Vail Resorts reviews

3.4

58% would recommend to a friend

(2,783 total reviews)
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Rob Katz

39% approve of CEO

36% positive business outlook

Vail Resorts has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 2,783 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Vail Resorts employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
1.0
Jun 18, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Vail is a great mountain to ride, wonderful terrain and lots of snow. In the summer it is beautiful and sunny almost every day.

Cons

Vail is a corporate company that will bend you over backwards for your money. There handbook is written in a way so that if something happens and it's not in the book, or it is and there are little details that make the difference, Vail is able to change the rules in the hand book so that Vail is never at fault. "The Company reserves the right to modify, revoke, suspend, terminate, or change any or all of the information contained in the Handbook and any plans, guidelines or procedures, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice." For a "professional company", that doesn't seem very professional. That looks like a company that is all about finding a back way into anything. They treat their employees like lesser being and continuously promote people with only one interest, self benefits and company expansion. The rules and regulations of Vail are made by people that don't even live here, they live in or around Broomfield, CO. Therefore they do not understand what needs to happen and how things actually work on the mountain. We have mountain police that don't punish the people that are skiing out of control, cutting across the entire trail at slower speeds than the general traffic, stopping in blind spots, and even cutting other people off. All of these actions are very dangerous when it comes to skiing/snowboarding, i personally have seen friends of mine nearly become hospitalized because some tourist isn't paying attention to their surroundings and blindly going down the hill. Vail needs to get the priorities straight, not their priorities because that would be more money. Vail puts on a face to make tourist feel safe and have fun so that they spend more money. Therefore they do not punish tourists for irresponsible behavior both on and off the mountain. Thus leaving the only people to be punish is the locals, and I'm not talking about the locals with money, I mean the locals that live here year-round and are living in small and expensive housing units. The money we make from out jobs here in the valley mostly goes right to rent, utilities, groceries, and gas if we have a car. What's left is just about enough to go out to the bars and pay for the cheaper deals like $3 beers... the statistics may tell a different story, but thats because all the poor locals are clumped in with the obnoxiously rich locals that either live here with their family, or more often the case, live in their multi-million dollar homes maybe 3 weeks out of the year. The reason why Vail has so many people working for them is because if you constantly replace employees you don't have to pay them more hourly. Tell me why the grooming operators that start at $13 an hour, are getting payed $15 an hour after working for Vail for 5 years?! At the same time we have directors making a $116,000 average yearly salary! These directors are the same ones that are trying to make the mountain safe but going about it in the completely opposite way that it should be, by punishing the people that know how to ski/ride well for dodging the people that don't ski/ride well so they don't end up in the hospital and/or a lawsuit. I could go on but i have better things to do than let Vail take up more of my day.

2.0
Dec 8, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It hugely depends why you are working for the company. If you are an individual just using the company for a ski pass and have no interest in a career, then you get what you want. Also after you have worked for the company it does stand out on a resume, a great talking point with future employers. Excellent insurance plan for full time employees.

Cons

No personality at all as a whole trickled down from upper management. As mentioned below, huge disconnect in the layers between upper management to corporate employees and then to hospitality employees on site in mountain resorts. I have worked for other corporations and this company does stand out as particularly callous and not interested in employee satisfaction. The company has the potential to be much more profitable than they currently are. Without rehashing, everything mentioned below is definitely true. You have to understand that this company is being run exactly to design. The company in reality is much smaller than it seems. Most employees are line level making $10/hr. They effectively discourage employees above line level from staying longer than 2 years. They are a machine. They own a product that sells itself and they manage it exactly like you would imagine a bunch of bankers and accountants would. They bring you in with the feeling that you are working for a unique company but once you are there they work you heavy without the payoff. The CEO of the company is a Wall Street 1%'er. He knows how to manipulate the stock price through "influence" of the instutional investors, I've seen them all getting out of their private shuttles for their "week" prior to the 3rd qtr filings. There is no way the share price should be up at $70 share, the revenue and debt do not support this. There is no light or reward at the end of the tunnel for your hard work. Your salary will never go up. There really are very few opportunities to move beyond your $30k starting salary and almost none above the $50k line. These will be filled by outside hires.

2.0
Jun 11, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Vail Resorts office has a nice lounge/coffee bar for all of the staff, in my department I had some great teammates and there was almost no office drama, all employees get free ski pass and some vouchers for friends and family, the lodging discounts are alright and if you pick the right time of year there are some good ones.

Cons

The pay is below average and the benefits do not make up for the deficiency. The work culture is awful and has very little flexibility for alternative work options like occasionaly working form home for example. The paid time off is also severely lacking. Upper management is constantly meddling in projects and causing more work for the teams.

Viewing 136 - 138 of 2,783 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,039 Vail Resorts reviews submitted anonymously by Vail Resorts employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Vail Resorts is right for you.