A man who says he writes about “luxury” for a living has penned a touching tribute to the Resort at Paws Up near Missoula.
Jim Dobson, writing for ForbesLife, took his “billionaire vacation” in the company of his 6-year-old nephew. He, Dobson, was absolutely enthralled with the butler, the chef, the concierge and the exceedingly obliging general managers.
His lucky nephew got to go snow-tubing, but without the tedium of having to walk uphill after each thrilling descent. For there was the butler with a snowmobile, ready to ferry him to the top of the hill.
“Many prior guests,” Dobson gushed, “have commented how they feel like the Paws Up staff are extended members of their family and that is why they return year after year.”
Dobson was also quite pleased with the rustic accommodations, including their 3,200-square-foot Wilderness Estate, with its three “master suites.” The concierge “even made the effort of teaching young Jake the secret of building the perfect log fire.”
Dobson enjoyed being squired around in a Mercedes van, being taken to Whitefish Mountain for a dogsledding adventure and doing some trap shooting.
“While we are not hunters and are devoted animal lovers,” he assured his readers, “we enjoyed the sport of hitting the targets on the range as a unique experience.”
Nor did he find anything to complain about in a private lunch on the deck of another “cabin” overlooking the Blackfoot River. “Despite the cold, we were given warm blankets and champagne to go with our crudité and gourmet wraps. What a perfect way to experience the outdoors in such a magnificent setting.”
That does not include a lodging tax of 7 percent and a “resort fee” of 20 percent. (That’s something I’ve never heard of. It sounds like paying $2 for a loaf of bread and then paying a 20 percent “bread fee” on top of that.) The nightly fee does cover meals, but spa services, guided excursions and activities cost extra.
Still, if you’re a billionaire, or a free-lance writer working for a magazine with a very generous expense account, what’s a few thousand dollars a day? Especially when the staff treats you like a member of the family.
As much as I enjoyed Dobson’s heart-pounding account of his adventures, I did find a few things to quibble with in his article. He mentions driving along “the massive Blackfoot River.” It is a fine river for sure, but massive? Maybe when its waters are ultimately added to the Columbia, but not until then.
The oddest thing about the article is its random use of capital letters. We read of Moose, Elk, White Tail Deer, Huckleberries, a Sleigh Ride, Sporting Clays and even, honest to God, Chocolate Cake, but then we come to something that really should be uppercase and find it rendered as “rocky mountains.”
But then, I’ve never tried to write an article after indulging in bottles of expensive champagne.
One last thing. Dobson writes at one point: “With so much to offer, Paws Up is home to first class decadence on a grand scale. Something locals are proud to call ‘The Last Best Place.’”
Yes, we do love that phrase, even to the point of naming independent online newspapers after it, but it certainly has nothing to do with “first class decadence.”
And what Dobson does not mention is that David Lipson, the developer of Paws Up, once had the effrontery to try to claim exclusive rights to “Last Best Place” for his resort and other businesses and products.
Our congressional delegation, thankfully, succeeded in having the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office permanently deny any trademark application for the phrase.
There are some things money can’t buy.
