Inside Salt Lake City’s New evo Adventure Hotel
This article originally appeared on Ski Mag
It's mid-morning in Salt Lake City and the new evo Hotel looks more like a co-working space than a traditional hotel. Young professionals, looking like they are ready for a run or yoga session, are scattered at various tables hunched over MacBook Pros with headphones on or are taking calls on their cell phones.
To the right is a broad entryway to the Bouldering Project indoor rock climbing gym and to the left sits a hot pink coffee shop serving up local Publik coffee, lattes, and smoothies. A disco ball art installation of a mountain floats above and bright artwork adorns the walls. While there is a "front desk" and hotel rooms around, the mixed-use space is all part of a new concept by evo Hotel--creating a campus in the Granary District of Salt Lake City for adventure enthusiasts to stay and play.
The new adventure hotel concept includes a skate park, rock climbing gym, bar, coffee shop, gear store, rental and service area, Level Nine Sports store, yoga studio, and even meeting space. Oh, and there are an array of modern rooms available if you ever find time to sleep.
However, as much as the new evo Hotel has to offer, it's what is outside the walls that are the big draw. The Wasatch Mountains loom large outside Salt Lake City offering world-class skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking.
I've come out for a long weekend in the spring to check out the new hotel and do a little skiing and mountain biking. Mother Nature has different plans however as Utah's epic winter continues dumping record-setting snow on us, which is great for skiing but not so much for biking.
After a tour of the hotel, I settle into my room which faces the Wasatch Mountains. The hotels offer a variety of rooms from "Rafter Rooms" in the interior of the building to "Bunk Rooms" for families or groups.
I drop my ski gear in my modern-style room and retire to the Crown Bar, which is painted blue, to enjoy a local craft beer with Bryce Phillips, evo Founder and CEO. He started the outdoor company in Seattle in 2001, which has grown to nine stores in the U.S. and Canada along with Rhythm Japan locations in East Asia. Phillips sees the expansion into hotels as a logical next step. He has plans to open similar campuses in Tahoe and Seattle.
"We want to become more integral for the community, and we are seeing it happening right now. That is the vision (for evo Hotel)," Phillips said. "People connecting over the love of the outdoors, and sharing stories of skiing powder or mountain biking is an example of the vision happening."
That outdoor stoke is on full display the next morning as Phillips buzzes in his ski boots with excitement ready to tackle the several feet of fresh powder that accumulated at Powder Mountain overnight. Following a full day of face shots and cat skiing, we all head back to evo Hotel for a few beers to swap stories of the best lines we skied that day, bringing to life the vision Phillips envisioned for the hotel.
The convenience factor of dropping off gear in the shop and heading straight upstairs for a hot shower in our room and a cold beer in the bar is a major benefit of the adventure hotel model. Rather than drive or walk to several different locations, you can just go to one space.
In addition to the ease of having everything needed in one mixed-use area, the collection of like-minded adventurers is part of the secret sauce that makes evo tick.
Regardless of whether you're skiing, biking, climbing, or hiking, having a spot where skaters and climbers can join together in one creative space to share ski and bike lines and stories over a beverage and fire pit is something intangible that evo can't bottle and sell in its shop -- you just have to experience it in person.
The SLC location is just the beginning for this new flavor of adventure-based lodging--there are plans for more evo properties in the future, including two that are currently under construction. Last year, the company announced a new location for an adventure campus in Tahoe City, Calif, as well as one in Seattle, to be built around the existing evo store in the city's Fremont neighborhood.
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