TELLURIDE, CO— Hotel Telluride, which sits in this village’s quaint downtown area, has plenty of local flavor from which to draw its design. That’s because Telluride, a world-famous ski destination, is also an affluent Western-style town sitting within the San Juan mountain range. Indeed, the entire style of the three-story hotel, which opened exactly one year ago, draws from a rustic, Western theme. Its lobby sports slate floors, exposed beams, soaring ceilings and a stacked-stone fireplace. Antique seating arranged in intimate settings is adorned with velvet fabrics and complemented by antique Turkish rugs on the floor. Picture windows, meanwhile, showcase mountain vistas. And while views from the balconies of the Hotel Telluride’s 59 guestrooms give way to the 14,000-foot peaks of the mountains outside, inside, custom-upholstered headboards, 250-thread-count embroidered sheets and down comforters aim to give a cozy, residential look. While trying to carry the western-motif through the guestrooms, designer Karla Miller, owner of Omni Interiors in Gadsden, AL, said that the owner, Jud Dawson, also wanted to stress one of his major beliefs in creating a hotel. “We are in the sleep business. No matter how lovely the room looks, if the guest doesn’t sleep well, we have failed,” said Miller. Because owner Dawson saw the hotel’s competition coming not from historic downtown Telluride, but from nearby Mountain Village, where hotels are newer and more upscale, he decided to try to reach the higher-end traveler with the design of the property, said Miller. “Mr. Dawson wanted an image that combined a sophisticated residential feeling with traditional Colorado ranch influences,” she said. “Therefore, we designed custom-upholstered headboards in suede and leather with large, hammered antique brass nail heads, which are very Colorado. Next, we added a down feather bed to the incredibly comfortable Englander bedding. We topped all this with luxurious 250-thread-count monogrammed linens, a wool blanket, and down pillows. The final touch was a chenille duvet cover with down comforter inside folded at the foot of the bed and a tailored boudoir pillow for accent.” While Miller said she had total flexibility with the guestroom’s design, she decided to install a model bed in one of Dawson’s other hotels as a test. The only change he made, she said, was to select a plaid wool blanket over the solid-colored one she had chosen. “We both loved the idea of using a basic color scheme of chocolate brown and brick red, so we used these in three different design schemes,” said Miller, who added that she was present at the installation to ensure that no room would have exactly the same scheme as the rooms on either side of it. Miller even went so far as to select the mattress brand of the bed. “I selected the Lady Englander mattresses,” she said. “I attended the International Hotel/Mote& Restaurant Show in New York and researched the bedding that impressed me. I finally ordered a sample set from Englander.” While Miller said she loves the mattress and now sleeps on the sample bed every night, another element of the bedding package is her true favorite. “My favorite part of the overall look is the monogrammed sheets. They really seem to pull the whole idea of a luxury bed together,” she said. Other vendors included in the bedding package include the Royal Knights Collection, which provided the feather bed; Ancompass, which provided the feather pillows, and Faribiuit Woolen-Mill Co., which provided the comforters. Other in-room features include custom furnishings, refrigerators, a work desk, Sony CD players, as well as terry robes and slippers. Amenities are by Aveda.
