Colorado Governor Jared Polis donned his trademark turtleneck and braved the snow to visit two Eagle County businesses in Avon and Edwards Thursday afternoon in recognition of Colorado Small Business Week.
Chris Dillmann/cdillmann@vaildaily.com
Vail’s Sitzmark Lodge keeps its doors open all year, even through quiet spells in the spring and fall. That changed in a big way just about one year ago.
Following the March 14 shutdown of Vail Resorts’ North American ski areas and a virtual shutdown of the state’s lodging industry, the Sitzmark closed for two-and-a-half months, starting right in one of Vail’s busiest months.
“It was really hard,” Sitzmark General Manager Jeanne Fritch said. Coming back has been hard, too.
Even before the shutdown, Fritch made the hard decision to stop the hotel’s weekly wine party for guests. Continental breakfasts, usually a time for guests to chat before starting a ski day, turned into grab-and-go bags. Furniture disappeared from the lobby, and cleaning protocols were quickly ramped up.