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| Denver Post Photo |
Colorado’s lodging revenue mirrored the bleak snowpack in the high country in January, according to a report by Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association. It just makes sense — when snow is slow to fill the ski slopes, fewer people occupy the hotel rooms.
In resort towns statewide, about 63.6 percent of hotel rooms were booked in January, compared with 68.2 percent last January. Breckenridge stayed even, with about 77 percent occupancy this year and last, as did Steamboat Springs, where about 69 percent of rooms were booked. Aspen did the best, with 78.6 percent occupancy, compared to 81.3 percent last year.
The resort towns that took the biggest hits in January were Vail and Winter Park.
In Vail, only about 63 percent of hotel rooms were occupied in January, when not all the lifts and terrain at Vail and Beaver Creek were open. Snow conditions were better last January, and 78 percent of rooms were filled.
Things are looking up in Eagle County, though, with 4 to 8 inches forecast by Tuesday morning and a base packed at about 45 inches. About 121 inches has fallen so far this season, 11 inches of that in the past seven days.
The occupancy rate in Winter Park was 48 percent in January, down from 57 percent in January 2017.
But, there’s been snow to ski in Winter Park — the resort reports 57 to 62 inches at the ski area base, according to Lisa Kriederman, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.
And February continues to bring the powder — 43 inches of snow this month alone, Winter Park spokesman Steve Hurlbert said.
“There’s this sort of doom and gloom sentiment particularly as it relates to snow, that’s not been the case,” he said.
The snowpack is at about 96 percent of the 30-year average, he said. Since the snow started before Christmas, about 175 inches has fallen at Winter Park, the average year-to-date for mid February is 204 inches.
And word is starting to get out. Hurlbert said there’s been a spike in last-minute bookings. “February is looking strong and March is looking strong.”
The snow has come just in time for spring break, which typically draws Texans and Midwesterners to the Centennial state.
“Spring break is a huge time for us,” he said. “People kind of waited to make sure the snow had come and now that the snow has come they’re ready to pull the trigger.”
By the time the storm that started Monday winds down, 6 to 8 inches of snow is expected to have fallen in Grand County, Kriederman said.
“It’s been an uphill battle for us, but now that snow is starting to come were kind of starting to see the tide turn,” Hurlbert said. “A couple of snowy weeks at the end of February and we should be right back on par with average.”
Multiple hotels in Winter Park reported an increase in reservations this week.
“Every time it snows there’s more people coming up here,” Joe Ligas, front desk clerk at Valley Hi Motel in Winter Park, said Monday. “Usually when there is snow, the following day a lot of Denver people take a day off and they come up for ‘powder day.’ Today we’ve kept busy.”
