
Salt Lake City: A guide to short-term rentals
The urban center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is also a gateway to Utah’s exceptional skiing, with excellent restaurants and attractions. A short-term rental is the best way to explore all that the city has to offer.
Kasa's short-term rentals in Salt Lake City
With short-term rentals in the city’s most exciting neighborhoods, Kasa offers comfortable and convenient accommodations no matter what brings you to Salt Lake City or where you need to go.
Kasa's short-term rentals in Salt Lake City
Apartment
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4.84 Total rating: 4.84 based on 125 reviews.Kasa Downtown Salt Lake City
- Free parking
- Fitness center
- Community room
- BBQ
- Pets allowed
This property is steps from great shopping and dining, a short drive from the mountains, and offers comfortable indoor and outdoor seating areas, a 24-hour fitness center, and an on-site dog park.
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Discover Salt Lake City
After booking your short-term rental in Salt Lake City, here's everything you need to know for your trip.
The biggest city in Utah and the state’s capital, Salt Lake City is located next to Utah’s Great Salt Lake, a massive saltwater lake left over from an ancient era. The city has a population of 200,000, but the greater metro area has a population of 1.25 million. The seat of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City was settled by Mormons in the mid-nineteenth century.
Before the arrival of the Americans, the area was inhabited by a variety of Native American communities for thousands of years, including the Shoshone, who the Mormons encountered when they arrived, but whose numbers had already been diminished by an earlier outbreak of disease.
The Mormons had headed west into what was then Mexican territory in order to escape religious persecution, encountering great difficulties along the way. Brigham Young, the president of the church, chose the location of the settlement, saying he had seen it in a vision.
The city grew thanks to the arrival of more members of the church, as well as gold prospectors. The city was the only place in the American West to have African slavery, and it had a trade of enslaved Native Americans as well. The church and the U.S. government were in frequent conflict over polygamy. In 1857, President Buchanan sent soldiers to the Utah territory over the issue, initiating the Utah War. In 1890, the church left polygamy in the U.S. behind, and Utah was subsequently granted statehood in 1896.
Starting in the late 19th century, railroad travel brought waves upon waves of immigrants from Asia and Europe to the city. In the 20th century, the population of the surrounding towns and cities in the metro area began to swell. In 2002, Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, and today the city is a thriving, modern metropolis with excellent restaurants, attractions, and entertainment. There are great short-term rental options near it all.
Salt Lake City is served by Salt Lake City International Airport, a bustling airport located about 4 miles west of the city’s downtown. The Utah Transit Authority offers public transportation to and from the airport in two forms: a light rail system called TRAX and a bus line. These options, along with commuter trains, are also available throughout the city, making it easy to get around without a car if you intend to stay relatively local.
If your travel plans include trips that range well outside of the city, a rental car is the way to go. You can always take taxis and rideshare services from where you’re staying to where you’re going, but fares can add up if you’re covering a lot of distance, and if you travel to remoter areas for hikes and sightseeing, you may have some trouble hailing a taxi back. The city center is very walkable, and biking in Salt Lake City is also a terrific option.
Temple Square is the holy hub of the Mormon church, and it’s a peaceful and majestic place to visit, with impressive buildings, flowers, and fountains. While some parts of the complex are currently being renovated, others remain open to visitors. (Make sure you check what’s open and closed beforehand.) The most iconic part of the complex is the Mormon Temple, built in a distinctive style in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
For more Mormon history, visit This Is the Place Heritage Park, where Brigham Young determined that the area was where he had envisioned church settling after a long and perilous journey from the east.
The Natural History Museum of Utah has a vast collection of exhibits, including an entire indoor canyon, housed in a stunning building.
And the State Capitol is a neoclassical gem where you can walk around on your own or book a guided tour.
A disproportionate number of Salt Lake City’s best restaurants are clustered downtown, near Temple Square. You can find high-end Tuscan and American cuisine blocks away from simple German food, with craft cocktails and beer in between. From downtown, most of the city’s best eating spreads south, into the neighborhoods of Ballpark, East Central, and Windsor Place. There are Lebanese, Thai, Japanese, and Ethiopian restaurants, as well as New Hampshire and Texas themed establishments, and a bakery specializing in cake donuts.
Every year, countless visitors pass through Salt Lake City as a gateway to Utah’s exceptional wintersports terrain. The city is close to a host of famous resorts, among them Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort, as well as the smaller resorts Snowbird and Alta.
For greenery and fun within the city, head to Liberty Park, a leafy, 80-acre retreat where you can walk, jog, picnic, or play games like tennis and bocce. One of the oldest aviaries in the world, Tracy Aviary, is also within the park.
Like Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands, Utah’s Great Salt Lake has been rumored to be home to a monster. In the 1840s, employees at a salt company claimed to have spotted a creature swimming in the lake. They said it had the head of a horse and the body of a crocodile. When it noticed the workers, it made a frightening bellowing noise and charged at them. They ran away. Unfortunately the “North Shore Monster” hasn’t been spotted again, but a few dedicated locals keep looking.