Ramon Torres with fiancee Athena Marquez.

Ramon Torres joined the Antlers at Vail team October of 2013 as a key member of the maintenance department.

Ramon is originally from Havana, Cuba. He first moved to California where he was an electrician apprentice, carpentry apprentice and worked in the construction industry for about three years. He then made his way to the Vail area where he worked for a variety of other hotel properties in maintenance, as well as a short stint in taxidermy.

Ramon loves Vail and is happy to make this his home and the place where he will raise his family. He currently lives on site at the Antlers with his fiancee, Athena Marquez and two-year old son Roman. He is looking forward to buying a home for his happy family here in the Vail valley.

Ramon’s parents and two brothers also live here in the U.S. and they manage to get together at least once a year. He is always glad for that time with them.

He loves snowmobiling, spending times outdoors in our beautiful mountains, and most importantly spending time with his family.

General Manager, Magdalena King adds ,”We are very lucky to have Ramon in our maintenance department, and we are very grateful for his knowledge and expertise. Ramon is a favorite among owners and guests alike. He is always willing to help. His Caribbean charisma and enthusiasm makes him the perfect fit for our industry. To see his family grow within the Antlers family has been wonderful too.”

The Antlers is so happy to have Keaton Luke as our new Front Desk Manager!

Just a couple of short months ago the Antlers hired Keaton Luke as our new front desk manager. His friendliness combined with professionalism has made him a fantastic addition to the Antlers team.

Keaton lived in Southern California until he was eleven-years-old. His father was the General Manager of the Hilton Pasadena, across from the Rose Bowl. He grew up surfing, and skiing. He’s been skiing since he was two-years-old, starting at Mammoth Mountain. In 2003 his father took the position of General Manager at the Minneapolis Hilton and moved the family to the Midwest. There he became a Vikings fan as he had the opportunity to meet many of the players when they stayed at the Hilton. Around this time his family started taking their ski trips to Colorado. 

Clearly Keaton’s father’s career had influence over Keaton’s own career path. Keaton went to Iowa State university and earned a major in Business Management with a minor in Hotel Management, during which time he interned at the Minneapolis Hilton for his father. When his parents retired and moved to Florida he decided it was time to move out to Colorado.

He came to us from the Marriott where he started at the front desk, moving up to supervisor and then manager.

Keaton is obsessed with travel after spending five months on his own in Italy. He loves being active. His favorite activities include skiing, golfing, paddleboarding, and hiking. He also loves music, having attended over 100 concerts of just about every genre. He’s always happy to show friends around the mountain, talk sports or enjoy a craft beer. Make sure to stop in and introduce yourselves when you are visiting!

Chris Ratzlaff, Rent Oxygen Owner and former Antlers AGM

For those that have visited the mountains before, you are probably aware of the effects when coming to altitude. Most people notice reduced aerobic performance or fatigue while doing activities such as skiing or biking. And yes, many can experience mountain sickness signs. Signs include reduced or restless sleep, headaches, fatigue or other flu-like symptoms. This can cut into quality time on the mountain and limit vacation fun. That’s where Rent Oxygen can help!

Although many clients contact Rent Oxygen only when someone has altitude sickness. Now over 50% of their clients are reserving their oxygen machines in advance. With machines that can be shared among a whole group/family, the users can avoid altitude symptoms for everyone and even recover better, after a day on the mountain. Reach out to RentOxygen.com at 844-699-4366 [email protected] to learn more on how to upgrade your vacation. Ensure you are up on the mountain each day this year.

For more information read an article our marketing director wrote on how to prevent altitude sickness.

Cristina Roberts with her daughter Vickie at the 2016 Antlers holiday party.

The Antlers has always been proud of its housekeeping team. When a new addition to the building was added in 2000, the new board room was dedicated to long-time executive housekeeper Millie Barela. Executive housekeeper is an important position. Keeping rooms spotless for guests alone is a big task and on top of that this team takes it to an even higher level with the personalized responses to special requests. Prior to a guest’s arrival they will ensure that a dog bed is waiting for furry pets. They stock and deliver cribs and high chairs. They even keep specialty appliances on hand to make sure that guests have what they need to feel at home.

Rob LeVine hired Cristina Roberts for this all-important job of executive housekeeper and leading this department in 2014. Cristina has elevated the department in many ways from finding cost savings to personalizing service. But most important to her is how she has been able to help the members of her team personally. From helping individual housekeepers with bills and insurance, Cristina makes it a point to support them all. She has been an integral part of encouraging the housekeepers in their english lessons, as well as starting a book club.

Cristina comes from a family of five siblings who all grew up in Ecuador. Her parents recently celebrated forty-five years of marriage. Family and religion are important to her. Cristina is a proud mom of a sixteen year old daughter, Vickie, who just earned her driver’s permit. And, she is aunt to seven nieces and nephews whom she enjoys spoiling with ice cream and chocolate.

Cristina left Ecuador in March 2006 for New York. Then in 2011 she moved to Colorado to be of help to her sister and Godson.

Cristina has taught as a teacher in a preschool, worked as a medical interpreter, been a baker and did stone gardening. But her real passion is helping people.  Not only does she do that through her job at the Antlers but she also volunteers for several community organizations — teaching at her church, as an interpreter for Eagle County Courts, working with the literacy project at the Avon Library and coordinating donations for community organizations such as Bright Future Foundation and CASA. She is currently working on her certification to be a victim’s advocate with the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.

We can’t say enough about how fortunate we are to have Cristina as a leader here at the Antlers.

Cristina with her daughter, one of her nieces and associate executive housekeeper, Gladys.