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."