Luxury? Yes. But here’s why planned Idaho resort touts that stars will be out

The Sun Valley area is set to gain a new luxury resort in June 2026.

But it won’t try to lure guests just with high-end amenities, opulent rooms and a meaningful connection to Ketchum’s history. The Harriman plans to stand out in an area that might mean a lot to both Idahoans and travelers: stargazing opportunities.

Ketchum and Sun Valley sit at the southeastern tip of the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, the United States’ first International Dark Sky Reserve — a designated area protected for exceptional night skies and nocturnal environments because of a lack of light pollution. There are only two dozen of these reserves in the world, and only two of them are in the United States.

(There are many more dark-sky sanctuaries, which are a designation that’s a notch below the reserves.)

The Harriman, a Viceroy Resort, will have a prominent outdoor terrace bar and a rooftop observatory, prime locations for viewing the magnificent night sky above the Sawtooths, according to its developers.

In fact, it should make for “fabulous” stargazing, said Jack Bariteau, the managing member of Harriman Ketchum Hotel LLC, which is responsible for The Harriman.

The resort has been a long time in the making — long before the dark-sky reserve was designated in 2017. Bariteau told the Idaho Statesman that the property was acquired in 2004, but a variety of financial and other issues kept developers from breaking ground until 2024.

“It’s a very rare opportunity indeed to be able to pull this off after so many years,” Bariteau said.

In addition to 73 hotel rooms, The Harriman will have 12 penthouses, which will be for sale. The resort will have a full-service spa, a fitness center, an indoor thermal pool, a cold plunge, a sauna and steam rooms.

Located at the corner of Main and River streets in Ketchum, the upscale resort will have daily room rates comparable to high-end hotels in the Intermountain West in places such as Park City, Big Sky and Telluride, according to Mark Keiser, president of development at Viceroy Hotels and Resorts.

In other words, expect to open the wallet to the tune of $400 a night, depending on the time of year.

Viceroy is the managing company and operator of the property, and The Harriman will be added to its list of resorts in places such as Aspen, Colorado (Snowmass), and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

“Our guests value thoughtful design; warm, personalized hospitality; and a strong connection to place, whether that means spending the day adventuring in the mountains or unwinding fireside,” Keiser said.

“Our target guest is culturally curious and appreciates a kind of luxury that is both refined and relaxed. The Harriman is a place for those who don’t just want to visit Sun Valley, they want to feel part of it.”

The Harriman name honors W. Averill Harriman, onetime chairman of Union Pacific Railroad and a driving force behind the creation of Sun Valley Resort after he visited the area in 1936 as part of an excursion to find a first-class winter destination for travelers in the West.

Bariteau said the use of a specific interior design and building materials will connect the property to the mining heritage of the Wood River Valley, and “relate in a modern form to Ketchum’s history.”

“The vision is to provide an iconic and irreplaceable hotel property for the Wood River Valley that, frankly, we don’t think will ever be built again,” he said.

This story was originally published June 8, 2025 at 4:00 AM.