Chipeta Lodge Renews Its Focus on Lodging, Wellness and Community in Ridgway

 PRESS RELEASE

RELEASE DATE: 09/28/2026 for immediate publication

Ridgway resort evolves its food and beverage experience while strengthening its role as a home base for exploring the San Juans and a place for the local community to relax, gather and recharge.

Ridgway, Colorado — Chipeta Lodge is sharpening its focus around what it does best: providing a distinctive place to stay, relax, gather and experience Southwest Colorado.

The 35-room resort is placing lodging, spa and wellness, gatherings and personalized hospitality at the center of the Chipeta experience—while embracing the restaurants, shops, recreation and businesses that make Ridgway and the surrounding region a destination.

“One of Chipeta’s greatest strengths is everything around us,” said General Manager Andy Stoll. “We don’t need to recreate the entire destination inside the hotel. Our role is to provide an exceptional home base, connect our guests with the community and give them a place they want to come home to at the end of the day.”

It is a direction that reflects how guests already experience Chipeta. As one recent guest wrote:

“This lodge is in a perfect location that you can walk to many restaurants and shops. I enjoyed the parks around as well! Thank you for a wonderful weekend stay.”

From Chipeta, guests can explore Ridgway, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton and the surrounding San Juan Mountains, experience local restaurants and businesses, and return to the Lodge to relax and recharge.

A Resort Experience for the Community, Too

Chipeta’s renewed focus also includes reintroducing the community to experiences available without an overnight stay.

Locals and area visitors can enjoy day passes for the pool, hot tubs and sauna, book treatments at the Chipeta Lodge Spa by iSUN, or experience the Alpine Recovery Ritual, designed as a restorative complement to a day spent hiking, skiing, biking or exploring the mountains.

The spa also offers the full selection of locally made iSUN skincare and wellness products for purchase.

“We want Chipeta to be an asset to the community, not simply a place for overnight guests,” said Stoll. “Whether it’s a spa treatment, an afternoon by the pool, recovery after a day in the mountains or meeting friends for a drink, there are parts of the Chipeta experience we want our neighbors to enjoy too.”

A New Chapter for White Buffalo

As part of the strategy, Chipeta will evolve White Buffalo from a traditional full-service restaurant into White Buffalo Bar, a relaxed hotel bar featuring cocktails, wine, Colorado beer and a small selection of casual food offerings.

Chipeta Sunrise Breakfast will continue for overnight guests, while the Great Room will feature a curated marketplace with grab-and-go provisions and products from local and regional partners. The marketplace will also include ready-to-heat meal options, giving guests staying in Chipeta’s accommodations with kitchens the flexibility to enjoy an easy meal on their own schedule.

Seasonal rooftop beverage service will remain part of the Chipeta experience.

The shift reflects a broader philosophy: Chipeta does not need to compete with the businesses that help make Ridgway worth visiting.

“Great hospitality doesn’t mean trying to do everything ourselves,” said owner Todd Mezrah. “It means being disciplined about what we do best and recognizing where strong local partners can do something better. By focusing Chipeta on lodging, wellness and gatherings while complementing the businesses around us, we believe we can create a stronger experience for our guests and a stronger business for the future.”

For contracted weddings, retreats and group events, Chipeta is developing a culinary partnership with Grace & Grit Catering, the new catering venture from longtime True Grit Cafe owner Tammee Tuttle. For Tuttle, the partnership is also a return to familiar ground: her relationship with Chipeta began in the 1990s, when she catered retreats at the property during its years as a bed and breakfast.

“Chipeta and I go back a long way,” said Tuttle. “I first started working with Chipeta back in the ’90s, when it was still a bed and breakfast, catering retreats for the property. As I begin this next chapter with Grace & Grit, there’s something really special about coming full circle and working with Chipeta again. I’m excited to bring that history, the

relationships I’ve built in this community and my love of bringing people together around good food into what we create together.”

The same philosophy will guide Chipeta’s new marketplace, with an emphasis on thoughtfully selected food, beverages and products from local and regional partners, including brands guests already experience during their stay.

A Home Base for Ridgway and the San Juans

For Chipeta, a guest walking downtown for dinner, shopping locally or spending the day exploring neighboring mountain communities isn’t business leaving the property. Those experiences are part of what makes a stay at Chipeta valuable.

“We want our guests to fall in love with Ridgway and this whole area, not just Chipeta,” said owner Shari Mezrah. “When they walk downtown for dinner, discover a local shop or have an experience they’ll remember, that becomes part of their stay with us. We love being the place they can come home to at the end of the day.”

Chipeta’s focus going forward is clear: an exceptional place to stay, a place to gather and recharge, and a welcoming home base for experiencing Ridgway and the San Juan Mountains.

Do What We Do Best. Support What Makes Ridgway Special.