Hip Hip Ouray! Our favourite little mountain town (Ouray Chalet Inn (Ouray, Colorado))

Member Name: koshkha

Product:	Ouray Chalet Inn (Ouray, Colorado)
Date:	07/06/08 (123 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good value, easy to find

Disadvantages: Rain rain go away

Day two of our tour around Colorado's Rocky mountains took us from Aspen to the town of Fruita, where we visited the Colorado National Monument, then back on the road and heading south to the small mountain town of Ouray - pronounced You-Ray. Continuing our tight-fisted mission to test out just what you could get in terms of accommodation whilst paying as little as possible, we booked the Ouray Chalet Inn (check) for the grand price of about £28.

===Background to the Town===
The history and economy of Ouray was built on three industries - precious metal mining, the railroads and ranching. Unlike many of its neighbours, when the mining industry dried up, they didn't turn to the ski trade to keep things ticking over. In fact you can't see any ski slopes around the town and if it were actually snowing, you'd struggle to get in and out of the town at all - especially from the south which has one of the scariest approach roads I've ever driven along. Instead Ouray's regeneration as a tourist town was based on the presence of some allegedly 'healing' hot springs and more recently on the winter sport of ice-climbing and the summer 'sport' of 'jeeping'.

When we visited in May it was much too late for the ice but too early (thankfully) for the jeeping trails, so once again we got the full benefit of being well and truly off-season. Despite being tiny and very quiet, both my husband and I loved this little town nestled in the mountains. There's not a lot there - a wide main street with a couple more streets to either side - but it has a lovely peaceful but slightly quirky personality and absolutely spectacular mountains and waterfalls.

===Finding the Hotel===
We arrived in the late afternoon and had no problem to find the hotel - mostly because it's slap bang in the middle of town and the town's tiny anyway. The hotel is laid out like a motel with the car park at the front and rooms laid out on the two sides of the car park that aren't the roads, and these rooms open directly onto the car park. In addition to these two wings of rooms, there's a lower level (the hotel is built on a slope) with rooms coming off an internal corridor. We had a room on this lower corridor which should - in an ideal world - have meant it would be quieter.

===Check In===
Despite being well under capacity, the poor owner was struggling to cope with my check-in, taking several phone calls in the process. If he hadn't been such a very pleasant chap, and if we hadn't already spent nearly a week chilling out and slowing down to Colorado ways, this would have really annoyed me. Under normal circumstances I'd have been ready to shriek, "SERVE ME FIRST PAL, I'M THE ONE STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU! WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?" but I was on Colorado time by then and it really didn't seem all that important (although that approach was well and truly abused at one of the other hotels on our tour, but that's for another review). He checked my paperwork, took my card details in case of 'extras' and gave me a key and instructions to go to the end of the corridor and down the stairs.

===What's in the Room?===
On entering the room, we found ourselves going through a fairly narrow passageway with a hanging space and a suitcase side set into a recess at one side. The bathroom was on the other side of this alcove. In the main part of the room there was a double bed with a bedside table on either side, each with a lamp and one with a phone and the other with a clock radio. Next to the bad was a tub-style armchair in front of the window with a small coffee table. The A/C unit was in the corner - not something we'd necessarily have noticed but if you read on, you'll understand why it became a bit of an issue. On the wall opposite the foot of the bed was a long console table with a TV, a coffee tray, a fridge under and some drawers. Next to this was a desk. The décor was a tad 'chintzy' but nothing objectionable.

The bathroom had a sink, toilet and a small shower. Nothing very memorable but it was clean, there were plenty of towels and the water was hot and had good pressure.

===Other facilities===
There's a hot tub on a small wooden patio at the edge of the car park. What sort of people want to sit in their swimsuits next to the road with a view of the car park? I have no idea but it doesn't appeal to me. The reception had some drinks and snacks available, there's a small launderette and that's about all I could find. But let's be honest, for one night, what do you need? The owners can arrange tours or excursions if you ask them. The rooms apparently have free wi-fi but if you want your internet access in wired format, then there's a charge for that. There's no restaurant or breakfast room but there are several places to get breakfast in the town so we weren't bothered about that.

===How was our stay?===
It was great until halfway through the night when a slight rainstorm turned into a torrential downpour. The rain and the sound of water gushing down the storm-drains wouldn't have bothered me (we have a fish pond so I'm used to sleeping to the sound of running water) but I woke to the intensely annoying sound of water dripping off the air conditioning unit of the room above, straight onto our air-con unit. It sounded like an evil elf with a hammer was banging on an anvil outside the window and there was absolutely no way to sleep through it. I lay awake for at least an hour getting more and more irritable (and irritating - poor hubby) and cursing whoever had designed the layout of the air-con units. The bed was fine, the room was a good size, the shower was nice and hot but the noise in the night wiped out all the other good points (and the cheap price) instantly.

===Summary===
It's not a bad hotel but only go when you know it won't rain (e.g. in the middle of the winter - snow is MUCH quieter than rain) or pay the extra for a room that isn't on the lower floor. If we'd been upstairs, we'd not have had this problem. I was really ratty next day because I hadn't had a hope of sleeping properly so if - by any chance - the owners should happen to find this review, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get someone in to move the air-con units.

Summary: Fix the air con dripping problem and this would be highly recommended