ilt in remote areas where guests could escape the pressures of urban life. The Hotel Colorado opened in 1893 near the Glenwood Springs, and was modeled after the Villa Medici in Rome. Atlantic City came to fruition during the 1890s, and although many of the wooden hotels were destroyed by fire in 1902, they were replaced during the early part of this century.
During the 1920s, resorts such as the Greenbrier in West Virginia, and Camelback in Arizona opened. These were "megaresorts" offering hundreds of rooms with large public facilities. The "boutique" resorts (averaging between 100 and 150 rooms) used snob appeal as one way to appeal to travellers, and played up their uniqueness (Shaw "Resorts Thrive," 24).
Both megaresorts and boutiques continue to do well: during 1990, four of the seven top 100 resort hotels (determined by sales per room) boasting more than $100,000 sales per room were boutiques; the lowest occupancy rate among the top five was 71 percent ("Lodging's Top Performers,"รก57). The success of an American resort is apparently not based on the number of rooms, but on other factors.
Many resorts are seasonal in their occupancy. For example, Village Resorts owns a number of properties in California, Colorado and Utah, all of which are located in close proximity to ski areas. Village Resorts realizes 70 percent of its gross revenue in the winter months (January through March), and only 30 percent during the summer. Similarly, the company loses 21 percent of its profit during the eight "off-season" months because revenues are down, but operating expenses continue (Del Rosso, 26). The result is an uneven cash flow and underutilized capacity.
Other factors can contribute to low occupancy for resorts, as well. When it opened, the Flamingo in Las Vegas was the only resort hotel in the area, but legalized gambling (in the form of a casino built into the hotel) was the attraction. In the intervening five decad...