Park City isn't the only area seeing an increase in luxury accommodations. A developer announced last month that he owns the rights to a once-bankrupt ski area halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and has plans to build a luxury resort.

Craig Burton of CPB Development said he envisions a $3.5 billion development with luxury homes, a Jack Nicklaus-commissioned golf course and other amenities at the Elk Meadows ski area in central Utah's Beaver County.

Farther south, in the town of Big Water — population less than 500 — a California development group is building the exclusive Amangiri resort.

Nestled in the red rock desert near Lake Powell, the resort will feature 34 luxury hotel rooms running $900 a night and 28 villas that will sell for around $6.5 million, all managed by the Singapore-based luxury brand Amanresorts. The development will cause a 20 percent increase in Kane County's property valuation, according to county estimates.

"It most definitely will be the premier resort in the United States and possibly the world," said developer Homi Vazifdar of the Canyon Equity Group of Larkspur, Calif.

Vazifdar said its location in Utah's remote canyon country is what gives it value.

"If a buyer wants to buy a villa on an ocean, or near a forest or a ski resort, there are a million choices. This is one of a kind," he said.

And while the area will feel "out in the boonies," an airport and activities will be closer than expected, Vazifdar said.

The resort, scheduled to open in spring 2008, is about 15 miles from the airport in Page, Ariz. It is a half-hour flight to the Grand Canyon, a short drive to red rock vistas in Utah's national parks and monuments, and a luxury houseboat will be available for guests to rent for floating around Lake Powell.

Vazifdar said about 200 jobs will be created by the resort, which will cost about $1 billion to build.

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On the Net:

St. Regis Deer Crest: www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis/

Amangiri Resort: www.canyonequity.com/development/