From Denver to Texas and Beyond: Smackdown: Avon vs. Detroit

There's no denying my trip to Detroit was amazing. I mean, it's not everyday you can visit a foam factory... or encounter the Mafia... or find a piece of gum on your plate at a restaurant. But when I found out I was going to work in Avon (just West of Vail), I had a feeling it might just live up to Detroit.

Let's take score....

Accommodations:

I'm auditing a company that develops hotels and condos in resort towns, and they recently built the Westin in Avon....

... which is gorgeous. Although we worked in the Westin, the room rates were a bit steep for us ($600/night!!), so we stayed at the Sheraton:

I was really surprised to find out my room was actually a suite that's almost as big as my condo.

Although the Hyatt in Detroit is nice AND right across the street from the Red Ox, I'd still say Avon wins on accommodations.

Food:

There is a definite sophistication to the mountains that is just a bit.... lacking... in Detroit. And there was no one better to tap into my classy side than Miss Lindsay Montoya.

Lindsay is my co-worker and definitely the classier Lindsay on our team. She influenced me to put down my Coors Light and pick up a glass of wine.

The food is all really good, too. Check out Lindsay's fancy scallops:

Even my chicken and spinach was upscale.

In this race, I say Avon wins... again.

Team:

It's pretty impossible to choose my favorite team considering there were so many characters on both. One such character is Brendan:

Brendan is a new staff, and one of the funnier people I've worked with. On our first morning, he drove us from our hotel to the Westin, and almost killed us twice. That's pretty talented considering it's a three minute drive. When we got out of the car, I asked him to please pose for a picture in front of his car to which he responded, "Um.... why?"

I also really enjoyed working with Ryan, our intern. He's super sharp, and gets as much work done as a regular staff, which is awesome. AND he likes taking pictures with me. Which is a plus. Here we are showing how beautiful the view from the lobby of the Westin is.

And of course there was Miss Montoya. I've missed working with her since she left the Aimco team, so it was fun to be back on a team with her. And I love being able to say, "Gooooooo Team Lindsay!" Hopefully she likes it, too. Because I say it. A lot.

Even though this team was great, my Detroit team was pretty memorable as well. I mean, who could forget Johnny? And Oscar?! And Nick, who wrote the most amazing rap about our time in Detroit (Seriously. A rap about auditing that he recorded and everything). It's hard to choose one team over another, so I'll call this one a draw and chalk it up to the fantastic recruiting efforts of Ernst & Young.

Atmosphere:
As awesome as the abandoned buildings and gray skies were in Detroit... Avon has a definite edge in terms of atmosphere. Right outside our office was a chair lift!! That's crazy. And particularly sad when everyone around you is on their way to ski and you're stuck working 12 hours a day.

This is the view out my hotel room window. So pretty.

Here we are walking to lunch.

The next day, we bought sandwiches for lunch and sat in the Westin lobby to eat and enjoy their gigantic fireplace. Ryan got particularly comfortable.