Mr & MRS Smith Dunton Hot Springs

Beware of payment issues. First, Dunton tried to double charge me for the deposit (this second transaction was blocked by Visa). Then, when I had to cancel the reservation, within the cancellation period eligible for a full refund, they never returned my deposit. When I contacted them to ask for explanations, they claimed to have issued a refund on my credit card, which never materialized. I had to open a fraud claim with Visa to eventually get my money back.

Fabulous setting and a great concept. All in all I’d say this is a unique and perfectly lovely place to go but it definitely was not a 5-star experience for us. Positives: - The food was overall excellent. - Super duper comfy bed! - The hot springs are really a special feature of this property. Negatives: - Staff seemed absolutely burned out and disinterested. It felt like the few things we asked for were an imposition. One of them mentioned they had just come off of a series of fully booked weddings and were exhausted. Not a great start to feeling welcome! - We requested when making the reservation, and again when we arrived, to do the equine experience. Both times they said they would would have to check staffing and get back to us but they never did. - Breakfast was painfully slow and we waited for 45 minutes for them to get our packed lunches together. - We were there for our 30th anniversary and I asked when making the reservation what we could do to make it special. He said they would provide us with a special extra during dinner for the occasion. I confirmed that afternoon, but we realized as we left dinner that night no one ever mentioned it was a special night or brought anything extra to the table. - My husband had just come off climbing a 14er the day before we arrived and he asked for an additional serving at dinner. The server said he’d ask the chef and “see” if that was possible. When you’re at a 5-star resort an hour’s drive from anything you’d think they’d be happy to provide you with a little extra food when you’re hungry! - The morning we checked out they said they’d send someone to get our bags while we waited for (a very slow) breakfast. We finished eating and packed the car ourselves before anyone came to help. We were actually happy to just get it done ourselves and hit the road! I’d say other than the super comfy bed the room comfort and decor were fine but not 5-star. There were other minor bummers but this is long enough. We are not guests that need much, but it is nice to feel like the staff are there when you want them. I can envision how this could be a great experience if the staff were more attentive and enthusiastic.

Well, I guess this is what I like. Hot springs, comfy beds, waterfall, excellent food, mountains — and they let us sit by ourselves so we could read every meal. We spent a couple nights after four days of hiking and it was just perfect. Coffee at our door, morning soak, ridiculously good breakfast, reading by the waterfall, ridiculously good lunch, afternoon soak, nap, pre dinner soak, ridiculously good dinner, evening soak, sleep. For our long drive home they packed us the perfect road trip meal. While we were there, they had a fancy self service coffee machine with an oat milk option installed. They had a spot to plug in an EV (I think they may have level 2 Volvo and Tesla, but we used our level 1). Have I already talked about the food? So good. And they gave us seconds. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was better than I thought it would be and I liked it way more than I thought I would. Bonus is that at night the bugs go away and you can sit in the outdoor hot spring and watch shooting stars. Didn’t try the source spring - indoor one was hot enough haha! Yes there are bugs - you’re in the woods - and the flies inside the bathhouse are kind of wild - but we have had a buggy summer in CO so to be expected. We drove in so we brought camp chairs, a shade, and some bug zap lanterns for our waterfall time. Stayed at the new house - it was quiet and peaceful and wonderful. Bed was comfy - medium firm. Napped and watched tv in the loft. Pretty sweet. If you wear bathing suits, bring one you don’t mind staining rust color. They were doing some construction while we were there but it didn’t bother us - excited to return and see all the updates! Everyone was so kind! In case helpful: we took the high road from Telluride to save time mostly because I’ve taken it before - I see why they advise against it. It was kind of like accessing any less maintained backcountry road, but rock slides were fresh and we got lucky that someone went through prior to cut a downed tree from the road. There isn’t much space to pass for most of the switchback, so someone will likely have to backup if you don’t pull over enough (steep drop w no guardrails). We were on a high clearance jeep on a clear day - would take the longer route if there was any type of weather or I didn’t have a car I trusted. I don’t think there are rescue services and there is no cell service on that road. If it’s a question maybe don’t risk it.