The Avon's First Summer is in the Books

The Avon opened in June, a welcome door to travelers in this rugged mountain town.

I jumped on the team in August. “Yeah sure, I can pretty much do whatever!” My second day at the job, I was bartending to a packed bar without any knowledge or change (where’s the cash box?!). I’ve only made more tips during the arm-wrestling competition.

Things were winding down and I had been instructed to close down around 10. I had just called last call the second time when the film crew rolled in. The bar was no longer closed and we were once again packed.

The film crew was here for a final scouting mission before filming Freak Power: The Battle for Aspen. Set in 1970 Aspen, the film revolves around Hunter S. Thompson’s run for sheriff as a “freak”, someone willing to run for sheriff as a complete outsider from the political sphere. The man who would later write Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas said he’d change the name of Aspen to Fat City to deter investors from robbing the town of its old time charm. He lost by 21 points (out of 377). His brazen, polarizing spirit was with the filmmakers throughout their production. 

Several hours past midnight, director Bobby Kennedy III, Sheriff Bruce and hotel captain Dan were deep in a game of poker, everyone else at the table having gone busto. Dan looked over at me like he was heading into dark seas and told me he’d been awake 72 hours. Legend has it they played until day light, sheriff and director duking it out, but I made it home at the witching hour.

One month later, the crew was knee deep in a film about Hunter Thompson. When they’d arrived their spirits were high, they had transformed our hotel into a home base (much like the Jerome Bar for Thompson and what our bar doubled as during shooting). Several weeks in the crew was engaged in a film that hop-scotched the line of sanity and chaos every single day. Pulling it all together, they finished and split. It was a short affair but it felt like a saga. Our hotel still resembled a film set, but no matter, we had a wedding to host. The pieces fell into place and an incredibly classy and cool wedding reception graced The Avon’s walls. Congrats Tom and Annie.

I was reeling from the activity but no matter, it was shoulder season. The summer trains stopped running and the winter activities had yet to begin. The town slowed down to a crawl and a lull in guests gave us a breather. It was an opportunity to focus on the finer details of the hotel.

Today we host a show in the basement. We are booked up over the weekend. We are almost out of shoulder season.

We’d love some feedback on your stay at the hotel. If you would like to send us a novel idea, suggestion or feedback, please email us at info@avonsilverton.com. We want your stay at The Avon to enhance your experience and your adventure.