The Best Resorts in the West in 2016

If you're planning on heading to the Great American West, we know where you should stay. Take the lodge in Washington State’s wine country, for example, where every guest room has a stone fireplace and a tub for two. Or try the modern resort perched on the craggy Teton Mountains of Wyoming. Or at a Mission-inflected, cedar-beamed lodge on an Oregon river that offers “do nothing” as an official activity — on top of hiking, golfing, fishing, and visiting the spa. Those would be Willows Lodge, Amangani, and Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, respectively, all among the 10 best resorts in the western U.S. this year. Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise lines, spas, airlines, and more. In the hotels category, readers rated properties on their rooms and facilities, location, service, food and drink, and overall value. Hotels were categorized as city or resort properties based on their locations, and the West includes includes Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. California has its own list here. The properties that made this list had a few things in common. Several were in ski areas, including Montage Deer Valley, Utah (No. 10) and Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail, Colorado (No. 4). But readers also showed their affection for retreats away from ski towns. Montana’s Triple Creek Ranch, which in the past was voted best hotel in the world and is second in the region this year, offers luxurious log cabins featuring wood-burning fireplaces and big soaking tubs — and is especially popular for romantic getaways, thanks to its adults-only policy. At Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, on the banks of the Rouge River in forested Gold Beach, Oregon, great service and peaceful surroundings are the main draws. “This is the gold standard for how a lodge should be run,” said one T+L reader. And in Colorado, Gateway Canyons Resort — this year’s best resort in the West — offers thrill seekers river rafting, rock climbing, and off-roading adventures. Owner John Hendricks (founder of the Discovery Channel) wants everyone who comes here to leave having tried something new.