Letter: Beaver Creek parking policy hurts restaurants
I recently went to Beaver Creek for an event after 5 p.m. where I was welcomed by a sign at the Ford Parking Structure that I would be allowed four hours to park for free. I had tickets to attend a performance at the Vilar the following weekend, and my friends and I had plans to meet up in the village around 5 p.m. for dinner and drinks ahead of the 7 p.m. show. I inquired further and was told by the parking attendant that they were no longer allowed to validate parking for those who were attending shows. I asked what the charge was after four hours, and he told me it was a whopping $50!
I reached out to customer service and was unable to reach anyone locally about the new policy. I finally received an email about a week later from the director of Base Area Operations and Public Safety. He informed me that the policy used to be three hours free, and they increased it to four. What he didn’t mention was the removal of the ability of the parking attendants to validate for Vilar shows. I was told that if they had free parking for any longer, Vail Resorts employees would fill up the structures and there would be no space left for patrons.
How is it that I can go to Vail at 3 p.m. to meet friends for Après, stay for dinner, go to the Shakedown and see live music, not leave until 11 p.m., and not ever once worry about paying for parking? Beaver Creek clearly doesn’t want anyone coming to their restaurants except for those who are staying there.
The director of Base Area Operations and Public Safety informed me that if I wanted to have free parking to attend a show at the Vilar, I could park in the lower lots and take the shuttle up. I don’t enjoy taking the shuttles at night — It’s colder, and the shuttle doesn’t run as frequently as it does during the day. If I’m coming to the village to spend my hard-earned money on dinner, drinks, and a show, it sort of ruins the experience if I have to wait around 30 minutes for a shuttle ride back to my car at the end of the night.
I feel that it’s the restaurants in Beaver Creek that will suffer the most from this poor business practice change.
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Beaver Creek, please go back to validating parking for those with tickets to the Vilar.
Whitney Maxwell
Red Cliff
