It’s been about 2 weeks since the announcement Vail & Beaver Creek were shutting down due to COVID-19.  If there was any doubt in our minds the mountains were the heart of our valley, all doubt should be erased.  The moment Vail Resorts decided to close, Aspen and their sister mountains followed suit, and the governor instructed the rest of the CO ski resorts to close as well.  It was supposedly only for a week, however we knew once the chairlifts stopped turning, the season was over.

The next day I came into work as I usually did.  I had guests in house and I knew the day was going to be stressful because they were expecting to ski and snowboard and now the mountain was closed.  I booked as many as I could on snowmobile tours and snow coach tours, told them where the local kids love to sled by the elementary school, and did my best to try and keep them happy and entertained.  It’s my job, right? 

Meanwhile, things were closing left and right.  Restaurants, dogsledding, whole hotels, you name it.  While my hotel is technically considered “open” at this point, they’re on a skeleton crew.  This does not include the concierge department.  Good news is, I have plenty of time to work on the website, and hopefully when we come out on the other side of this thing I’ll have a fully functional site with tons of information for you, Readers, as well as a shiny new certificate from FAU for a hospitality course I’m going to take in the downtime to try and make myself a better eConcierge.

This time is trying for the hospitality industry as a whole, and I know it’ll be hard for guest not only here in America, but from around the world to travel once we get through it.  We’ll rebound.  The urge to travel will always light a fire in our hearts, and the Vail Valley will be filled with folks who will be excited to give you the vacation for the memory books.  Until then, I’ll just keep on trucking along here and posting lots of photos on my Instagram (@eatdrinksmilevail).

And, of course, go exploring outside with my social distance team of Husband and Doggie.  Thank goodness exercise is considered essential!

All the love in the world,

Steph