New to the resort, however not new to the world of hospitality, Christopher Jaycock is infusing new life into this buzzworthy resort. Opened in 2019, W Aspen was simply hitting its prime when the pandemic struck. It was the primary new resort for the world in almost 20 years. Though the resort did sturdy enterprise lately (given its ski-in, ski-out location and the rising need for spending time open air), Jaycock helps to orchestrate a contemporary begin for the property.
It’s nearly like a second grand opening with revitalized meals and beverage applications, partnerships with iconic manufacturers and the style and music trademark for which the model is understood.
Jaycock joined the resort in June of this yr, however has an illustrious profession with hospitality manufacturers like 4 Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and The Rittenhouse in Philadelphia (a member of The Main Inns of the World) amongst others. W Aspen, initially modeled after the well-known W Verbier in Switzerland, is without doubt one of the smaller accommodations within the model portfolio and the one W in Colorado, nevertheless it actually makes its mark in Aspen. Jaycock offers Pursuitist a behind-the-scenes peek at what the resort envisions for the approaching years.
What are your plans for the resort within the coming yr?
The world has modified up to now few years. Individuals are searching for outside journey alternatives, and so they need approachable experiences the place they are often themselves. Aspen, like different outside locations, ramped again up a lot quicker than different elements of the world, and now we have been lucky to have extra time with vacationers following the pandemic to be taught what they need.
That is sort of like a second grand opening for us. We are able to begin from scratch to ship the experiences individuals need. One of many main focal factors in the meanwhile is relaunching our meals and beverage experiences. We’re ditching the concept of formal, fancy eating in favor of artistic fare that spans quite a lot of style bud varieties. W Aspen is an apres-ski, all-hours snack and drink spot. We’re embracing the happy-hour, late-night vibe. Right here, you possibly can nonetheless get meals all the best way as much as midnight.
A completely new group within the kitchen helps us with that so that folks can order a chunk to eat at any hour of the day. The chief chef involves us from W Dubai – The Palm. Whereas many new objects might be on the menu, we’re bringing again some tried-and-true favorites. We heard from so many previous visitors and guests that they miss our “big-ass” pretzel. That’s coming again!
How does W Aspen match into the vacation spot’s hospitality footprint?
Aspen just isn’t what it was a decade in the past. It’s not the house of millionaires, however now of billionaires. We fill a void on the town as a result of we aren’t the normal Aspen resort. There may be nothing else like us on the town. W Aspen is each approachable and enjoyable whereas becoming into W’s framework of trend, trendsetting design, music and epic journey experiences.
We’ve a symbiotic relationship with the opposite accommodations on the town. Guests to our mountain city have quite a lot of lodging varieties that match their type of journey. We actually like that we provide one thing so totally different. For instance, we’re the one resort on the town to have bunk mattress rooms, that are extremely popular with mates touring collectively, bachelor and bachelorette teams, and households. We even have a number of multi-bedroom residences with kitchens, eating rooms and personal entry to a rooftop terrace and whirlpool.
At W Aspen, individuals can really feel snug being themselves. The inside design is each playful and intentional, and now we have many areas that encourage gathering with mates. We wish to be a vacation spot for locals to return and hang around in addition to for vacationers searching for the best resort expertise. Constructing that reference to the city is essential.
Coming quickly is a brand new cocktail program for The Grotto, our soundproof lounge simply off the foyer. Initially designed to be a nightclub, the area is now fashionable with personal occasions and pop-up boutiques. This winter, the area will turn out to be the “it spot” for individuals to take pleasure in drinks, nice music and a speakeasy-type ambiance that befits the W model.
There isn’t a pretense right here, and other people can really feel snug having an area beer whereas sitting subsequent to somebody ordering an costly bottle of Champagne. Something goes. We’re all about experiential hospitality, and now we have a number of plans within the works to make that occur.
W Aspen has quite a few model partnerships, inform us about that.
Constructing partnerships with notable manufacturers helps construct our popularity as a spot for everybody to return and be themselves. Already, visitors can take part within the BMW partnership now we have the place visitors can borrow our home vehicles to drive across the mountain. Every year, the automotive model provides newer vehicles for visitors to expertise.
Coming quickly is Aspen’s first-ever agave occasion, which is able to embrace mezcal, tequila and different comparable agave spirits. This is without doubt one of the hottest drinks within the space. Informally, we see that the three prime drinks in Aspen are most likely champagne, tequila and vodka. At W Aspen, tequila drinks are particularly fashionable with margaritas the primary drink ordered on the bar. Ultimately, we wish to have the largest single barrel assortment within the Rockies throughout tequila, bourbon and rye.
On the rooftop, now we have partnerships with totally different beverage manufacturers for bottle service and drink specials. Earlier this yr, we labored with Choose Aperitivo to supply a well-liked apres-ski expertise that proved to be a success with guests and locals. The roof terrace, bar and lounge is open to the general public. We’ve a heated pool, whirlpool and loads of lounge area to work, calm down or play. Throughout the hotter months, it’s fairly the occasion scene.
Is Marriott Bonvoy an enormous driver of enterprise?
Sure, we see lots of people staying with us to redeem their factors on a household or romantic trip. In reality, through the summer season and winter months, we’re nearly all the time bought out on weekends. With such an immense resort portfolio, individuals actually admire the breadth of alternative they’ve, and we wish to ship the high-end expertise they anticipate once they redeem their factors right here. Visitors may also earn factors when paying an eligible fee, which helps them get towards their subsequent trip quicker.
The place do you wish to see the W Aspen in ten years?
I hope it has secured its place as a melting pot for locals and visitors, each the visiting the ski bums and the billionaire personal jet set. This ought to be the place the place you possibly can have essentially the most enjoyable within the Rockies. We’ve extra outdoors area than most accommodations on the town. We envision this changing into an much more fashionable vacation spot than it already is.
