Home for the Holidays: Local Businesses That Make Telluride Sparkle During the Holidays
By Erin Spillane
“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” 1950s crooner Perry Como once sang. In Telluride, local businesses are expert at ensuring visitors and part-timers feel as though they are home for the holidays — even if they are in a rental property.
Natalie Price, director of sales at property management company Exceptional Stays, says that she and her colleagues “love helping guests create magical holiday experiences. We’re all about making the season feel effortless and joyful.”
Of the process, Price explains: “We coordinate with trusted local partners to handle everything from holiday décor to personalized touches like stocking stuffers, custom welcome baskets or even curated menus with private chefs. We’ve also helped guests ship wrapped presents ahead of time so they’re ready to open on Christmas morning, and we’ve arranged Santa visits that delight both kids and adults.”
Price notes that in addition to Christmas, “we also support guests celebrating Hanukkah, New Year’s Eve and other seasonal traditions.”
For those who observe Hanukkah, both Mountain Village Wine Merchant and Telluride Wine Merchant offer kosher wines. Owner Bryan Thames says he sources the wines — a chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon — from Barkan, an award-winning Israeli winery.
For holiday tree delivery, Scott Nuechterlein at Telluride Delivers offers the traditional Fraser fir tree with sizes ranging from 2 to 10 feet. Says Nuechterlein, “We can provide the decorations for the guests to do their own decorating. We access the residence prior to arrival so when they get there the tree has been placed, the stand is topped with water and there is a tree skirt if they choose.”
Telluride Delivers also offers pre-arrival groceries and oxygen concentrators for those who might need help acclimating to the elevation. Says Nuechterlein, “Guests submit their orders ahead of time and when they get there everything is all set up.”
And then there is the perfectly named My Telluride Christmas. Owned by Sarah Harkness and Dustin Clements, the business offers a highly customized service primarily for second homeowners and those who visit regularly.
“We will come to your house, take a look at your space and provide decorations and a customized styling service,” she says. “We will put up the decorations so the house is decorated when you arrive. A lot of our clients are repeat customers. They keep their decorations at their homes and we just schedule with their property manager prior to their arrival and set everything up for them.”
A second option — for visitors renting a vacation property or staying at a hotel — offers a number of pre-designed trees that clients can choose from. Says Harkness, “We come in and set it up before they arrive and then we take it all down upon departure.”
Harkness points to Telluride’s “extra sparkle” during the holidays. “It is one of the most special times to be here. We want to make it easy for someone to be able to come and enjoy their time in Telluride during the holiday season without all the added stress.”
Santa at Schmid Family Ranch
From Dec. 16–23, Schmid Family Ranch, located on Wilson Mesa west of Telluride, offers a fun day out for families.
The set-up is sweet: as families arrive, parents surreptitiously hand off wrapped gifts labeled for their kiddos to staff members, who pass them along to Santa. After a sleigh ride around the historic ranch, everyone returns to the barn for chili and other refreshments. Santa then gives the gifts to the children by name — who are amazed that he knew just what they wanted. The Grinch makes an appearance and everyone lines up for photos.