Christmas Celebrations (December and January)
- Boulder Mountain Ski Tour (February)
- Sun Valley Gourmet Ski Tour (March)
- Janss Pro Am Ski Tour (March)

Dining at Sun Valley ID

Gourmet Dining includes Baci Italian Café, Chandlers, Ciro Restaurant & Wine Bar, Globus, Ketchum Grill, Michel’s Christiania, Bistro 44, East Avenue Bistro, Felix’s and the Sawtooth Club
Italian & Pizza restaurants include Smokey Mountain Pizza, Rico’s Pizza & Pasta, and Bald Mtn Pizza Delis/Bakery: Perry’s, H&G Reserve, Big Wood Bakery, Kneadery, Rustic Moose Tulley’s JAVA and Starbucks
Mexican: Desperado’s KB’s
Asian: Sushi on Second, Kickshaw, Osaka Sushi, Shanghai Place and China Panda
Steak & Seafood includes The Roosevelt Tavern, The Pioneer
Burger joints include Lefty’s, Grumpy’s and Burger Grill

Sun Valley Nightlife

Rossevelt Tavern and Whiskey Jacques feature live music nightly and the Casino is an intriguing Old West saloon.

Shopping in the Sun Valley Village in Idaho

Choose from over 25 art/studio galleries, 5 bookstores, 10 Sport and clothing companies and a variety of retail, jewellery and home furnishing stores. Sun Valley also features some of the finest fly fishing, rafting, heli-skiing outfitters in the West.

Attractions and Activities at Sun Valley

Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Ernest Hemingway’s grave in the Ketchum Cemetery, Heritage and Ski Museum, Sun Valley Trekking Company, Valley Horsemen’s Center, Venture Outdoors, Sun Valley Resort Horsemen’s Center, and Super Outfitter Adventures.

For more information, contact ResortQuest.