MT. CRESTED BUTTE, CO (July 2000) -- Those Club Med folks
are picky. For their third North American resort village, they
wanted a grand alpine setting with Old West charm, an exceptional
ski mountain right outside the door, ski-in lodging of the highest
standard, and an elegant, self-contained facility large enough to
house a theater, innovative children's club and two dining
amenities.
Pickiness paid off. This November, Club Med will open an
"all-inclusive" family village in Crested Butte, after
purchasing and extensively remodeling the former Crested Butte
Marriott Resort at the base of the ski slopes.
"We were drawn here by the charm of the town, the great
skiing, the champagne powder, the location, and the infrastructure
that allows us to meet our guests' needs," said Bob Fagan,
Director of Operations USA for Club Med. "There are very few
places like this in the world. The facility works very well for
our family clientele, and you can walk out the door, put on your
skis, and you're gone."
The granddaddy of all-inclusive resorts, Club Med has 150
"leisure operations" around the world, hosting two
million guests annually. It operates 23 ski villages in the French
and Italian Alps and Saboro, Japan. Its two other North American
resorts are in Copper Mountain, Colorado, and Port St. Lucie,
Florida. The Copper Mountain resort will now be changed to a
singles/couples destination and Club Med Crested Butte will be
oriented toward families (which make up 70% of Club Med's
clientele).
Club Med Crested Butte is scheduled to open November 22, the
opening day of the ski season. The family village will be open for
both winter and summer seasons.
For Club Med, Crested Butte is a nice fit because the ski
resort's prime markets, Texas, Oklahoma and other southern states,
complement Club Med's strong markets on the east and west coasts.
Though it will probably bring in more guests from within the
United States, Club Med will also introduce an international
flavor to Crested Butte with its broader clientele, staff, food
and programs. A charter flight from Brazil to New York to Gunnison
(30 miles from Crested Butte) will bring in guests from both South
America and the East Coast. Club Med also has a strong clientele
among Mexican, Australian, English and European residents. More
than 1.5 million brochures will be distributed internationally
advertising Club Med's resorts this year, and Crested Butte will
be a headline destination, Fagan said.
"For European travelers, there is such a mystique to the
American West. The mountains and the charming old town make
Crested Butte a perfect environment for them," said Carole
Boucard, director of public relations for Club Med. "Also,
many of our international travelers enjoy the kinds of sports
Crested Butte offers — from skiing in the winter to rafting and
horseback riding in the summer."
Crested Butte residents can also enjoy the international flair
at the Club Med Crested Butte, since the on-site restaurants and
shows will be open to the public and many of the staff will be
from other countries.
"This will not be just your typical hotel," Fagan
said. "It will be another attraction in the community. People
can come here and experience another way of living, other
cultures, different food offerings, a French European
flavor."
Club Med is also different from other resorts in its emphasis
on creating a strong community feeling within the resort. Club
Med's fun-spirited GOs (an abbreviated European term which loosely
translates into "gracious organizers" or "gentle
organizers") interact with the guests in many ways, as ski
or snowboard instructors, rollerblading coaches, kids' companions,
and performers in the evening programs. They help foster a fun,
safe, personalized feeling to the vacation, Fagan said. Since GOs
often transfer from village to village around the world, they are
often from other countries, which creates a "rich experience,
the coming together of different cultures into a fun team."
Club Med also has GEs (gentle employees), generally local
residents who provide the behind-the-scenes support work, and GMs
(gentle members), or guests. "We have a pleasant name for
everyone," Boucard said with a GS (gentle smile).
Vacation packages at Club Med Crested Butte will include
accommodations, ski or snowboarding classes for all levels
(including racing opportunities), lift tickets, all meals, nightly
in-house entertainment and kids' participation in Mini Club Med
activities. Children can spend the day at the mini club,
participate in specific activities only, or spend the day with
their parents.
"Club Med does a very good job with kids. The Mini Club
Med gives children their own kind of experience, their own place
to go," Boucard said. "For example, at our Florida
village, kids four through 12 participate in a circus that is very
popular. The older kids learn tricks on the trapeze, which is very
safe, and the younger children are the circus 'animals.' The
children put on a circus show for the parents; they get really
jazzed up and the parents go crazy with the video cameras."
Typical Club Med evening entertainment includes theatrical
spoofs (of blockbusters like "Titanic" and
"Halloween"), international reviews with music and
humor, guest performers, karaoke and other interactive shows.
To accommodate the Club Med all-inclusive motif, the former
Marriott building was extensively remodeled this summer. The new
Club Med facility has 257 rooms and suites, with a capacity of
more than 770. The conference level of the hotel was transformed
into a children's center, part of the plaza into a ski rental and
storage area, and a small restaurant expanded into a larger
buffet, dining room and bar. A 450-person theater was added over
the parking garage and facilities were also added for a nurses'
first-aid clinic, expanded boutique and diversified kitchen area,
with a patisserie, boulangerie and butcher shop.
Although vacation packages are all-inclusive, so "you're
not reaching into your pocket for money every five minutes,"
Fagan said most guests also choose to explore the local community.
"Our guests are typically curious; they'll want to go out
and shop, have a drink in a 1900s Western saloon, try the local
eateries. I think the local community will enjoy our guests and
certainly benefit from Club Med coming to Crested Butte."