The Inn at Buena Vista

OUR COMMUNITY

by: Dustin Heron Urban Concierge

Our tour guide excused herself momentarily and returned with a dazzling concoction. Quartered pears fanned out perfectly in a bed of custard; raspberries topped off the creation. It was a pear clafouti prepared and served by The Inn at Buena Vista owner and innkeeper Sandy Schrawder. She had whipped it up and thrown it in the oven just before I arrived to tour her Bed and Breakfast. To my untrained eye, Front

beautiful presentation is a sure sign of professional training. Sitting before this masterpiece in a dish, it was no surprise to hear that Sandy spent a year in culinary school when she lived out east. Actually, culinary school was just one of the many steps she took in preparation for opening The Inn at Buena Vista.

Sandy first contemplated opening some sort of inn in her twenties. It was not until some seven years ago, Monarch

however, that she seriously considered the idea as a business venture. In business school, Sandy took a course in entrepreneurship and was asked to write a business plan; she decided to return to the inn concept for the assignment. “After I did it,” she told me, “I thought I could be really good at it, and I could enjoy it… I was a train moving down the track after that.” After completing her MBA and going to culinary school, Sandy worked for two years as a weekend inn RoyalDeck

manager on Dupont Circle in Washington D.C.  “That’s where I really got a lot of my training, and that’s where I determined that I really liked it.”

Sandy found her way to Colorado through her daughter.  “My daughter was married here—in Denver.  We started coming out here for vacations, and it looked like they were going to settle here.  And sure enough they bought a home and made me a grandma, and I didn’t want to be grandma from Pennsylvania.  So I came out.”  Once in Colorado, Sandy went on an exploratory mission to pin down a location for her new business.  She visited a myriad of towns within a two-hour radius of Denver: Estes Park, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Lake Granby were among them.  Ultimately she found her way to the Arkansas Valley.  “I came here and I really just fell in love with it.”  Originally hoping to purchase a building in Salida, Sandy saw an ad for a property in Buena Vista.  Formerly home to a church, she toured the structure and bought it after half an hour.  That was nearly three years ago.  The Inn would open in May of 2006.

The Inn at Buena Vista today has a spacious common area dedicated to a living room and dining room and flanked by five bedrooms.  The hardwood floors which bring such warmth to the space were revealed after carpets and several interior walls were torn out.  Local art adorns the walls and is available for sale to the public.  Sandy cooks breakfast every morning.  “There’s always a fruit starter and then I usually do some kind of savory breakfast… I generally bake something.”  Judging by her pear clafouti, these meals promise to be a highlight of the stay.   The Inn also offers a day spa with everything from massages and waxing to facials and eyelash extensions available to guests and BV residents alike.

After a year-and-a-half in business, Sandy told me that things are going well.  “I’m on my financial projections, we’re right there and everything is looking good. We’ll be in the black next year.”  She attributes much of her business to the visitors drawn to town for events like the Collegiate Peaks Music Festival, The Collegiate Peaks Forum Series and the Independence Film Fest, all of which she sponsors.  Summer months like July are busy for the Inn, and Sandy is pleased to see the “shoulder seasons” of May and September bringing in business as well.

All told, The Inn at Buena Vista is a welcome addition to town.  Offering two deluxe suites with jetted tubs and three more affordable rooms, the Inn can accommodate ten guests and accepts reservations for parties, showers, meetings and even weddings.  If you are looking for a place to stay during the winter months, the three normal rooms are a great deal at 50% off their normal price.

Visit the website The Inn At Buena Vista or call 877-Inn-AtBV for more information or to book your reservation.

Photos: Patrick Wherritt Jr., front exterior; Sandra Shrawder, living room and the Monarch Room; Norm Dorn, Mt. Princeton, which is the view from the Royal Room.

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