The Ruby of Crested Butte

An 1893 Victorian on Elk Avenue in downtown Crested Butte — seven adults-only rooms in a property that runs as the town's quiet boutique B&B. The Ruby is the kind of small inn that a long-tenured operator has spent years tightening: every room is a little different, the breakfast is good, and the property is exactly seven rooms because seven is what the building can hold while keeping the experience personal.

Crested Butte itself is the small Colorado mining-town-turned-ski-town that's held onto more 19th-century character than most Rocky Mountain villages. Elk Avenue is the painted-clapboard main street; the Ruby sits on it.

The setting

Crested Butte sits in a high mountain valley in central Colorado, four and a half hours from Denver, accessible by air through the small Gunnison-Crested Butte airport (thirty minutes south). The town divides into two: the historic mining-town downtown (where the Ruby is) and Mt. Crested Butte at the ski-area base, four miles north up the road. A free shuttle connects the two.

The Crested Butte Mountain Resort base is four miles north (free shuttle). The summer wildflower hikes and the bike trails start from town. Kebler Pass (one of Colorado's great fall-foliage drives, all aspens) starts at the west end of town.

The building

An 1893 Queen Anne Victorian — clapboard, gabled, painted in classic Crested Butte fashion (the town has a strict historical color palette for the painted-lady houses). Two stories, with the kind of late-19th-century mining-prosperity detailing the boomtown built. Materials are clapboard outside, plaster and wide-plank pine inside.

Public spaces include the parlor with a fireplace, the breakfast room, and the front porch. The aesthetic is Neo-Victoriana with restrained period furniture — well-maintained, not over-themed.

The rooms

Seven rooms across the main house. Each is a different size and shape. Most have soaking tubs; some have fireplaces. Bathrooms have been updated. Beds are king or queen depending on room. Adults-only is enforced.

Rates from $425 in shoulder; ski-season peak climbs.

Food & drink

A full breakfast is included — cooked, served family-style in the breakfast room. There's no on-site restaurant. Elk Avenue's restaurants are immediately outside the door: the Secret Stash, Ginger Café, Last Steep Bar & Grill, Soupçon, plus a long list of casual options. Crested Butte's restaurant scene is unusually good for a town its size.

On the property

The porches and the parlor are the program. There's an outdoor hot tub for guest use. No pool, no spa, no gym. The inn is small enough that the operator will book your dinner reservations and tell you which trail to do.

• Full breakfast included
• Outdoor hot tub
• Walking distance to Elk Avenue restaurants
• Adults-only
• Open year-round (some shoulder closures possible)

Who it's for

• Couples on a Crested Butte ski-or-summer weekend
• Travelers who want a real Victorian B&B in a real mining town
• Anyone tired of mountain-resort condo lodging
• Adults wanting quiet rather than ski-resort party

Who it's not for

• Travelers under 18 — adults-only
• Anyone wanting slope-side ski-in/ski-out (Mt. Crested Butte is four miles north)
• Travelers wanting a full-service hotel

Nearby

Elk Avenue's restaurants and shops are immediately outside. Crested Butte Mountain Resort (skiing in winter, mountain biking and lift-served hiking in summer) is four miles north via free shuttle. Kebler Pass for the aspen drive starts at the west end of town. Lake Irwin, Oh-Be-Joyful Falls, and several backcountry trails start within a fifteen-minute drive. The Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum is on Elk Avenue.