Mountain festivals are back in full swing this summer—and Vail’s calendar is chock-full with beer, wine, food, music, and high-adrenaline competitions. But the fun doesn’t have to stop where the event lineups end. The resort town also has a number of new and newly revamped hotels that are ready to host guests with cushy stays and fun amenities. Here are three festival and hotel pairings to put on your summer list.

GoPro Summer Mountain Games and the Grand Hyatt Vail

The Festival: The GoPro Summer Mountain Games, from June 7 to 12, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with six days of events, art installations, and live music. The rowdy competitions include freestyle river kayaking, a steep uphill-downhill run on Vail Mountain’s Pepi’s Face, and the dock dogs big air challenge. New this year: The GoPro dual slalom high-flying BMX action hits the Minturn Bike Park. And the North American Cup rock climbing series is also set to return with a youth competition.

Music sets from major acts like Grace Potter, Twiddle, and the Wailers kick off nightly at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Buy tickets in advance here.

The Stay: After a day in the sun, the plush 285-room Grand Hyatt Vail (starting at $378 a night during the festival), which sits on the banks of Gore Creek, is a welcome respite. Rest up and then enjoy the property’s spin on high-altitude fine dining at the Gessner, which serves Rocky Mountain game dinners (think: rabbit pate and hazelnut crusted rainbow trout), fresh oysters, and cheese plates. Check the hotel calendar for summer Creekside Dinner Series dates, during which rotating celebrity chefs co-create intimate multicourse wine dinners.

Have Fido in tow? Grand Hyatt Vail is the official dog hotel of the GoPro Mountain Games. Expect Yappy Hour events and specials, dog treats and water bowls, and pup-friendly yard games. There’s also onsite axe throwing, a pillowed Xbox game room, daily champagne sabering and poolside snow cones with live music.

Carve out Time for: The Topgolf Swing Suite just off the Grand Hyatt’s main lobby, which was added this past winter, where servers deliver comfort food while you play virtual golf, soccer, or zombie dodgeball.

Vail Craft Beer Classic and Manor Vail Lodge

The Festival: The sixth annual Vail Craft Beer Classic, from June 17 to 18, brings more than 30 of Colorado’s top craft beer, seltzer, and cider makers to Ford Sculpture Garden Park for the country’s highest-altitude beer fest. Find your new favorite crisp ale, fruity lager, or creamy stout at this laid-back Father’s Day weekend fest, during which you can chat with brewers from places like Keystone’s Steep Brewing and Great Divide Brewing about their process and recipes.

While you soak up June rays and gorgeous mountainside views, you can also catch blues-funk act Jubilingo and rock music from Brother’s Keeper. New for 2022: An extended Friday night tasting showcases specialty beers that won’t be available on Saturday.

The Stay: Just down the street from the beer festival action, Manor Vail Lodge’s condos and luxe penthouses (starting at $389 a night during the festival) are built around the comforts of home with full kitchens, comfy couches, and private balconies peering at Golden Peak. The property completed a multi-million dollar renovation earlier this year, including opening mountain-inspired dinner destination Ridge + River in February. The slopeside kitchen impresses with Siracha aioli crab cakes, beet-orange-fennel salad, and shareable butcher cuts. For a more casual cocktail scene, hang with locals by the fireplace inside the Fitz.

Take advantage of the free breakfast buffet, complimentary summer cruiser bikes, and daily lemonade and homemade chocolate chip cookies in the lobby.

Carve out Time for: A nightcap beneath the stars in the recently renovated heated pool and oversized hot tubs. The warm water will take care of any knots or aching feet leftover from the day.

Vail Wine Classic and Hythe Vail

The Festival: Wine lovers, this is your Super Bowl. The Vail Wine Classic takes place August 11 to 13 at the Vail Athletic Field and Vail Nordic Club. Kick things off with an intimate Best of Fest Friday sunset tasting, featuring exclusive wines to sip, swirl, and savor. Grand Tastings unfold on Friday and Saturday, with all-inclusive tickets that get you a commemorative wine glass, unlimited tastings from around the globe, small bites, and live music. Attendees who want to dig a little deeper can take seminars on wine pairing at home or wine glass 101 with a master winemaker.

The Stay: The dazzling new Hythe Vail (starting at $424 a night during the festival) delivers the perfect mix of glam and Colorado grit. The $41-million, 344-room property pays homage to the resort’s earliest days, honoring skiing World War II vets from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division with a Colorado whiskey-focused 10th Mountain bar and German- and Tyrollian-influenced restaurant.

Margie’s Haas, named for a former home cook for the 10th Mountain Division, serves whole wheel melted raclette cheese shaved onto speck and grilled rustic bread and truffled bison tenderloin poutine. (The eatery’s summer menu will be revealed in June.)

Guests can also reboot in the onsite Well & Being Spa’s oxygen therapy suite and Himalayan salt lounge. After relaxing, hit the après deck for live music, jump on a Pedal & Pour self-guided bike tour, or join a lively mixology class.

Carve out Time for: The Hythe’s experiences menu, which features wilderness fly fishing by horseback, mountain biking with a pro enduro rider, and mushroom foraging.

(Read more: 15 Colorado Food and Drink Festivals Worth Planning a Trip Around) 

Lisa Blake
Lisa Blake
Lisa Blake is a freelance writer and children's book author living in Breckenridge. When she's not writing about food and mountain adventures, she can be found on the river with her son, pug and husband.