Thursday, December 4, 2014

Lodging incentive, letter to the editor, 2014

I'm posting some old letters to the editor. This is so I can remember what I wrote, and to keep myself honest.  I'm posting them in the order I wrote them so this goes back a couple of years.

The more things change….

This is from the Summer of 2014

The City low cost lodging plan doesn't want cheap beds unless those beds are in a Lodge. The City can negotiate with Lodge Owners and Developers. There's a Lodging Association which gives you a single point of contact for negotiations. Developers can be held at gun point , oops, I meant held up at "permit point". Lodges are visible. Lodges keep records. Lodges give you numbers. Lodges fit nicely on a spreadsheet.

The individual condo or homeowner renting through Airbnb, VRBO and Homeaway is not so easy to measure. We invite Guests into our homes and try and give them a "local" Aspen experience. We are the first choice of the young and nomadic demographic. We're individuals. We don't have an Association. Our record keeping is personal. We don't have an Association or high powered Global marketing.  Our success depends entirely on word of mouth and repeat Guests.  We are the "Fringe".  We are the "sharing economy".  We're "messy".  You might even say we're "messy vitality".


The only thing the City Council has done for individual owners is try and regulate and collect a highly questionable lodging tax.  It's the lodging tax which takes my place above the $100 per person occupancy level in high season - my expenses keep it below that- just. Oh, and applying for a permit to improve the interior beyond it's 1968 glory? I could buy all the plumbing fixtures and the tile for the cost of that permit.   Taxes and permits, those effect my bottom line, not building more or building bigger or building higher.

Could we possibly try filling in the empty rooms first? Could we get a little encouragement from the City for higher occupancy in existing buildings?  Could we get a little love for the little guy? 

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