It is an exciting time to be a part of the Antlers at Vail family. A little over a year ago our team embarked on an alignment process based on the book “Triple Crown Leadership” by leadership guru Robert Vanourek. As we progressed through the process and moved on from identifying and creating our purpose, values and vision to setting measurable goals it became clear that the most important thing that we could accomplish would be to close the gap between the different lodging quality ratings for our variety of condos. We created and embarked on a fairly aggressive Unit Quality Improvement plan that continues to be revised as we reach milestones on our path to becoming an overall platinum rated lodge, representing the quality that visitors from around the world expect from a Vail, Colorado hotel. As we have seen the impactful results of the plan, we also realized that it was time to represent the new and improved quality of the Antlers at Vail condos through a new visual brand, photography and website.
Drumroll, please! Nine months – and plenty of construction – after we launched our Unit Quality Improvement plan, more than half of our Vail condominiums have received the luxe upgrades – and we are also boasting a brand new logo and website to celebrate our new look.
Designed by Denver-based Wigwam Creative, Antlers at Vail’s new logo offers a clean, modern approach while incorporating the Colorado mountain resort town’s famously European cachet, as well as the Vail hotel’s popular elk antlers theme – on view in the iconic bronze statue of two clashing elk in the hotel’s courtyard, a favorite photo opp for guests from around the world.
The just-launched website emphasizes photography – including the newly upgraded units as photographed by Michael Rawlings and styled by Amy Lewis – and presents the old site’s familiar color palette in a new way. Created by Vail-based Nichols Interactive, the new website is a responsive site that automatically adjusts to devices used to access it, and puts the most valuable information at the user’s fingertips while highlighting the fun personality of the Antlers’ established blog and valuable feedback from travelers on TripAdvisor.
“Our logo and corporate identity was 40 years old, and as comfortable as we were with it – too comfortable, probably – as we began to see the amazing results of our Unit Quality Improvement plan moving us toward becoming an overall Platinum-rated property, we realized it was time for a new logo and visual brand to represent the new Antlers,” says Antlers GM Rob LeVine. “Both because of our name and our well-known courtyard sculpture, we felt it was important to keep the elk and antlers as part of our logo. Plus, we wanted to convey that although we look better, our values remain the same, emphasizing our ‘the answer is yes, now what is the question’ approach to customer service, our family feel and our strong role as a community partner.”
Unique to vacation destinations, Vail Valley Partnership manages a Lodging Quality Assurance program (LQA) that provides a standardized rating system for all units rented through the Vail Valley’s central reservation systems, with Platinum representing the highest level of room appointments. Antlers at Vail interior upgrades in recent months have included granite countertops, stainless appliances, new flooring, new lighting and entertainment systems, new fireplaces, furnishings and much more – with resulting upgrades to the Platinum LQA scores.