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Why We're Going To Sun Valley, Idaho This Summer
Renowned for a conference that leads to billion-dollar acquisitions, Sun Valley, Idaho, is now attracting visitors with its renewed cultural cachet.
By Kim Brown Seely
Getty ImagesGetty Images
Much like kids returning to summer camp, titans of media, technology, and politics flock to Sun Valley, Idaho, every July for investment firm Allen & Company's weeklong mogulfest—except that these campers tend to travel by private jet. The conference, which is hardly the town's only attraction, is a teaser for what comes next: two months of sunny days filled with arts festivals (less exclusive but equally highbrow) unfolding beneath the pristine peaks, a wine auction (July 17 to 19), a writers conference (July 19 to 22), and gallery walks catering to the valley's many well-heeled collectors.
The town's unofficial living room, where one may bump into such local eminences as snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington (a Sochi gold medalist), is an unlikely one: Starbucks. The coffee shop carries the green mermaid logo, but it's independently run and housed in a former bank revamped by Frank Gehry protégé (and Sun Valley resident) Susan Desko. The decor consists of Idaho walnut counters and vintage Warren Miller photos.
Sun Valley isn't known for its hotel scene, but Knob Hill Innaims to change that. The newly remodeled boutique property has 29 comfortable rooms and a patio where guests can take in the view of the Boulder Mountains. Next June the Sun Valley Lodge (where conference attendees currently stay) will do its part by adding a 20,000-square-foot spa and embarking on its biggest renovation since Averell Harriman invited the likes of Gary Cooper and Clark Gable to visit in 1936. The guestrooms (small by today's standards, with tile bathrooms) will all be refurbished, with some combined into suites with fireplaces. This year the Allen & Company campers may be roughing it a little, but by next summer they'll be making deals and sleeping in style.
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