By the end of the year, the 2034 Winter Olympic organizing committee intends to reach agreements covering all the lodging that it will need for the event.
Utah 2034 provided limited information about accommodations in a recently released Games Plan. The entry is nonetheless notable in the Park City area, which is expected to be a popular option for bookings by the Games crowds.
The Games Plan says the organizing committee “will deliver Games time accommodation by securing all hotel rooms required for Games in 2026 while continuing to take advantage of the rapid growth in the accommodation industry in Utah.” The passage applies to the entire Winter Olympic region, which is centered in the Salt Lake Valley and stretches into the mountains, rather than any specific locale.
“Utah 2034 will work to ensure availability, fair rates, and accessibility for all accredited stakeholders. This foundation enables reliable accommodation for all stakeholders, as well as the operation of the Athletes’ Family Village and the provision of alternative high-altitude lodging for athletes,” the Games Plan adds.
Utah 2034 said it has secured 21,000 rooms, anticipating it would reach an overall goal of 24,000 rooms in 2026. The organizing committee said it is not publicly detailing the geographic breakdown of the rooms.
Darren Hughes, who is the organizing committee’s vice president of Games delivery, in response to a Park Record inquiry, said Utah 2034 is “in process of ramping up our program to attract additional accommodation suppliers in Summit and Wasatch Counties over the summer — with a goal of securing another 1,000+ rooms for the 2034 Accommodation Program.”
There has been sporadic information publicized about the lodging efforts. In late 2023, months before the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games, the Utah committee that successfully mounted the bid said it had secured commitments from lodging properties across a large swath of northern Utah. At that time, the commitments involved the period around the 2034 Games as well as the period of the 2030 Winter Olympics. The 2030 Games were once a possibility for Utah before they were ultimately awarded to the French Alps.
The bid committee at that time indicated it had reached agreements with six lodging properties in the Park City area and another five in Wasatch County. The Park City-area properties, taken together, involved places offering a range of price points. The bid committee outlined that the agreements with the lodging properties stretched for up to 33 nights, from 14 nights immediately before the start of the Games to two nights after the closing ceremony.
The bid committee explained that the agreements were attractive to the lodging properties due to the length of the time periods involved. It also said at the time lodging properties were required to commit at least 60% of rooms to the Games and that the bid committee agreed to pay higher rates as individual properties committed more rooms. The committee said it approached every hotel in Park City and surrounding Summit County with at least 50 rooms and at least a two-star rating.
The Park City area will be critical to the Games, and occupancy will likely be high. Lodging in the area of the venues, as well as in Old Town, will likely command premium rates based on the locations. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues, as is the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Wasatch County. Main Street, meanwhile, is expected to be one of the locations where crowds gather to celebrate.
The organizing committee is securing large blocks of lodging, but there are expected to be numerous options for Games crowds in Park City regardless of the Utah 2034 effort. The rooms the bid committee secured in the Park City area accounted for a small percentage of those available. The bid committee indicated there were hotels that decided against signing an agreement. The hotels that reached agreements with the bid committee kept some rooms out of the deals. The bid committee mostly tapped traditional hotels.
As the awarding of the Games of 2034 approached, the International Olympic Committee addressed lodging in a wider 2024 report about the Salt Lake City bid. Details included the projected rates for rooms, calculated on average and in 2034 dollars:
- $313 for a two-star property
- $439 for a three-star property
- $762 for a four-star property
- $838 for a five-star property
The report said the “average projected rooms rates for Games time appear to be on the high side.” The rates covered the entire Winter Olympic region. Park City’s resort-driven lodging industry has long been considered to be toward the top of the price scale in the state, particularly during the ski season.