The Vail Arts Festival at Lionshead Village is a three day event that showcases over 75 artists from all over the U.S. This spectacular event will include artwork of various media ranging from large-scale sculptures, to jewelry, to paintings. As an artist myself, I have always been eager to attend this and other art festivals (including the Breckenridge Art Festival) in the past. Never have I seen so much talent in such a laid back, natural atmosphere. It beats walking through a stuffy gallery or museum and it is truly an event that the whole family can enjoy. There is awesome food, live music, and so much engaging artwork, you will surely want to spend more than one day enjoying it!! The Breckenridge Art Festival, which occurs over the 4^th of July weekend (2nd-4^th, 2010, is ranked the 18^th best art fair in the United States by the Art Fair Source Book. Last year at the Breckenridge Art Festival, I was blown away both by the artists and the incredible food. Yes, I think it was the gyro stand that truly left me speechless!

(The Breckenridge Summer Arts Festival)

Imagine:  As you casually stroll between booths, the smell of festival food wafts through the 70 degree summer air. You stop and gaze at a magnificent piece of artwork that catches your eye. The artist is sitting in the nearby shade, watching all the on-lookers peer in at his work. He approaches you and tells you about his artistic inspiration, his work, and its meaning. After a short discussion, you move on and continue to enjoy the unique artwork and the beauty of the mountains.

The weekly Vail Market  is a farmer’s market and art show that offers fresh Colorado farm and gourmet products. This event is accompanied by live music, delicious snacks, Colorado wines, a mechanical bull, railroad rides, caricatures, free balloons, local arts & crafts, flowers, and more! This is the largest farmer’s market in Colorado with over 100 tents each week! During your summer stay in Vail, it is worthwhile to visit the Vail Market, happening every Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:30pm, June 20-Sept 12, 2010.  

There is no better time to visit Vail, CO than in the summer. The Vail Arts Festival, and other spectacular events including, Spring Back to Vail, The Vail Film Festival, and Taste of Vail will attract thousands of visitors to the gorgeous mountains this year. If big events are not your thing, I guarantee that your summer vacation in Vail will be epic! You can strap your mountain bike to the back of a chairlift and bike down. You can white water raft. You can hike to the peak of a 49,000 foot mountain for peat’s sake!! And with the sun always shining, you can even catch some rays hanging by the pool!! So get up here! Book your vacation now and enjoy all that Vail has to offer this summer!

(A hike through the picturesque mountains is far more entertaining than lying on some beach!)

I grew up in a family of five and can gratefully say that we had our share of family vacations; all of which were spent in a hotel. Twenty three years later my vacations have evolved from family time to group vacations with good friends.
This past weekend, myself and 12 friends rented a ski-in /ski-out vacation home in Breckenridge, CO. We arrived to find the home nestled high in the tress overlooking Breckenridge Mountain. The view was enough to make everyone want to stay longer…
As we toured the house I was pleased to find that the amenities of a hotel were still present in vacation rentals, plus some. I found that each bathroom was stocked with Aveda products, beautifully folded towels, laundry detergent was provided for the washer and dryer, and the house was stocked with plenty of comfortable blankets for everyone. I began to realize that this was the VIP experience, without the price!
One of the many advantages of a vacation rental vs. hotel stay is having a full kitchen to take advantage of. We didn’t waste any time to cook up a fest of steaks, tilapia, pasta, and veggies. Had we had gone to town and had such a wonderful meal; we would have been spending at minimum $25 a person. For less than $100 all 13 of us enjoyed a home cooked meal with leftovers to spare. Did I mention we weren’t spending $ 8 a cocktail?
Everyone seemed to agree that the back deck hot tub overlooking Breckenridge Mountain was the highlight of our vacation rental. After a day on the slopes, nothing felt better than skiing back to the house and jumping in the hot tub for a little relaxation. There was plenty to keep us occupied at the house; from the pool table, to board games, to just hanging out. It was such a good feeling to have the space and resources to spend time with one another, without that typical cooped up feeling that other accommodations give you. All groups should consider a renting a vacation home from Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals for their next holiday.
CSA

It sounds like story from two hundred years ago, yet next month the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars will have traveled over 6,000 miles since their flight from Sierra Leone to escape genocide, and come perform in Vail, Colorado. Many of the bands’ six members’ family and friends were murdered in violence during the brutal civil war from 1991-2002. While Spring Back to Vail is a celebration of a close to winter, and new beginning, I think that this year’s celebration can also be considered a reminder of how far we can come, and that we truly can make change if our hearts are in it. The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars will be performing for Spring Back to Vail on Friday, April 16, 2010 in Vail Village at Checkpoint Charlie.

In addition to the Sierra Leone Rufugee All Stars, recording artist Wyclef Jean will be performing Saturday, April 17^th at Ford Park in Vail, Colorado. Travelers to Vail will experience a historically influential concert for free. Formerly a member of the Fugees, he has made great strides within the music industry and has become one of the greatest role model through his philanthropic work. In 2005, he created Yéle Haiti Foundation, and provides scholarships to children in Haiti. We welcome Wyclef, his musical talent, and his positive influence to Spring Back to Vail next month!

See you there!

20th Annual Taste of Vail

From Thursday April 8, 2010 until Saturday April 10, 2010

Vail is gone have its 20th food and wine festival. The annual three-day event is held at several venues throughout Vail Village. Participants at the Taste of Vail will enjoy the best wines from over 50 of the country’s most noted vintners. In addition, visitors will dine at Vail Valley’s world-class restaurants, fine wine poured by winemakers and winery owners from top wineries around the globe, participate in interactive seminars, auctions and dance. As well as going to the Colorado Lamb Cook Off, après ski tasting and the popular mountaintop picnic sensory extravaganza at the top of Vail Mountain. The event will start of on Thursday morning with Celebrities on Snow, the Belgian Beer Lunch and the 5^th Annual Colorado Lamb Cook- Off and après ski tasting. Then on Friday there will be again Celebrities on Snow, a seminar, mountain top picnic, and live auction chef showcase and at night a cigar seminar. Saturday will start off with the aphrodisiac foods army reiley, and the Josh Wesson Seminar. In the afternoon, the Taste of Vail Festival will finish   off with a Pinot Noir Speed Dating Style Seminar and the Great Tasting and Dinner Dance.
In the past years, Vail could welcome more than 5,000 people for the Taste of Vail Festival.

So mark the date- be part of the event and enjoy amazing days in Vail during the Taste of  Vail.

Click here, here and here to see some fun videos from the past Taste of Vail Events !!!

The Vail Film Festival, scheduled for April 1-4, is a premier annual event that attracts up and coming celebrities and filmmakers for 4 days of artistic appreciation. The Program Categories include Features, Documentaries, Short Films, Activism Showcase, Family Showcase, Adventure Film Showcase, and Student Films. There are a variety of passes available for purchase. The passes are priced from $65 to $500+. The Vista Pass, which costs $65 permits access to films, panels, and the festival’s hospitality lounge. The Patron Pass is the most expensive, starting at $500. This is the premier pass and grants VIP access to the films, panels, opening night party, filmmaker reception, first track skiing (Mountain opens early for festival pass holders), and access to private VIP Cocktail Reception with attending celebrities (among other perks). Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals can provide you with a variety of ski in-ski out accommodations which will make it easy to take advantage of the first track skiing perk! With over 36,000 local accommodations to choose from, you will truly feel like an A-lister! Celebrities who have been honored in the past at the Vail Film Festival include Sophia Bush(2007), Hayden Panettiere(2007), Olivia Wilde (2008), and Adrian Grenier (2008). 

Visitors wanting to attend the Vail Film Festival but who also love to ski or snowboard are covered. All Film Festival activities are scheduled in the afternoon and evening. Additionally, with the purchase of a pass, visitors will get deeply discounted lift tickets. Other great events including the Street Beats featuring Danielia Cotton, Taste of Vail, and Spring Back to Vail will also be taking place in the following days, just more reasons to extend your stay!! The Vail Valley is only so large, so Book your accommodation today and partake in one of Vail’s most prestigious events!

All can agree that the business climate today is unlike anything most veterans have experienced in a lifetime.  Many companies’ response to the contracting economy has been in short, downsizing, budget adjustments and streamlining of practices in order to focus on what’s going to produce the biggest ROI.

However, not everywhere is hurting.  In fact trends of the last two years pose a phenomenal growth opportunity to those with a vision and a means to act tactfully towards their vision. So when the economy gets back to the levels seen prior to late 2008 these companies are steps ahead of the competition.

Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals has been an anomaly in the lodging industry, boosting noteworthy growth in sales from the previous year. Management has taken on additional talented staff, preformed extensive research and is expanding their business model.  Group Travel, RMVR’s most recent addition, was created to meet the growing needs of groups traveling to the Rocky Mountains.  More times than not, someone gets stuck being the group organizer for a trip to the mountains, without having any knowledge of the area to which they’re traveling to.  Yet they are expected by their peers to create a seamless, enjoyable experience for all.  That’s why RMVR group services team leverages their local knowledge, diverse lodging inventory and partnerships; thus allowing the group organizer to relax, while RMVR handles all the details.

With 3,700 properties in Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge/Keystone, and Aspen/Snowmass, RMVR can place groups in anything from a studio rental to a large private home.   Considering that the needs of a particular group vary based on the nature of travel, size of group and length of stay, RMVR has an advantage that hotels don’t have for groups; options. From transportation, meeting space, tours, activities and special event coordination, RMVR has the experience and resources to take care of as much or as little that is required for each client.  Groups will continually come through the Rockies year-round despite the macro economy.  We will be here every expanding and refining our skills so that our clients can rest assured knowing that we are making them look good.  Who doesn’t like that?
CSA

Contact:

Janyce Brandon

Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals

janyce.brandon@rmvrvail.com

1000 Lionsridge Loop, Suite 3A

Vail, CO, 81657

970-790-6167

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release:  February 22, 2010

Online Chat Option Battles Uncertainties for Travelers

Vacation rental questions answered quickly and easily online through Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals.

VAIL, Colo. – Last minute travelers can save money by staying in a vacation rental, but face many uncertainties such as “Where will the property be?”, “How much will it cost?”, and “How does renting a vacation property work?” Now, questions can be answered quickly, easily, and from the travelers’ own homes or anywhere they have internet access. Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals, a vacation rental provider for the high country of Colorado, offers an online chat program where new and returning vacation renters can ask all of these questions before ever speaking with a booking agent.

“Our online chat feature allows both curious and experienced vacation renters to learn everything they need to know from our local agents who know Vail and the properties we offer,” stated Tommy Z. Hoffman, owner and founder. “The online chat can provide vacation information as well as tips on how to save money. Costs can be reduced by hundreds of dollars, simply by having a few meals at their vacation rental; most vacation rentals come with fully equipped kitchens.”

The online chat feature allows vacationers to save time by directly asking a “real person”, who lives in the Vail Valley their questions. When planning their vacation, travelers can find exactly what they need from a Rocky Mountain Vacation Rental professional every day of the week.

The Rocky Mountain Vacation Rental online chat program also allows consumers to learn more about the vacation rental process such as why Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals work with property management companies for quality assurance; travel to and within Vail; as well as all the concierge services offered such as booking ski rentals and grocery shopping; as well as advice on the best family or singles restaurants and bars.

The online chat feature can be found by visiting www.RockyMountainVacationRentals.com, and clicking on the purple “live chat” button. Inquiries will be answered directly by a Rocky Mountain Vacation Rental team member.

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About Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals (RMVR):

Formerly Vail Ski Vacations, RMVR was founded by owner Tommy Z. Hoffman in 1998. RMVR is a vacation rental provider that offers local, friendly, knowledgeable service in the Rocky Mountain Region. RMVR stands out among its competitors by working only with property management companies to ensure the highest quality and cost effective vacations. In addition, RMVR utilizes a local staff whose love for the region, skiing, snowboarding, the great outdoors, and the high country life allow them to share their excitement and knowledge with their customers. To learn more, please visit www.Rocky MountainVacationRentals.com or call 970-477-1777.

Get a Quote Online Chat with Us Have us Call You

Vail Village winter sunset

At Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals, we work with Property Management companies. This is because it takes the hassle out of managing Vacation Rentals for owners. Owners have vacation homes for one reason: to vacation in! With the Vacation Rental industry growing, reports are indicating that vacationers trust and have better experiences with vacation rentals that are managed by property management companies. Most vacation rental websites provide owner manuals that contain 26 pages. That is 26 pages of work that owners must complete on their own in order to get the most out of their listing. This is a lot of work for a home, condo, or apartment intended to give vacationers the chance to relax and rejuvenate.

Property management companies take care of all the details, while companies like Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals provide quality assurance, marketing, advertising, and remove the risk of booking directly with an owner. Property management companies will take care of housekeeping, maintenance, legal, and financial aspects of opening your vacation rental home to guests. Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals, whose base office is located in Vail, Colorado, utilizes a skilled, local, and very outgoing sales staff to ensure that the vacationer finds exactly what they are looking for at the best price and, most importantly, the guests AND the home owners get to ENJOY their vacations.

Families looking to plan their next vacation typically let one common denominator influence their decision on where and when to travel; price. These days it’s common for one to search Expedia or Hotels.com and take the quoted room rates at face value, book the hotel room and disregard what they have sacrificed for this booking. However, savvy vacation planners know that the buck doesn’t stop here and there are many things such as one’s health, the cost of food, privacy and the overall experience that comes into play when making a lodging decision.

Consider the trade-off of staying in a hotel room vs. renting a vacation rental from a reputed company such as Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals. For arguments sake, let’s say a family of five books lodging at a standard hotel room in Vail, CO for 5 nights at $249.00 a night. Without a proper kitchen, this family will be spending at minimum $200 a day eating out (remember we’re in Vail). So the real cost of their hotel stay is closer to $500 a day. This is a large price to pay considering the sacrifices that are being made to ones diet, only to be cramped into a small space, competing for the next spot in the bathroom. Fun.

The wise consumer, who opts to stay in a professionally managed vacation rental property, receives the benefit of a fully functional kitchen, space for each family member and uncompromising privacy for under $400 a night. One $200 trip to the grocery store and a family has enough food to enjoy home cooked meals all week long in an intimate setting. For once the primary goal of quality family time isn’t lost by crowded restaurants, temptations, and the hustle and bustle of a hotel.

Any health conscientious individual can quickly weight the consequences of eating out every meal for five days. Living well shouldn’t stop because one is on vacation; vacationers’ remorse doesn’t have to come into play once back to the “real world”.

This market is saturated with competitive pricing options for vacation lodgings. But what one can’t comprise is the how the choice of lodging is responsible for the overall experience of a destination. So my advice is weigh your options, what you want to get out of your holiday and talk to a local from Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals to get you exactly where you want to be.

CSA

Olympics Update

After four days of exciting Olympic races and performances, Germany is leading with a total of nine medals- three gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals, followed by the US in second with a total of eight medals, and France which is third in the medal count with seven medals. The two gold medals for the US are from Snowboard Cross racer Seth Wescott and Freestyle Moguls skier Hannah Kearney. The two silver medals come from the Colorado Nordic Combined racer Johnny Spillane who grew up in Steamboat Springs, and Short Track Speed racer Apolo Anton Ohno. The four bronze medals the US has so far are from Bode Miller who got third in the Men Alpine Downhill, Bryon Wilson a Freestyle Moguls skier, Shannon Bahrke who placed after Hannah Kearney as well as J.R. Celski who got another medal for the US in the men 1500m Short Track Speed Skating.

For today Wednesday February 17, 2010, there are more very interesting Olympic competitions on the program. First there is the Ladies Downhill skiing where Linsey Vonn from Vail is a potential medal candidate. The Ladies’ Downhill will start at noon our time. During the whole day, the Cross Country skiing sprint heats are going on where Kikkan Randall from Alaska is hoping to make the final. One of the most spectacular competitions today will be the men’s Snowboard Halfpipe event. Starting with the qualification at two mountain time and ending with the finals at eight o’clock everybody is excited what Shaun White practiced at his secret private half pipe somewhere in Colorado as well as his competitors. Hopefully there is going to be some better weather up in Whistler Mountains so that the alpine races can have a fair competition…

So get ready for more very intense and exciting Olympic days!!!

P.S. Congratulations to one of the most amazing athletes – Tatjana Huefner, who was my roommate in some army camps back home in Germany and who won the gold medal in women’s luge!!!