Niftiest Night Light

Where: Hotel Alyeska, Girdwood, Alaska

What'll Snow You: Watching the Northern Lights in your pajamas—and wondering if it was all a dream in the morning

Cool Conditions: True, Alyeska's 1,000 skiable acres and 631 annual inches of snow mean skiers and riders will want as many z's as possible at night. But this is Alaska, one of the planet's prime viewing spots for the aurora borealis in winter. And the solar storms that cause the Northern Lights are at their most frequent and intense around midnight. When visitors check in to the Hotel Alyeska, located 40 miles south of Anchorage on the Turnagain Arm, they can request a special wake-up call when the light show appears. As some of the best views are ten minutes away, staff will shuttle guests to an even more remote corner of the Chugach Mountains. Back in their rooms, skiers can sink into pillow-top mattresses, one benefit of the hotel's recent multimillion-dollar renovation. And because daylight hours are shorter in winter, lifts don't start cranking until 10:30 am—plenty of time to sleep in.

The Cold Cash: Rooms from $179 per night

Hotel Alyeska
Tel: 800 880 3880 (toll-free)
Tel: 907 754 2111