Elkhorn Resort makes money—finally
‘This year was much, much crazier’
"This place has never made money. When you’ve been a loser
for 27 years, maybe these things haven’t been looked at before. We had to think
completely outside the box."
-Jim Hunter, Elkhorn assistant general manager
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Jazz
festival enthusiasts swarmed about Elkhorn Resort’s remodeled lobby last weekend.
Taking on a legacy of more than two decades of money-losing operation, the
new managers of Sun Valley’s Elkhorn Resort say they have spent the past two years
putting the operation into the black.
The resort’s revenues so far this year are 12 percent over last
year’s, according to Elkhorn general manager Adrianne Beck. Between 1998 to 1999, the
resort experienced a 30 percent increase in revenues, Beck said while perusing a ledger in
her comfortable hotel office.
Beck and two of her subordinates, assistant general manager Jim Hunter and
sales and marketing director Hollie Hunter, discussed the resort’s operations in
interviews at the hotel last week.
Beck, who’s been general manager for a year and a half, attributed
the resort’s new success primarily to a $5 million renovation of its 131-room hotel,
condominiums and golf facilities completed in February 1999.
And though she wouldn’t disclose any numbers, she said the resort is
doing better than breaking even.
"It’s been a very good year, a very profitable year," she
said. "This year was much, much crazier--much, much better."
The past two years’ success is especially notable, assistant general
manager Jim Hunter pointed out, given that the resort has "never, ever made
money."
Sales and marketing director Hollie Hunter said that overcoming the
resort’s troubled past has been the real challenge for current managers.
The Elkhorn Village complex—now the resort—has been afflicted
with problems, almost from its opening in 1976, creating a mystique that’s lasted to
this day. It was built at a cost of $7.3 million by Elkhorn at Sun Valley, a joint venture
of the Johns-Manville Co. and Dollar Mountain Co., a subsidiary of the Sun Valley Co.
Dollar Mountain Co. later sold to Elkhorn Associates Ltd. (EAL).
EAL encountered financial problems, and in December 1981, Johns-Manville,
the majority partner, foreclosed against EAL for an alleged $9.3 million in debts. There
began the property’s rocky road, which it’s trod until recently.
In July 1982 the renamed Manville Co. took control of the property in an
out-of-court settlement. Manville then closed the facility and put the hotel, the 18-hole
golf course, mall shops and undeveloped property up for sale.
In May 1983 the sale was closed with an international partnership headed
by Adam Adams, a Polish-born Australian real estate developer, for $5.67 million.
In the 1980s, the resort changed ownership no less than five times, and
the 1990s weren’t much better. The resort changed hands at least another four times
during that decade, until the current owners purchased the property four years ago.
Elkhorn resort is now owned by Blackacre Capital Management, based in New
York City, and it’s managed by a worldwide hotel management company called Coastal
Hotel Group. Blackacre brought Coastal in at nearly the same time as the purchase, Hunter
said.
But the resort’s troubles didn’t end immediately upon the
arrival of Blackacre.
"Yes they bought it, but they didn’t put any money into
it," Hollie Hunter said. "We had to live with the condition of the property and
the reputation of the property."
That reputation, she said, was primarily due to the property’s
inconsistent management.
"Because there were inconsistencies, the resort suffered," she
said, sitting in the hotel’s lobby as last weekend’s jazz festival enthusiasts
swarmed about.
The hotel’s managers cited three key factors that have helped the
resort get into the black: consistent management, the renovation project and concentrating
on internal efficiencies.
Hollie Hunter said the first two "help produce a quality
experience."
"That is where I think we’re headed now," she said.
"In fact, we’re there."
Assistant general manager Jim Hunter added that internal efficiencies are
a major source of Elkhorn’s current successes. Concentrating positions and
challenging managers to think differently are helping, he said.
"This place has never made money," he said. "When
you’ve been a loser for 27 years, maybe these things haven’t been looked at
before. We had to think completely outside the box. Every little bit helps. We’ve
just got to be smarter."
Despite current successes, general manager Beck isn’t resting on her
laurels.
"It is a struggle here," she said. "Business here is a
challenge, but I don’t think it’s a challenge we’re not up to."
Hunter said the resort’s obstacles to success are essentially the
same as those for most valley businesses.
"The biggest hurdles for sales and marketing here are that [lack of]
accessibility deters people," she said. "It’s the same problem the whole
community’s experiencing. There aren’t a lot of hurdles for sales and marketing.
It’s a beautiful spot. It boils down to access."
Elkhorn markets primarily to a Pacific Northwest clientele, Beck said,
using the Oliver Russell & Associates advertising agency in Boise to penetrate the
print market.
And though Elkhorn is in direct competition for guests with Sun Valley
Co., Beck acknowledged that none of the area’s businesses would do as well as they do
without the area’s original and largest resort.
Sun Valley Co. has the name, history and marketing clout to bring guests
to the area, who then spend money at other businesses, she said.
"We all want Sun Valley Co. to be successful, because it bodes well
for all of us."
And on the topic of stable management, which Elkhorn hasn’t had in
two decades, Hollie Hunter was quick to bestow accolades on Beck.
"I can’t give enough credit to Adrianne," she said.
"She’s awesome. She’s a very nice person and a fine business person. The
successes at Elkhorn are definitely her doings."
