We have made our annual mini-vacation to Telluride four years in a row now.  It was never a conscious plan but it seems like we keep going back.  We found a great hotel with decent prices the first year and just kept going back.  The hotel (Hotel Columbia  ) is child and animal friendly, but has the atmosphere of a sophisticated boutique hotel.  Imagine our disappointment when we found out it was getting a face lift and would not be open for our annual pilgrimage this year! ( I need to add that they will also be raising their prices so we won't be able to afford it in the future).  So, I booked a cheap room in a nearby hotel I found on the internet, after speaking to an employee who assured me that the comforters where comfortable and new and that the rooms were nice.

After a four hour drive we arrive to our hotel and this is what we encounter:  A nearly empty parking lot with construction trucks, a closed office, and a phone with the message “ If you use this phone we add $40 to your bill”, a box with an envelope with our name on it and keys with another threatening note “ If you lose one key 40 more bucks”, a few of the hotel windows were open and we could see open bags of wonder bread, a jar of peanut butter with a knife stuck in it, and yappy dogs.

We lugged our luggage up to the second floor and entered the room. I almost cried.  It was my birthday and, although I was not expecting a hotel W experience (the room was 88 dollars, half the regular season price), I was expecting a $176 room.  The room was small, dank, and had only a stand up shower, the kind your grandpa buys to put outside his rustic cottage to offer privacy to folks taking a shower. The floor had linoleum and a musty carpet,  the bed had those road side motel covers that shine so much because they are made entirely of plastic.

 We rushed out to go eat a fabulous dinner at the amazing Cosmopolitan Restaurant --  a fancy fare restaurant with amazing off season prices, incredible service and always welcoming to the chaos of toddlers.

We returned to our Mountain Side Inn and I slept fitfully and depressed.  We had only one ¾ size pillow each and I could not call because there was only the emergency phone number ($40 extra).  The next morning I decided to go talk to the lady at the front desk, which was open at 9:00. I decided to be truthful about what I felt but to be extremely mellow and kind about it (This is hard for me; I usually take out my ‘lived ten years in New York card’ when it comes to customer service).  Somehow in the midst of this depressing facility, an angel was manning the counter and offered me the keys to a room in paradise.  She told us to take our time, leave our things there, go visit the other place and let her know.  So, except for the angel, never go to Mountain Side Inn unless you are: going to Telluride to ski and drink heavily and won’t look at your room or care, or if you are a group of teenagers. But rush quickly over to the Manitou Bed and Breakfast to stay in one of their fabulous rooms!  Both hotels are managed by the same company ( Telluride Alpine Lodging) but they are on completely different scales.

The rooms at the Manitou Bed and Breakfast ( not a real Band B; you aren't staying with a sweet old granny and all the amenities are in your room; so you don’t have to be quiet or talk to strangers) are large, lush, comfortable, and fabulous. Cora had her own bedroom and bathroom; we had a large bed and a large bath.  The best thing is that we paid the same price as the other place. I highly doubt that will happen again though; so it may be the end of our visits to Telluride. We put Cora down for her nap in her new room, while I went and emptied the old room out.

We really enjoyed our stay in Telluride. The town is so child and outdoor friendly.  During the off season many places are closed and the streets are empty but the fun is still there.  You can stroll on the path ( 2.5 miles one way) along the stream (San Miguel River) through town and explore the river bed. Cora did this with great enthusiasm even though it was November in a 9,000 ft elevation mountain stream.  We then visited a few shops and no one batted an eye lash at our wet daughter.   The river trail runs to two children’s park, a great skate park , and a fishing  pond.   Cora loves our visits to Telluride because she gets to explore outdoors, and play, and see some good skate boarding. She also saw a beaver, a beaver lodge, beaver dam and area where they take wood and slip back in the water; A great learning experience.  In sixteen years of living in Canada and going to a remote cabin on a lake I had never seen a beaver or any of these typical signs of their habits.

Telluride also has an amazing library, including the best children’s library I have ever seen, with so many activities and reading nooks. They have fabulous adult areas too.  We spent lots of time at the library .

We did the Bear Creek Canyon hike to a waterfall.   It's a well-groomed 2.5 miles one way starting at the south end of Pine Street. It is the mellowest of hikes around, which is good if you don’t have time to acclimatize to the elevation.  If you are staying in Telluride for a week then you can take the Gondola up to 12,000 feet and start different hikes on top of the ski slopes (Large Mountain).

We also ate some great food at La Marmotte, an amazing French restaurant with prix fixe for the off season. This place has a quieter atmosphere and is not especially child friendly but we will keep going because of the great food.

  I know that Telluride is a very popular destination during the skiing months and the summer for their various concerts. I have never been there during those times; so I cannot give any advice for traveling there then. I do know that it is busy, a lot more expensive and that the campground is often full.

Heidi

Gear Review update:

Now, that winter is in full swing here in the Roaring Fork Valley, I have had the chance to put some of the gear that I reviewed to a greater test.  Here is an update on what I think.

Mountain Sprouts Mittens:  They are warm, well-constructed, durable, and keep snow out, but they don’t work for a child that is already very mobile and independent.  My daughter finds it frustrating that there is no thumb and that she can’t grip things. She only wears them if she is asleep or doesn’t want to hold anything.

Oslo Waterproof Merrell Boots:  These are the most fashionable winter boots I have ever worn. I get stopped by total strangers, young, old, female, male, they are very waterproof and comfortable. Unfortunately, my feet do get cold in them.