Interview with Greek Peak Round 2

monday or tuesday what? I don't get it.

snowshoe bunny wrote

monday or tuesday what? I don't get it.

The original title of this thread was "Interview with Greek Peak Round 2."

Some background for those who are new:

Round 1: Last summer we tried to put together an interview with Al Kryger. I got lots of good input from the forum and some great answers from Al. But there were some huge holes in it. I pushed and pushed and just could not get any followup after the initial few bursts.  Now it's obvious what was going on ... the stuff was hitting the fan and Al had way more important things on his mind.

Round 2: This spring we decided to give it another shot with Marc and John the new owners. They were very accommodating and responded quickly. But when I read through what they provided it was really vague.  I figured it wasn't to be.

Then the June 13 press conference happened.  A pro who covered it lurks here and felt like paying it back by sending me the great report we posted.  Encouraged by this thread, and the ever eager optimism and input from Camp, I reached back out to the GP partners and asked again if they would address our questions head on, and give the GP faithful some meat to chew on.  They agreed.

So to the point ... Round 3 ... our third attempt at getting an interview with the powers at Greek Peak, is close to being done. I'm hoping to publish it late tomorrow or Tuesday.

This is posted:

http://nyskiblog.com/greek-peak-new-owners/

Comments under the blog post are much more likely to be seen by the owners vs here.

I'd appreciate your comments there as well.

Excellent job, Harvey!  Quite a bit of new insight was garnered.  Thanks for taking the time and persistence to make the interview happen.

Rj1972 wrote

Excellent job, Harvey!  Quite a bit of new insight was garnered.  Thanks for taking the time and persistence to make the interview happen.

+1

campgottagopee wrote

Rj1972 wrote

Excellent job, Harvey!  Quite a bit of new insight was garnered.  Thanks for taking the time and persistence to make the interview happen.

+1

X2!   

Thanks all.

But here is the thing.  You guys do a lot of the hard part.  When I post threads like this one, and you help with the questions - that's invaluable.  (I do provide some editing and schmooze factor.)

Prospective interviewees (< is that a word?) take the interview so much more seriously if you ask questions that indicate a real working knowledge of the issues.  

I was pumped that Rj (or who? sorry I forget) came up with that question about WF/Gore/Hunter reciprocity and I was able to get an answer fast enough to include it. "Would you consider dropping the rope on lower Atlas?" That kind of stuff is gold that would be hard as hell for me to come up with on my own.  

When we were trying to score that Greg Stump Interview, Stump was like... "let me see your questions and I'll see if it's worth my time" or something to that effect.  I had help from Mad Pat and a few others who REALLY knew their $hit.  Stump was pumped and gave a great interview.

So once more... thanks back to y'all.

From GP FB page....prett cool stuff

Saw this online and am somewhat troubled since it tends to make me wonder just how much maintenance/upgrades and necessary repairs got skipped over by Big Al. Copied off Trip Advisor.

"“Worst vacation ever”
Reviewed June 27, 2013
This is the worst vacation place I've been to, I'll be short and just point out all the bad experience, my family checked in to this lodge June 21-23, we are from New Jersey, and we came here to check out some winery in the local, and primarily for the indoor water park, since we have 2 kids, the only problem for this room that we checked in was the A/C wasn't working. these are the things that made the trip terrible.
Incompetent - Maintenance checked the A/C system couple times and said A/C is functioning normal, and even after 2 1/2 hours of checking with the room still warm, maintenance supervisor still wouldn't admit A/C is not working, even boast that he is the Maintenance supervisor there and he knows their A/C system, I even told him that if you put your hand in the air-vent, there is no cold air coming ( only regular air )
- Request front desk if maybe they could give us another room, we even told her that we just want to make sure that we don't want to get stuck in that room , just in case later in the afternoon they will be fully booked. The reply " they are working on the A/C, and there is no need to worry cuz they're not fully book" when we came back to the lodge at around 8pm, our room was still warm, A/C still not working, we went to the front desk to ask if we could be transferred, the answer " I'm sorry we do not have any room available" I replied so what can we do now, she said " Did you try opening the window? ", I said there's a window lock that prevents you from fully opennng it, she said we will send someone to open the window, I then said, that's the only thing you can do ? I thought you said awhile ago you were not fully book, lady answered, "we're not, we're 90% booked, and we have 1 room that is dirty ", after sending the maintenance guy to open the window, they called and offer to bring a fan ( a fan that was squeaking all evening ). Next day came, 8, 9 , 10 am came, no one calls from the front desk to let us know when their A/C is going to be fixed, so I said to myself okay maybe it's still not working and there is nothing I can do, then my wife came in from the balcony and tells me "did you see the other 2 rooms beside us that they have windows A/C installed, so I said to myself, okay let me call them and ask, male guy answered the phone, I said good morning, is there any news of when the A/C is going to be fix ? he replied "they are still working on it, I can't give you time of when it'll be fixed, I said is there anything you can do, he said did they open your window, I said yes, he then said did they bring you the fan, I said yes, and he said sorry there is nothing I can do for now. I said " really ? " he said again yes. then I said how come the other 2 rooms near us had windows a/c installed, the reply" oh cuz we don't know which are the rooms that have no a/c. I told him " seriously from yesterday that we had called 2 times and went to the front desk twice about these problem, and you still don't know who has A/C problem, the guys paused for a while and said let me speak to my manager, after about 30 seconds, a female came to the phone and said "oh your room is next to be installed with the window A/C. I do not know how that staff here evaluate the problem and their priorities but here are few things that really made me angry the second day.
-Our family friend who checked in the same day as us, ( 1 hour after we check-in ) was given an room upgrade immedialtely upon checking in...reason...a/c in the supposed room they're suppose to have is not working.
- The room beside us was a suite, in which they have 2 A/C in the two section, the gentleman checked-in there told us that in their room, 1 section of the room a/c is working, and the other side it's not working. Now if you are the manager who would you install a window a/c first, our room that totally has no a/c or the other (suite ) that atleast have 1 running a/c. But yet they got the a/c first, and gave us a lie that we're next in line.
- The gentleman in the suite ( he was nice and we had a bit chit-chat in the balcony ) was given some free tickets to their waterpark because of the a/c inconvenience.
When we were there, the weather was around 84, thankfully it's not yet in the 90s.
- Lastly, remember our friend who got the upgraded room, they were also given some extra tickets or activity coupon tickets upon check out. For us, not even an apology.
If you're looking to for an indoor water park, look somewhere else. plus the driveway and parking lot here are not even paved. so get ready the dust and poor service.


This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Kathleen T, Director of Sales at Greek Peak, responded to this review
July 10, 2013
Hello.

We are sorry and do apologize for your experience. During your stay I understand that 2 floors went out and they went and purchased 20 air conditioners and I have no idea why your room was not serviced. They were scrambling to do something as quickly as possible because our goal is to make sure that every guest is satisfied. If you would please call Dwayne Spitzer our General Manager at the Lodge he would love to speak to you and try to rectify the issue."

I think that barn, in the pic, possibly is now the Stavos Condos - located at the far side of Greeks parking lot.

campgottagopee wrote

From GP FB page....prett cool stuff

Big D wrote

I think that barn, in the pic, possibly is now the Stavos Condos - located at the far side of Greeks parking lot.

campgottagopee wrote

From GP FB page....prett cool stuff

Hard to tell for sure, but from the lay of the land behind the farm I'd say you're correct


Drove thru our beloved over the weekend----things are shaping up quite nicely

Snowshoe, I'm see maintenance issues, as well as care issues in the Lodge.  Items/mechanicals are beginning to fail, carpets are not being cleaned, the parking lot is a disaster, linens are in short supply, and so on.  The new GM, Dwayne, started a few weeks ago, so we will have to see what his priorities are.  Purchasing 20 window air conditions is not a solution at a former 4-Diamond hotel.  What I will say is that the air conditioning system is rather involved, as it is not traditional technology.  They went for a very Green system, with all sorts of nuances.  However, you can't tell me that it can't be repaired to the point that they have to purchase window units.  

I think it behooves the powers that be to make sure they have a maintenance man/parts on hand if they have a state of the art green system for ac. I applaud the green system but still...
I find it hard to believe they could not move these folks and the others to other rooms. The lodge is nowhere near that busy these days.
Still it makes you wonder just how much wasn't getting done even with the newer buildings. I wonder about infrastructure for sure and the condos. All they would need is one sewer/water repair problem or major shared roofing problem to balloon the HOA fees and special assessments to completely unrealistic levels.
Someone said it well earlier..."Big Al could talk a dog off a meat pile". Too bad because if the new guys don't have piles and piles of cash available, fed/state/local money will not be coming for some time as they have recently found out. Local IDA will not be burned a second time and feds are not that stupid.

lot's of armchair quarterbacks here... i don;t know any details of the situation but i do know daikin equipment (or any other hvac equipment these days) ain't cheap and sitting around in a warehouse waiting to be picked up. if a condenser went south serving a number of units it could easily be 6-8 weeks out for a replacement so hopefully the window a/c's were a temporary fix. i think yall  need to chill and let these guys get there footing before making a bunch of judgements based on someones tripadvisor bitchfest

Marc and John no nothing about the hospitality industry.  They are skiers.  While they do have small business experience, I hope they put that knowledge to good use, as they were handed a gift.  Especially, with 100 or so fractional ownership agreements on the table (if true), which is pure money in the bank, and adds to the monthly HOA fees, which can be used for repairs and maintenance.  I wish I had known about those 100 agreements six months ago, but Al only said that the FDIC required the 50% drop in price, and would not close on any sales that were pending.

They hired a 65 year old general manager for the Lodge that has experience managing economy, and a few mid-market properties, from a central office hotel management company.  Before long, his solution will be to fly a Best Western flag over the Lodge.

The reality about many of the Tripadvisor reviews is that they are from the Groupon folks, who received an awesome deal, but are expecting more than they paid for.  Yes, air conditioning is a big issue, but so many of them complain about the waterpark pricing, Acorn Grill pricing, Adventure Center pricing, etc.  There seems to be a growing pattern.  They received a Motel 6 rate, but want Motel 6 pricing for everything else, while expecting a Four Seasons facility.

Why the need to continually rag on these guys who stepped up to the plate?

HOLY MOLY:

Hey Snowshoe....I copied this from tripadvisor too


“Family-friendly Resort and (mini) Waterpark”
 Reviewed July 23, 2013 NEW
Located near the base of Greek Peak Ski Resort, the Hope Lake Lodge is an excellent place for a stopover. After early check-in, we were happy to find our room clean and comfortable, with one Queen Bed and a Pull-out Sofa. The room came fully equipped for cooking one's own meal! There's a DVD Player as well. The Resort's main attraction -- the Cascades Waterpark -- adjoins the Hotel. It has 4 Slides, only 2 of which are open to Adults. One of the Slides accommodates either a single or double tube while the other Slide is in complete darkness. We enjoyed the Indoor Heated Pool which leads out directly to an Outdoor Heated Pool. There are also a Cove Pool where one can play water basketball, a Big Wave Pool and a Water Playground. Lifeguards are on constant patrol and we saw one of them reacting instantly to help a struggling swimmer. Next to the Waterpark, there's a Games Arcade which has the most friendly staff. And in the evenings, our kids also enjoyed using the S'mores Fire Pit.


And this:

 “Fabulous Family Vacation”
 Reviewed July 15, 2013
We stayed 4 days 3 nights in Eagles Nest. My kids loved the room with the spiral staircase! Room was clean overall except for a dirty bowl we found in the cabinet but all was good. The dishwasher got clogged and maintenance was there immediately to rectify the issue! Only wished the Jacuzzi tub which was located upstairs in the suite was in the master bathroom on the first floor but kids loved their private Jacuzzi tub!!!! Everything about the hotel was clean, the room, the pool area, the arcade the restaurant. The waitress at the Acorn was wonderful for dinner. Food was delicious. There weren't many families there last week so it was like having a private waterpark to ourselves. We fished one afternoon and my kids caught their first fish. We went across the street and spent the day zip lining, etc. Big shout out to Candace and Wyatt they were so patient with us. The only issue we had was the cost just to use the pool. My kids are water rats and to pay for them to use the facilities each day we were there was a big disappointment. There should be a special price during your stay and special wristbands for the use of the outdoor pool and hot tub. Only other issue was the first night the kids wanted to make S'mores and the store (which is more like a closet) ran out of graham crackers big disappointment. Not much else to do. So if you are going, 4 days more then enough to swim play and fish because not much else to do up there.





Funny, ain't it??

gorgonzola wrote

lot's of armchair quarterbacks here... i don;t know any details of the situation but i do know daikin equipment (or any other hvac equipment these days) ain't cheap and sitting around in a warehouse waiting to be picked up. if a condenser went south serving a number of units it could easily be 6-8 weeks out for a replacement so hopefully the window a/c's were a temporary fix. i think yall  need to chill and let these guys get there footing before making a bunch of judgements based on someones tripadvisor bitchfest

Neither do they, some people would rather get half the story and run with it....always amusing

skimore wrote

Why the need to continually rag on these guys who stepped up to the plate?

WORD

maybe it's because if it wasn't for these 2 guys the wouldn't have anything to bitch about??? guess they rather have it closed

Give 'em hell guys.... Friends of Greek Peak try to build it up not try to drag it down