Ski Business Idea! Need some feedback!

So, I currently live in NY, and grew up in England skiing in the alps, predominately France, anyway, I was skiing in Utah last year when I realised that the ski chalet business is virtually non-existent!

In Europe, most people stay in ski chalets or hotels, and in a ski chalet setting people would either rent a whole house, something similar to VRBO, or an individual room, something similar to a bed and breakfast.

The difference occurs in regards to service! People are normally either picked up at a certain airport and then drive to resort, or they meet at the resort, the idea being that you do not need to rent a car, because once you are at the chalet and resort you are able to get around on foot or the host and hostess would provide transportation.

The Host and Hostess who normally live in the chalet(Big house) will provide breakfast and dinner normally 6 nights out of 7, and offer ski guiding services to help people get to grips with the resort and which lift lines to avoid and which runs are a must! also offered are reduced price lift tickets and deals on rental.

So I realize that not all Americans go skiing for a week at a time, and they also like to eat out, but would like to know if people think it is a good idea? If anyone wants to get involved from a business stand point I would be interested to share my ideas further and show some of the potential properties that I think would suit.

CONTENTS DELETED

As Gore Kid said, the East is mainly a weekend crowd and it's tough to keep a business going when 90% of your business is on weekends. However, out West where you could be fairly close to a number of resorts and where people go for the week it might fly.

tom

I love the idea and have thought of similar ideas.   However I am an admitted  ski romantic and love Europe just for what you describe.     That said Americans seem to deplore the idea of eating with someone they don't know let alone share a house or bath.    


It works at the beach with 30 something's in dewey de an nj.....but that is because of low room volume and high costs of rooms.    I loved being a member of a beach house and would gave killed to find a similar situation in my local ski area......a different breed I fear.  

If you need an employee here and there I volunteer.   Will work for room and lift tickets.   I'm an excellent cook and l3 instructor.  

As noted.....a great pipe dream in NE.    But dream big and follow it

I appreciate the feedback,

I agree with a lot of what you are all saying, I do not think it would work on the East coast, I have been looking at Park City, because people go out that way for normally longer stays. I found some properties that would be great location wise; unfortunately at this point it is coming up with the money to get something like this off the ground.

We may end up doing Chef/hosting in a chalet in Meribel this year, I’m sure the exposure will be good experience and we can completely understand the European model, so that we are not going through that learning experience in America.

If anyone wants to get involved in the real estate Market, I have found some properties that are extremely competitively priced especially considering location in Park City, and would hopefully set it up, so that the business would cover all expenses and mortgage payments.