TELLURIDE, CO—With two properties open in Europe and a slate of developments nearing completions in locations as diverse as Mexico, Ireland, and Singapore, there has been one striking omission in the portfolio of the new luxury Capella Hotels & Resorts brand: the U.S. Founder and CEO Horst Schulze, who launched Capella in 2005, agrees with the general industry consensus that a U.S. flag is essential if a brand is to be considered truly global. But he insists the location and hotel have to be right. “We’ve had opportunities to come to the U.S., but the locations—and often the projects themselves—haven’t been suited to the six-star service we’re committed to providing,” Schulze said at a media briefing in New York recently. That situation, however, will be rectified in February, when the 100-room Capella Telluride opens in this Colorado mountain destination equally famous for its skiing and its annual film festival. The $225-million mixed-use project, which will include 79 owned residences, is being developed by New York-based developer RAL Cos., LLC. RAL already owned and operated a 32-room boutique property in Telluride, the Inn at Lost Creek, on a site for 10 years and has been eager to develop a larger, more substantial property in the city as well. The Inn at Lost Creek is now operated by the Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group, which is the Capella brand’s parent. The two hotels will operate in conjunction with one another. Guests at the Inn will have access to the Capella’s amenities, which include a full-service spa, on a preferred basis, but Capella guests and residents will have first priority. “Given the high barriers to entry in a community like Telluride, it’s actually taken us 12 years of negotiation, planning, and construction to get to this point,” said RAL’s president and CEO Robert Allan Levine. Early on in the process, Levine met Schulze, who was then president and COO of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., but plans for the property to be branded a Ritz-Carlton never materialized. Most of the land had been owned by the Telluride municipality. “The metro district wanted to control what finally was built there and that the right developer was chosen,” Levine recalled. RAL actually partnered with the town on the approval process. “We built a two-level parking structure under the property and reconfigured the road coming into the town. We had to give something back in return for the town’s approval. Because of our willingness to cooperate, coupled with our track record with the Inn at Lost Creek, we were able to obtain the necessary permits,” Levine continued. “Unless you’re really committed and prepared to go for the long run, it can be a frustrating experience.” Capella’s 79 residences will provide additional suite inventory for the hotel, so there’ll be units available to accommodate guests’ housing requirements. The property will have a rental management program, so owners can place their units in the rental program if they wish. “There’s no full-time residency. The way we structured the deal, these units are not intended to be full-time residences. As part of the approval process from the municipality, we committed to make sure these are actual hotel rooms,” Levine said. “Consequently, there’s a limit on the number of nights owners can use their units, though there are no restrictions as to when during the year they can use them.” The Capella is situated in the core of the Telluride mountain village. One of its special features, according to Levine, will be an ice-skating rink in the center of the project with the hotel and residences surrounding it. In the summer, the rink will become a water feature and can become a stage as well for outdoor concerts. Levine said he shares Schulze’s commitment to providing six-star service. “It’s the driving force behind what Horst is trying to do with the brand,” he said. Capella, in fact, is the name of the sixth brightest star in the night sky. “Horst won’t put the Capella name on a property that he doesn’t feel is distinctive and unique,” Levine said. “We’re trying to provide people with an experience as though they were in their own home. When you couple that with the right environment, it’s a very special experience.” The two Capella properties already open are the 105-room Schloss Velden in Velden, Austria, which opened in May 2007, and the 95-room Breidenbacher Hof in Dusseldorf, Germany, which opened in May 2008. The first of three properties in Mexico, the 59-suite Capella Ixtapa, is scheduled to open this month. It will be followed by two more Mexican properties—near Cabo San Lucas and on the Riviera Maya—in the first half of 2009.