Travelers looking for a hotel or a hostel will be equally welcomed by the founders of The Pad in the mountains of Silverthorne, Colorado, when the property opens this summer.

The founders and developers, husband and wife duo Rob and Lynne Baer, said the environmentally and socially responsible property is still under construction, but they are aiming to open by July, hopefully before the July 4 holiday.

Some might think of The Pad as a hostel, while others might see it as a hotel, Rob Baer said.

When the curious ask whether The Pad is a hotel or a hostel, he said he likes to respond, "What is a hostel to you?"

"If you think of a hostel as a youth hostel from the '90s, then in no way are we a hostel," he said.

Rooms at The Pad feature bunk beds, so "if that's what makes us a hostel, then yes, we are a hostel," he said.

From his perspective, The Pad, located in Colorado's ski country, is a new-build boutique hotel that has suites and bunk beds along with other amenities, such as a riverside and rooftop bar.

"Whether it's a hotel or a hostel, hopefully you'll just stay at The Pad," he said.

The Pad is located in the mountains an hour away from Denver, so the owners expect to see a mix of solo travelers, couples and different types of groups once the property is open.

The property is set up well for hiking groups and other types of groups with its bunk beds and dorm-style rooms, Lynne Baer said.

The hotel was designed to easily accommodate smaller groups, including families, into a set of rooms, Rob Baer said.

People will want to travel but possibly save a bit of money after the pandemic, and a family of five could do so by renting a six-bunk dorm room rather than booking two or three rooms at a traditional hotel, he said.

If pandemic restrictions are still where they are now when the hotel opens this summer, The Pad might have to shift its focus to booking those smaller groups rather than individual travelers, Rob Baer said.

As The Pad moves toward opening in the summer, Rob Baer said he expects the hotel to be full and to be fully staffed to meet that demand.

Silverthorne, Colorado, tends to be a resort area and hasn't seen as much of a drop in occupancy as hotels in more urban areas. Travel is only expected to pick up with more vaccines rolling out.

"The last thing we would want to do is to open and be understaffed," he said. "We're planning to be fully staffed and open. Even if there are still COVID restrictions or COVID concerns, that extra staff will actually come into play in helping us meet our goals to keep our customers and staff safe."

If bathrooms and high-touch surfaces need to be cleaned and disinfected more often, hotels need more staff to implement and follow protocols, he said.

The Pad is currently working toward being fully B Corp.-certified, the owners said.

It currently has its pending B Corp. status, which is what new businesses have to do before receiving full certification since the requirements call for a property being open for a full year, Lynne Baer said.

"The B Corp. [certification] provides an extra layer of accountability for your business, and it gives us as business owners the right and the legal obligation to factor in people and planet, as well as profit, when we make decisions," she said. "Traditionally [with] businesses, profit usually dictates almost everything. It was important for us to not only build The Pad and have it be a cool place, but also a place where we're making a positive impact."

Rob Baer added that B Corp. asks owners to write into the operating agreement that "you can balance, whether its social, environmental and a lot of other factors, into your decisions besides profit so that then later you can say you're running your business [well] because you've taken these into account."

The hotel has been following social distancing and COVID-19 safety protocol on the construction site, and they plan to continue these efforts once the hotel is open, Lynne Baer said.

Those efforts could call for single-use products for things like coffee, so to maintain being an eco-friendly hotel, The Pad owners are working with a Boulder, Colorado-based company that will supply single-use items that can be used in the commercial composting plant in Summit County where the hotel is located, she said.

"Once we open, we will continue to monitor the protocols and what's required and find solutions," she said. "That's all it really takes is doing a little more research and usually there's a more sustainable option."

Businesses always have to make decisions that are profitable and make decisions that keep guests and staff healthy, but "within those decisions, there's the least environmentally or socially responsible level to the most," Rob Baer said.

"Our goal is to always find, within those terms, the best decision that let's us stay open as a business but also really uphold our values," he added.