VIRNA 2018 April-June

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TRAPP FAMILY LODGE GUEST HOUSES APRIL – JUNE 2018 VACATION INDUSTRY REVIEW
From the buildings’ chalet and chateau style to the elaborately
carved wood furnishings within, the Austrian influence is ever-present.
The lodge’s Bierhall brims with authenticity, as do the baked and brewed
selections in the Austrian Tea & Tap Room. And the restaurants? Wiener
schnitzel and apfelstrudel are standard fare.
But beyond all these trappings, it’s the von Trapp name that
gives the resort its distinction.
“The family name is very important to us,” says Walter Frame,
the resort’s executive vice president and director. “It’s a worldwide,
multigenerational brand; it’s what differentiates us from everyone else.”
The public’s fascination with the family endures. Three gener-
ations of von Trapps have been involved in the resort, Frame says.
Johannes von Trapp, youngest son of Maria and Georg Ritter von
Trapp, is president of the resort today. (His parents are buried in
the family cemetery on the property.) Two of the von Trapp grand-
children, Sam von Trapp and Kristina von Trapp Frame, have major
roles at the resort.
Rising From the Ashes
The family’s postwar foray into hospitality began after their retirement
from the stage in the 1950s, Frame recounts, when the von Trapps
began accepting guests at their farmhouse. Sadly, it burned to the
ground in 1980.
The family decided to rebuild and expand the Lodge, but this time,
the new and improved property came with the addition of a timeshare
community. The resort reopened in 1983.
“A mountain resort in the European tradition,” as it bills itself, com-
prises a 96-room hotel; two homeowner community components, one
of which is the Trapp Family Lodge Guest Houses; several restaurants;
one indoor and two outdoor pools; a microbrewery; a bakery; tennis
courts; and trails for mountain biking, snowshoeing, and cross-
country skiing, on 2,500 acres (1,012 hectares). There’s also 6,000
square feet (557 square meters) of meeting space; the resort markets
itself as a venue for weddings, family reunions, and other events.
In Stowe, widely regarded as the ski capital of the East, the von Trapp
family added a cross-country ski center in 1968. The center, which
also accommodates snowshoeing, boasts 37 miles (59.5 kilometers)
of groomed trails and 62 miles (99.8 kilometers) of back-country
trails, says Bill Hunt, the resort’s sales manager.
These amenities dovetail perfectly with celebrations for the ski
center’s 50th anniversary. A week in January was devoted to nostalgic
activities, including a 1968 retro night at the Bierhall, a group ski and
lunch, and an opportunity to ski at 1968 prices.
But Trapp Family Lodge is an all-season resort, as well, so when
it’s time to put the slopes to sleep, summer activities include concerts
in the meadow, tours of the property and its gardens, a rock-climbing
wall, yoga classes, disc golf, bird-watching, and horse-drawn car-
riage rides.
A Refresh for Resales
Each of the 100 two-bedroom, two-bath units at Trapp Family Lodge
Guest Houses can accommodate up to six people, and are equipped
with a full kitchen, a balcony or private patio with panoramic mountain
views, and a wood-burning stove in the living room.
Yet a major makeover of the guest houses is now in the works.
Underway is a ground-up, down-to-the-studs interior renovation of
all units, Frame says, and will include newly renovated kitchens and
bathrooms, fresh carpeting and furniture, large flat-screen TVs, air
conditioning, and faster, reliable Wi-Fi. When the process is completed,
every unit will be like new, he adds.
Because the resort was founded in the 1980s, all the original time-
share inventory has long been sold out, and the homeowners’ association
manages Trapp Family Lodge Guest Houses.
“We are not in traditional active sales now,” Hunt points out. “We’re
in the resale phase.” Current inventory now consists of units that
owners are selling and those owned by the homeowners’ association,
Frame says.
“We’ve had a successful on-site resale program for 28 years,” ex-
plains Treg Boerger, timeshare and fractional sales executive at the
resort. “We’ve sold thousands of weeks for our owners.” (Boerger,
like Hunt, has been with Trapp Family Lodge for more than 30 years.)
Marketing a Resort and Region
Visitors to the resort and its restaurants frequently become prospects,
and there are often referrals from current owners, who are surveyed on
a regular basis to gauge their satisfaction and engagement, Boerger
explains.
The resort appeals to families, but resale efforts for the Trapp
Family Lodge Guest Houses also target an upper middle-class market
with an age range of 45 to 60 years.
Trapp Family Lodge Guest Houses doesn’t have a formal mini-vac
program, but does offer discounted stays to those on its email lists,
Boerger says. Some guests come to the hotel from and
TripAdvisor, and subsequently become purchasers.
Ultimately, the location, the views, and the majestic countryside
are potent motivators to buy, explains Boerger. “Everything we do has
a Vermont flair,” Frame adds. “That’s why our slogan is, ‘A little of
Austria … a lot of Vermont.’ We market not just [the resort], but the
region, too.”
The Trapp Family Lodge website has an entire tab devoted to the
Green Mountain State (nicknamed for Vermont’s multitude of forests)
From Austria to Vermont:
The Sound of Success
BY CATHERINE LACKNER
From stage to screen, The Sound of Music has captivated
generations of fans with the classic story of the von Trapps
and the Trapp Family Singers. The tale of Maria and the
family who fled Austria and the Nazis, has charmed millions.
The legend of the real-life musical von Trapps lives
on in Stowe, in central Vermont, where Trapp Family
Lodge has evolved from the original farmstead and home
in the 1940s to a mixed-use resort including timeshare
components.