Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller reported July 27 that high-nd lodging properties in the Vail Valley have taken on a paradigm shift when it comes to discounting room rates – breaking with a longstanding trend, they’re already offering discounts over December holidays.
Miller’s story follows:

The lodging business in Colorado’s Vail Valley has long offered its best rates at the last minute. Some local lodges are trying to change that model.
The Westin Riverwalk Resort & Spa in Avon recently made a splash with a “Christmas in July” promotion that knocks half off the hotels standard room rates from Nov. 20 through Dec. 25.
The Antlers Lodge in Vail is running its own special: Through Oct. 1, people booking a room for a five-day stay get another 30 percent off an already-discounted rate.
“We’re absolutely going to tell people who call after Oct. 1 they could have had a better rate if they’d booked earlier,” Antlers general manager Rob LeVine said.
In fact, the Antlers is promising people who book now that they’re getting the best rates for the days they book. If the rate goes lower, early-bookers get that rate.
Last-minute bookings were more prevalent than ever last ski season, due largely to a slumping economy. While overall reservations fell, there was more activity than ever at the Vail on Sale Web site, the Vail Valley Partnership’s site for last-minute deals.
While last-minute trend really caught on last season, people in the lodging business have long been concerned that last-minute deals are something of an insult to loyal customers who pay full rate when they book early.
Early-booking specials “reinforce to your most loyal customers that it’s good to book earlier,” Vail Valley Partnership Sales and Marketing Director Chris Romer said. “And it’s good for everybody.”
Having early reservations on the books helps hotels as they’re planning everything from staff scheduling to food and laundry orders, Romer said. And requiring multi-day stays to get the specials puts people in town — and, presumably, into shops and restaurants — on weekdays, not just weekends.
Managers at the Westin are already pretty happy with the Christmas in July promotion.
“It’s quite successful,” hotel spokeswoman Julie Dunn said. “We’ve booked a significant number of rooms.”
Besides getting a public relations splash in traditional media, the Westin has also put out the word about the winter specials to its Facebook friends and Twitter followers.