It’s little wonder that winter mountain destinations, with so many invigorating and inspiring outdoor experiences close at hand, are often popular sites for meetings. However, because of their popularity, good negotiation skills are essential to secure favorable rates, dates and space, especially in the top-tier locations.
For example, anyone who wants mid-February or March dates in central Colorado destinations will be up against stiff competition. With some strategic implements in hand, however, there are ways to catch a break.
Meanwhile, lesser-known mountain destinations can be just as satisfying and more affordable—even in high season.
Timing is Key
Great air access is just one advantage that brings in people from all over the world to Colorado winter resorts like Vail and Beaver Creek, Keystone, Copper Mountain, and Aspen. These are destinations that are magnets for visitors, offering world-class skiing, accommodations, shopping, dining, and entertainment.
Rich tenBraak, director of travel and tourism for Vail Valley Partnership, a central marketing and reservations entity for the valley, says while winter season rates in Vail and Beaver Creek tend to be at the higher end of the seasonal market, there are peak season opportunities for negotiating lower rates for space among the valley’s 5,000 guest units. And those windows of opportunities begin around the Thanksgiving opening time.
“There’s usually a week a month where there is still negotiating room,” tenBraak says. “The most popular dates usually coincide with national holidays and school vacations. In between, you can often find some soft spots if you have 10 rooms per night or more. In February or March, you have the first and last weeks of each month that are a little softer, while the middle is the spring break meat of the season for us.
“Also, in early December there’s more opportunity to negotiate than there is later in that month,” he adds. “Right after the holidays—in early January—is another opportune time. That said, various properties have different occupancy numbers, so it pays o study the destination.”
To answer continuing popular demand for all it offers, projects within Vail’s Billion Dollar Renewal program are adding new properties and large renovations to the facilities inventory. Among the newest completions are Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa’s newly renovated ballrooms and prefunction spaces.
Coming this fall is RockResorts’ Arrabelle at Vail Square, a 36-room luxury enclave with 6,500 square feet of meeting space.
The new Four Seasons Resort Vail will open in late 2008 with 120 rooms and conference facilities that include a grand ballroom, two banquet rooms and several private meeting rooms.
Telluride is another popular Colorado winter destination that has lots of glamour, heritage and appeal for those who want serious ski terrain along with upscale meeting spaces.
Diana Carey, director of sales for the Telluride Tourism Board, says local winter rates are 25 percent to 50 percent higher than they are in summer, but “soft” calendar periods invite planner consideration.
“We get up and running around Thanksgiving, so early December is favorable, as is the entire month of January for good group rates,” Carey says.
Telluride is also adding new and refurbished hotel products to complement its meetings portfolio. The Telluride Conference Center has 11,000 square feet of space and killer views of the “14ers”—peaks with elevations of 14,000 feet or more.
Among the accommodations that surround the center is the newly renovated Peaks Resort & Golden Door Spa. Coming in late 2008 is Capella Telluride, a new 148-unit condo-hotel and the first U.S. venture for Capella Hotels and Resorts, a global operator of luxury hotels.
The new Capella will enhance Telluride’s Mountain Village meetings product with 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
Accessibility Factor
Air and surface access is an important consideration in booking during snow season. Some mountain destinations, such as Telluride, enjoy greater accessibility with more flights in ski season from around the U.S. than at other times of the year.
The Lake Tahoe region is a mountain destination that benefits from excellent year-round air service into Reno/Tahoe International Airport. It also offers drive-in proximity from Sacramento (two hours) and San Francisco (four hours).
“Many people think Tahoe is isolated, but we are not. We have good air access all year. My resort is only 40 minutes’ drive from the airport,” says Brad Mettler, director of sales and marketing for Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort Spa & Casino.
Mettler also emphasizes Tahoe’s competitive winter rates.
“We are a five-star destination without the five-star rates—about 40 percent lower than central Colorado rates,” he says. “Where else can you be near 12 ski basins, plenty of après ski on property, a new 20,000-square-foot spa, and a 24-hour casino? We pitch our destination as luxury log cabin with Nevada gaming that doesn’t take you out of the mountain atmosphere.”
Quieter and Affordable
Getting off the beaten winter path can be yet another way to book the peaks without breaking the budget. Some of the best group values can be had in destinations like Wyoming’s Jackson Hole and Montana’s Big Sky and Glacier Country areas. Resorts in these locales offer all or most of the amenities groups need, without top-market price tags.
In Whitefish, Mont., the 145-room Grouse Mountain Lodge has 11,000 square feet of conference and function space, and a spectacular mountain setting near both Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake.
Glacier Country skiing is great, with a 2,500-foot vertical drop and over 300 inches of annual snowfall, says Edna White, the lodge’s senior sales manager.
She adds that air access into Glacier International Airport is only 15 minutes away. Also, train service out of Seattle and Chicago into Whitefish is popular with some groups, because they get to see the scenery from domed observation cars, while bypassing airport delays and security hassles.
“Winter is our quieter season, so we have very competitive rates and excellent airlift through Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Denver,” White says. “I tell meeting planners to look to us for high value compared to other winter resort areas. We have no crowds and no lift lines because we aren’t near a large metropolitan feeder.”
Jackson Hole has high and wide allure, too, because it sits in the shadow of both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.
Along with its generous folio of meetings-equipped resorts like Grand Targhee Ski & Summer Resort and Teton Mountain Lodge, there are activities such as skiing, snow coach tours of Yellowstone and sleigh rides through the National Elk Refuge.
Also near Yellowstone, Montana’s Big Sky Resort is the region’s largest meeting site, with 40,000 square feet of function space, 750 guest units, a spa, and a smorgasbord of snow sports. The resort is about an hour from both Bozeman’s airport and the west entrance to Yellowstone.
The year-round 320 Guest Ranch is another option in the Big Sky region, offering a dedicated conference facility for groups of up to 200, a saloon and a full-service restaurant that features big game dishes and lighter fare.
The ranch dates from 1898 and sits along two miles of the legendary Gallatin River. Wranglers and horse experts are on staff, along with conference support people.
“We have a variety of accommodations at the ranch,” says Denise Benoit, marketing and sales director, “from deluxe rooms to three-bedroom log homes and chalets, and our winter rates are the lowest in Gallatin Canyon. We’re a bargain because we aren’t right in the main Big Sky resort area.
“What we offer groups is a Montana ranch experience you won’t get in the large resort destinations,” she continues. “Twilight sleigh rides, snowmobiling, skiing, and hot drinks around a campfire are just some of our experiences.”
