We stayed in the La Plata Vista room in the main house. The good part of our stay was the beautiful grounds, vista from our room, the friendly staff, the romantic fireplace and the amazing breakfast. The bad was the bed (ugh) which was VERY soft (although the sheets were fantastic), the noise that echoed into our room from the first floor and nearby road, and the tv did NOT receive ANY channels. The ugly was the bathroom. Without fully opening the door, you could not enter the bathroom due to the tub being too close to the swing of the door. More importantly, the shower pressure was ZERO. I understand water conservation, but this lack of ANY pressure was unacceptable in my book.

Blue Lake Ranch is THE place to stay near Durango. I stayed here in August 2011 with my 10 year old son and my father. We had two rooms in the sunset casita and had a perfect stay. The property is a short, scenic drive from Durango, so very easy to drive in to Durango for dinner, the train, and other activities. Mesa Verde is about 30 minutes in the other direction, so it's a great location. The ranch is a gorgeous property. It is covered in amazing flowers, with a terrific view of the mountains in the distance. All the rooms are in two or three room casitas or houses spread out around the property. Our room was wonderful - a huge bedroom, sitting room, and bathroom. The decor was wonderful, like what you would pick for your own mountain home, nothing "hotel-like" (or bed-and-breakfast doiley-like, either) - Mexican tile floors, southwestern textiles and pottery, etc. We had two very comfortable leather chairs, a sofa, and a small table and chairs in our sitting room, plus a small fridge, microwave and coffee maker, and a very comfortable king-sized bed in the separate bedroom. The bathroom had two sinks and a huge counter space, and a walk in shower with a separate room for the toilet. And best of all, plenty of light! (I hate dark hotel bathrooms where you can't see to put on your makeup.)
My favorite thing about our room was the view - a huge picture window out back looked onto a meadow with waist-high grass that was part of the property, but no paths or anything through it, so completely private, with an amazing view of mountains in the distance. Every morning, a mother deer and her fawn were standing 5 feet outside our window - my son loved it. At night, we opened the windows, cracked the big wooden shutters, and enjoyed the cool evening breeze and the total peace and quiet!
The breakfasts were delicious and the staff was incredibly nice. The owner showed us all around and told us all about the history of the property, showed us old pictures, etc. The caretakers have a high school age son who works there in the summer, and he was super friendly at breakfast and had lots of good tips about where to go in the area. The breakfast area, the grounds, the lake, the whole place was beautiful - I took about a million pictures. Don't worry - it's just as beautiful in person as it looks in the pictures on the website. I can't wait to come back here with my husband! My father, who has traveled extensively, loved it as well. And of course my son thought it was great, what with the lake, the paths, the deer, and the activities in the area - train, horseback riding, etc. Blue Lake Ranch offers a wonderful experience, I really can't say enough good things about it. We'll be back!

Can’t say one bad thing about Blue Lake Ranch. A definite must if you are in the Durango area. Just a short 10 minute drive to downtown Durango, the Blue Lake Ranch is it. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about the area and Colorado in general. Owner David walks around during breakfast talking to guests and you don’t want to miss his booming personality. The grounds and rooms are immaculately kept. There are wonderful views of the La Plata Mountains, lots of trails within the property, including one around the lake. We will definitely be going back to Blue Lake Ranch.

I found this beautiful bed and breakfast on the internet for our bi-annual trip out West. We had never been to this part of CO before and we were not disappointed. It is situated on several acres with flowers galore in the summer (it was June when we visited) and the peaceful Blue Lake on the back of the property. Our room was large with a cozy side balcony and great views. The breakfast was a big buffet with many diverse choices, something for everybody. There were also many adventures to be had in the area - the train to Silverton, the cowboy dinner and show, the quaint town of Durango, etc. We would dearly love to return some day.