I love Grand Targhee, but it isn't for everyone. If it is for you, you'll love it and try to convince every friend to visit. I'm a 40 year old East Coast banker, I travel a lot on business & stay at some swanky places. I have been skiing since age 3 and consider myself advanced or expert. Grand Targhee is a place that time forgot. Super friendly staff, no lift lines, 500 inches of snow. But, no fur coats, no fancy food, a little less attention to detail. For me, the simplicity outweighs the lack of luxury. Grand Targhee is an escape from my reality, with great skiing and fun. One can slow it down a gear in GT. I went 4 weeks ago with my 7 year old daughter. She proclaimed it the best hotel in the world (the Sioux Lodge) because she fed the birds on the balcony and had a bunk bed (ironic, we stayed at the St. Regis in NYC 9 months earlier, what a laugh). We ran across the snowy parking lot in swim suits and bath robes to hit the hot tub, later we ate pasta in a simple little deli, and walked only 50 yards from our room to the ski school and lift the next day. Wonderful for kids. She adores Grand Targhee and is begging to return. I have already planned a return trip in 2009 with my other, younger daughter, and wife. The Sioux Lodge is old and will be torn down when they redevelop in a few years. Although old, it was clean and functional. The kid area (North Pole, Otter Slide, Eyeball Forest, are so stimulating). The ski school is affordable and very very good. Then - last weekend I returned with 8 of my buddies for a guys weekend. We did the Snow Cat powder skiing. Wonderful. I may have had the best day skiing in my life on the snow cat. 14 inches of fresh powder, great terrain, trees, glades, steeps, bowls. Wonderful. This boys trip is supposed to rotate each year to a new locale, but for 2009 everyone wants to return. A compliment in itself. Zero Apres Ski. Zero night life unless you bring your own (cards and interesting buddies help). You want sushi and dance clubs go to Colorado or Jackson. You want to chill and ski your buns off, try Grand Targhee. Terrain is not extreme. Best suited for a beginner, moderate skiier, or a more mellow black diamond skier. For experts you'll only be impressed if there is a powder day, you are on the snow cat, or have your kids with you. In an age of traffic, crowds, high pricing and "noise" this is a gem.

I have just returned from a 4 night stay at Grand Targhee resort and have to give it a HUGE thumbs up! Although not big by any means, the ski-ing was first class, the accomodation very good for the money, the staff were super friendly and there were virtually no crowds.
My wife and I had some ski lessons for the first time in 15 years and have to say the instruction was AWESOME (ask for George). The snow was superb, better than I expected and it seems that this is THE place for the best snow in USA. I have skied a lot since my last lessons, but thought that I was due some instruction to put me back on track and to iron out all the bad habits developed over past 15 years. after just 2 hours we were going off trail in some of the best powder ever experienced. The resort is fairly small and only really has 4 lifts, but the complete lack of crowds and pompousness associated with some of the other places close by (are you listening Jackson Hole!) made for a superb ski trip. It was almost like having the place to ourselves. No lift lines, some great bowls, some great cruising trails, great powder, friendly people etc.
The accomodation in Teewinot Lodge was great, not luxury, but perfectly clean and comfortable. The added bonus to this was Ski in at the end of the day and 2 minutes to the lifts in the morning (in ski boots!). The range of shops and restaurants was fairly small, but hey with everything else who's complaining. The steakhouse did a fine steak in the evening as well as some other nice menu items, they also did a great breakfast buffet for $9.95. The pub was reasonably priced with beer specials for $3.50 (in a ski resort!) and the cafe was reasonable with a few organic options to choose from.
If you are looking for a 'world class' ski experience I would say this is not the place for you, but if you are looking for a friendly, laid back, reasonably priced, family oriented ski destination this should definately be considered. The closest airport is in Jackson Hole, but even allowing for a blizzard over Teton Pass the journey still only took 90 minutes from the airport.
We are sure to revisit again - it was that good!

My extended family and I (15 people total) spent 1 week at Grand Targhee (December 22nd to December 29th 2007). We had a great time.

My brother selected Grand Targhee for several reasons: high likelihood of good snow early in the season, not too busy during one of the busiest times of year, slopeside accommodations that were less expensive than other resorts we considered and good skiing for beginners, intermediates and advanced skiers. (My brother lived in Steamboat and Park City for a few winters and had skied just about everywhere.)

It turned out he was exactly right. We had great snow all week. All lifts and all trails were open all week. There were virtually no lift lines. The only lift that we ever waited on was the Shoshone lift for beginners. Typically it was only a few chairs worth of people. (It was busiest on Friday the 28th.)

There are only four lifts that serve the mountain. The Shoshone lift served the beginners area very well. We had several kids in our group who had lessons during the week. My own son (who had never skied before) had two private lessons with "Meghan" and had a great experience. (Highly recommend asking for her.)

We stayed in the Teewinot Lodge. The rooms were standard hotel rooms but this lodge did have a great sunken lounge area with a fireplace that many families used all week. There is also a hot tub located in the Teewinot Lodge. Our rooms did not have any extra amenities (kitchenettes, fridge, etc.,) which would have been great. Other areas of the resort do offer these extras and more (see Sioux Lodge Suites).

There are four restaurants on site. From a "fancier" sit down restaurant to a relatively large sports bar. I was completely satisfied with all of them. We went to the nearby (10 miles) town of Driggs for Pizza one night but otherwise ate at the resort. I know some people get easily tired of the same fare but I don't.

They have a heated outdoor pool that some in our group enjoyed as well as sledding in the evening on giant tubes ($9 per hour).

We also signed up for a special horse driven sleigh ride and dinner in a "Yurt". The sleigh ride is short (10 minutes each way) and fun. Dinner in the Yurt was great.

Grand Targhee is a little out of the way. It is a 1 1/2 hour drive from Jackson Hole Airport (including trip over Teton Pass) or a two hour trip from Idaho Falls. Teton Pass is not enjoyable during snow storms. If we go back, we may look for flights into Idaho Falls.

I would not call Grand Targhee a "luxury" resort but it had everything we were looking for. I highly recommend it.

"Grand" Targhee is so-called only because it is situated within close view (weather permitting, occasionally) of the 13,700+ ft Grand Teton, located in the Teton Range of the Northern Rockies in Alta (not Jackson) Wyoming. It is actually about 20 nautical miles and about 40-50 highway miles from Jackson Wyoming. You will need to go over Teton Pass into Idaho to arrive there from Jackson Hole. Plan on at least an hour for this. Once in Idaho you have to travel thru the Teton Valley, thru Driggs Idaho (heaven forbid), to Alta Wyoming (which should just go ahead and be adopted by Idaho).
There's no other way around the Teton Range in winter, unless you rent a helicoptor or take an even more scenic route on Hwy 26 and ID 32, or want to visit Crow Agency.

My personal observations of the past 8 years: 1) Do not bring your dog; still no canines are allowed at Targhee, even though it is not inside GTNP. 2) Get there early; if it has any new snow, it is OK only til the sun hits it in the afternoon as it is a western facing slope. 3) If you stay on the trails, it's OK if you like groomed, but it's pretty hard to ski ungroomed when it's so FLAT. 4) Don't bother if you're after the steep and deep experience - go back over the pass to the real Wyoming. 5) It is microscopic in terrain compared to JHMR. 6) Like the mountain - nothing - I mean NOTHING - going on apres ski. Don't try to 'dine' either. 7) Only suggest a day trip to see what it is all about, you might find out by about 2:00 pm, and take the next bus back over the pass.