#337 - Sun Valley Inn

Sun Valley, Idaho

I remember a fabulous dinner at Sun Valley Lodge, in 1996. Ever since, I've dreamed of spending a night at the historic Idaho lodge.

Over a year ago, while planning our 2024 trip to see my brother and sis-in-law in Boise, I peeked into rates at the lodge. Yikes! Forget that! 

No Lodge... Yes Inn!

My memory from nearly 3 decades before, was fuzzy. I didn't realize there was a lodge AND an inn. Sun Valley Inn was built in 1937, to provide more affordable accomodations than Sun Valley Lodge, which opened the year before. 

The inn is still much cheaper. But $473. for one night, is still incredibly high dollar for Don and me. We went ahead and splurged. Chris and Karen were game, too!

​Pre-Trip Homework

Before August, I made sure Don and I watched our favorite Sun Valley themed movies! Esther Williams and Van Johnson have some memorable swimming pool scenes in the Lodge pool!

In Sun Valley Serenade from 1941, there are scenes of Olympic skater/actress Sonja Henie, skating in her signature white leather skates, at Sun Valley Lodge. (all skates were dark leather, before)

Packing Old Stuff

Before we left Texas, I made sure to pack up some old/odd things, related to Sun Valley. Two vintage Ford Motor cookbooks, featuring recipes from Sun Valley restaurants...

... and my mom's old Sonja Henie doll! Chris and Karen are big fans of the Norwegian star and her most famous movie. They are also big fans of cooking. I figured we'd have some fun with my travel props.
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Sunny Sunday

On our visit nearly 3 decades ago, it was less sunny. I found my old 1996 photo, showing clouds. You can barely see the lodge in the lower right corner of this aged photo!

It was 70 degrees when we arrived on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, in 2024. A miracle! The drive had been cloudy!

The inn's entrance looked lovely. It also looked modern. I always like to spot hints of the past, so I hoped the historic inn wasn't overly modern inside.

Check In

The renovated lobby was comfy and traditional. Our ​check-in was pretty relaxed, with a welcoming staff and big cushy chairs!

Only one room was ready, so our very sweet valet guy unloaded our bags and put them into Chris and Karen's room. Then we were off to explore.

​Wandering Near Sun Valley Inn

The Swiss-style Inn looked extra charming on a pretty day. The walkways near the chalet style structures were quiet at 3:30. 

So was the dining terrace, except for some staff. I tried to imagine a 1940s scene, with bundled skiers sitting out on the deck, after a day on Mount Baldy.
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The property around the Inn, was heavenly. I'd love to see it covered in snow, but the summer landscaping was stunning.

After exploring near the Inn, we headed towards the ritzier part of the resort property!

The Lodge

Sun Valley Lodge was completed in 1936. My photo shows more flowers than building, but the center of the X-shaped structure looked mighty sweet from my view, over the garden and across the pond.

The exterior was actually constructed of concrete, poured inside rough-sawn forms. A woodgrain was pressed into the concrete and then stained brown. Crazy!

​Back in 1996

Don and I visited the Lodge for dinner, 28 years ago. We were with Chris and Karen then also, along with our kids and my mom.

I won't comment on these caption-worthy photos, from our evening of dining and dancing. As I recall, we actually closed the place down. After the other guests were all gone, the gracious musicians catered to the kids and performed songs from Lion King and Pocahontas, for our dancing pleasure!


As we walked around the exterior I tried to conjure up memories of that brief visit so many years ago. I don't remember the pond at all.

I do remember the ice rink behind. But the interior was so dramatically remodeled, I couldn't recognize a thing!

​Room Ready

I got a text telling us our room was ready, back at the inn. I secretly hoped for a room in the larger section, with the balcony. You can see it overlooking the pond, in the vintage photo.

I hadn't noticed the brown section, a bit further down. There are a lot more trees now, but you can see there's another balcony. That was our room, on the second floor! No complaints!

Room 288

The hallway to our room was amusing! My photo hardly captures the wavy feel of the floor. Like I said, I like hints of the past, in historic hotels.

Our room wasn't huge, but there were two comfy chairs and and we could open the door and let in fresh air.

The bathroom was nicely updated, but I must say, the design was odd. Once again, there was a glass bathroom door issue. Surely this trend is coming to an end.

TV and Blankie

The blanket on the foot of the bed was pretty and soft. Also handy for the balcony, when the temps dropped after dark.

We hardly had time for the large TV, but we had a nice surprise when we turned it on before bed. Photo later...

Quick Pool Time

We only had 1 night at Sun Valley. How could we do it all? We couldn't, but Karen and I were determined to at least make quick use of the Inn's pool. We headed down the stairs from our hall and checked in at the spa, before reaching the peaceful, round pool. Quieter than the Lodge pool.

I posed in honor of Esther Williams. That was before I realized her movie was filmed at the other pool.

This vintage photo above, shows that little has changed with the enclosure around the Inn's pool. You can see our balcony, in the center of the photo.

My pool photo shows that we had the place to ourselves. It does not show how cold the water was. I got halfway in, but Karen was brave enough to swim.

This old photo shows the same pool, with an angle that shows the Lodge. I doubt we'll ever be able to afford a night at the Inn or Lodge, during busy ski season!

The Old Brown Balcony!

The 4 of us gathered for Happy Hour beverages on the balcony, around 6:00. The balcony only had 2 chairs, but Chris inquired and a very gracious staff member arrived with 2 extra chairs.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed our balcony. It felt like we were 4 summertime kids, having some playtime in our cozy treehouse. 

I made Chris and Karen guess what fine surprise I was holding, inside a few layers of bubblewrap. They didn't guess. But once revealed, they did offer to adopt Sonja!  I didn't have to carry Mom's precious doll back home to Texas.
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Memories & Popcorn

While enjoying our balcony time, we began to reminisce about our 1996 visit to Sun Valley. Besides dining at the lodge, we also remembered a theatre that played Sun Valley Serenade continuously, for no charge. From the balcony we could see the Opera Theatre. That must have been the place! 

I dashed over to find out and chatted with the young man behind concessions. Nope. He said they only show new release movies now. But the young guy knew lots of trivia. 

He pointed to a poster and told me that Lucy and Desi once filmed an episode, at Sun Valley. He share a few more tidbits and then I told him a story... about my mom and the theatre, back in 1996.

28 years ago, our family group (minus Mom) arrived at the theatre and began watching Sun Valley Serenade. Mom said she'd meet us later, after her shopping. Eventually we watched her enter the dark theatre. Our eyes were adjusted, but not Mom's. We elbowed each other as we saw her walking past. Suddenly the 7 of us were giggling, as we watched her head for the only other people in the theatre. She joined a family of 8 and didn't seem to notice. I eventually jumped up and brought her back to join us. She seemed annoyed, like "What took you so long?" After the movie Mom walked up to the mystery family and shared a few laughs about her faux pa. For years we teased mom. But she'd always rolled her eyes and asked, "Well, did you ever make any friends at Sun Valley? No? Well I did!"  

Silly memory.  Miss you Mom! I bought some popcorn and brought it back to our balcony gathering.

​Suppertime at The Ram

By 7 we were ready for a bigger feast than popcorn! We left Sonja behind, but I put the 1950 cookbooks in my bag. We headed just a few steps to The Ram.

The 74-year-old cookbook was from the day when the Inn went by Challenger Inn. Not sure if Inn's restaurant was called The Ram, back then?

The Lodge accommodations may have been the popular choice for the rich, but the celebrity guests have always been drawn to The Ram. I didn't expect to spot any celebs at dinner, but I was eager to see if I could order the cookbook's Stuffed Idaho Mountain Trout Saute Almandine. Probably not.

I'm afraid our waiter Mark was a little too busy to be thrilled by the book. He did look at it and he told me they no longer served the Stuffed Trout. (not really the point) But the piano player Larry, was quietly delighted! He's been playing piano at The Ram for 45 years and had tons of his own SV memorabilia.

A Good Evening

​The food was delicious and yes, expensive. But we had a fabulous time.

It was after 10 when we headed back. Sleepy and happy, but ready for a little TV before bed. The TV had a nice surprise! The old Opera House no longer shows the famous Sonja Henie movie, but the guest room TVs play it on a constant loop! I had to pull our Sonja so she could pose with the black & white movie!

Breakfast at the Lodge

Don and I weren't starving for a big breakfast, but I had another cookbook, with a recipe for Sun Valley Lodge's Apple Pancakes. We headed to the Lodge, at 10.

We found Gretchen's Restaurant, adjacent to the lobby. The restaurant felt relaxed and bright on a Monday morning. Our waiter Joe was friendly and welcoming.

He was pleasantly curious about the 1954 cookbook and he also had lots of SV trivia for us.

Joe told us about the Gold Metal Olympic skier that the restaurant was named for. We learned that Gretchen Fraser also did the skiing scenes for Sonja Henie in SV Serende. Then I bragged on a bit about my friend's parents skating in the movie, back in 1941. (as if they were my parents and not Jill's) Eventually I just had to pull Sonja out of my bag. Joe had just the right enthused reaction. (or he faked it well) I asked Joe what he thought about Sonja getting out on the rink that morning!

Post Breakfast Exercise

​Joe was encouraging! I knew I could blame him if I got reprimanded for putting obstacles on the rink.

After some rink time, (about 5 minutes) we had to get back and packed up, so we could check out by 11. 

Lunch at the Roundhouse!

But we were not done with our Sun Valley Adventures! We couldn't leave without lunch at the iconic and octagonal Roundhouse, near the slopes.

It was quite an adventure getting to the restaurant, sitting atop Bald Mountain at 7,700 feet of elevation.

The Roundhouse Express Gondola got us almost all the way up to the restaurant. Chris and Karen were able to make a grander arrival. The Roundhouse had a golf cart ready to deliver them to the door! After a great lunch and some more silliness with the doll, we headed even higher!

Gondola and Ski Lift

The enclosed Gondola was pure luxury compared to the open air ski lift, that took us further up.

We can't thank Chris and Karen enough, for being so game for adventure!

It was freezing on that windy trip up! Then gloriously cozy in our glassed in Gondola upon return! Thanks Chris for gifting me your Austrian hat, for our mountain adventures!

What's Notable?
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Our one night couldn't have been better! The history, the food, the comfy and classy accommodations! The late August timing, with pleasant weather and few crowds, made our stay just perfect.

But our traveling companions made it a total blast! Such fun with Chris, Karen and Sonja!
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