The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Denver’s weekend heat wave could help extend a tourism trend that has held sway in Steamboat Springs all summer long.

“We’re seeing that our actual numbers have been 15 to 20 percent greater than our projections nearly every weekend,” said Sandy Evans Hall, executive vice president of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association. “That’s a lot of walk-up business.”

This weekend combines the second wave of the Triple Crown World Series youth baseball event with the Steamboat Wine Festival, which recent history suggests generates large numbers of last-minute guests.

In 2007, the Chamber’s lodging barometer predicted on a Wednesday that 12,500 people would check into area lodges and hotels for Saturday night of the Wine Festival weekend. When the actual numbers were tallied, 13,800 visitors had spent the night in Steamboat. This year, Wednesday’s lodging forecast projected — based on advance bookings — that 13,200 visitors would spend Saturday night here.

Walk-in business similar to that of last year could push the total numbers to more than 14,500. That would rival the busiest nights of the ski season.

The Steamboat Wine Festival was promoted heavily on National Public Radio, Evans Hall said. Blair McNamara, director of marketing for Steamboat Resorts, said his pro­perty management company promoted the event to its list of previous Front Range guests.

A forecast for temperatures above 100 degrees in Denver on Saturday — the city felt 101 degrees of heat Friday — gives Evans Hall extra encouragement.

“The weather forecasts are telling people to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate — They’re saying it’s going to be really, really hot on the Front Range, but the mountains will be nice,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the Steam­boat Grand Resort Hotel said her property is 95 percent full going into the busy weekend.

Their business is a mix of Triple Crown World Series youth baseball teams and Wine Festival participants. Because the Grand hosts many of the wine seminars, its guests include many people from the industry.

As of Wednesday, U.S. Highway 40 motels were completely full. Primary availability of rooms was in the condominiums at the base of Steamboat Ski Area, which was projected to be 82 percent full.

McNamara said Steamboat Resorts has noticed a marked trend toward walk-in guests arriving mid-week for short stays this summer.

“It’s just amazing what’s happening on Wednesday and Thursday nights,” McNamara said. “We’re seeing 14 walk-ins a night.”

The Inn at Steamboat, a boutique hotel property managed by Steamboat Resorts, is completely full this weekend, he added.

Triple Crown hosts its third and final World Series of the summer here Aug. 4 to 9.

“We’ll have one more strong week,” Evans Hall said. “But not like this week.”