After almost three decades, longtime Chipeta Solar Springs Resort and Spa owners Jack and Patsy Young have sold the Ridgway hotel to buyers, who have plans for upgrades and enhancements throughout the property.

Todd and Shari Mezrah, who live in Florida and own a home in Telluride, bought the hotel in September for more than $5.5 million, according to county records.

The Youngs built the hotel in 1993 as a 12-room bed-andbreakfast, then grew over time to 33 rooms, adding the spa, restaurant and bar and Kiva conference center as they expanded. But they were ready to move on: Patsy used the word “retire,” Jack said, and he’s focused on other projects as a developer.

“We’ve had lots of opportunities to sell in the last two years,” he said. “People always have tried to buy it because they think it’s cute, or whatever the reason.”

When the Mezrahs reached out, the Youngs felt they were “the right people” to take over the property, and that this was the right time.

“They’re really nice folks and they just love the place,” Jack Young said. “And they’re planning all kinds of upgrades.”

“We thought it had a lot of potential to be something special,” Todd Mezrah said. “We want to make a place that’s memorable and unique that the community can be proud of.”

The first change was to the name: the hotel is now Chipeta Lodge Resort + Spa.

They’ve hired Life House to manage the hotel; the company also manages Box Canyon Lodge and properties in Salida, Sedona and Taos, in addition to others around the country.

“We wanted to partner with a management group that knew how to run the day-to-day of a boutique hotel,” Todd Mezrah said. His company, Mezrah Consulting, is an executive benefits and compensation firm.

But the couple is bringing their own experience to their vision for the space. “We’ve been in hotels all over the world,” he said. “We know what good service is, what a good experience is, and we want to bring that to Ridgway.”

Their list of planned upgrades for the property is lengthy: they want to “enhance” just about everything, from the exterior and the entryway to the furniture and linens in the rooms and the food in the restaurant.

“We have assembled an amazing design and construction team,” Shari Mezrah said, with Ridgway locals Sundra Hines, Adam Anderson and Pat Beecher.

“Everyone on our team that we’ve hired is local, purposefully,” Todd Mezrah said.

“We are thrilled to be part of the Ridgway community,” Shari Mezrah said. “We really feel it’s important to be keeping everything within the community.”

That’s the same philosophy they have for the Four Corners Restaurant – which may also see a name change in the future, Todd Mezrah said.

A new menu is already in the works, with a new chef and a focus on local products like meat, fish and bread.

“We want everything to be indigenous to the Ridgway area, whether it’s Ridgway directly, whether it’s Montrose, Norwood, Ouray, we want to source everything locally,” he said.

They also plan to make renovations to the Sky Bar, and hope to find a way to keep it open through the winter. One goal is to make the hotel a more inviting place for locals to spend time, he said, as well as become a hub for local catering needs and events.

The spa will remain, and may see its own upgrades, too, Todd Mezrah said. “Everything’s going to just be elevated a couple levels,” he said.

“A lot is going to change, but all for the better,” he said. “We’ll have the same spirit, the same theme, the same charm, but probably modernize it a bit.”

The hotel is ready for more growth, Jack Young said.

When he first built it, “nobody knew about Ridgway,” he said. Lots in the Solar Ranch neighborhood were still selling, and enticing people to stay there required outreach and marketing, in addition to taking care of them once they arrived. Over time, Ridgway’s profile rose, as did the hotel’s.

“One thing led to the next, and we just kept on expanding it,” Young said, shifting from a true bed-and-breakfast to more of a “destination resort.”

Now, they boast a return rate above 60%. “We have ended up with a really loyal bunch of regulars that come, and it’s really the bulk of our business,” Young said.

Some have favorite rooms they want to return to year-after-year; others want to stay in a different room each time and see them all.

The Mezrahs want to keep bringing those loyal guests back, and to convince them to extend their stays, too.

“The Youngs did a great job, they built a great brand, and they’ve got a ton of repeat guests,” Todd Mezrah said. “We just need to get all those guests to come back and repeat and repeat and maybe stay a bit longer.”