Aconcert by jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and his sextet, backed by an orchestra from the Denver Musicians' Association, marked the recent grand opening of the Telluride Conference Center, 9,500 feet up in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains. The 11,000-square-foot conference center has a 6,000-square-foot flexible ballroom that holds up to 500 theater-style, plus three breakout rooms that can seat 16 people boardroom-style. The largest of the three can host a reception for 60. A special feature of the center is a mezzanine that, combined with the lobby, provides more than 2,000 square feet of exhibit or display space.

First to use the conference center was the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, based in Washington, D.C. NHRA executive director Peter Bell housed his 150 attendees, plus about 50 family members, in two Wyndham International luxury properties just a short walk from the conference center.

The Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa offers 174 guest rooms, including 28 suites, plus one- to four-bedroom condominiums and penthouses. The 6,090 square feet of meeting space includes a ballroom seating 180 classroom-style and three breakout rooms. The spa features 44 treatment rooms. An 18-hole championship golf course is adjacent. Guests at The Lodge at Mountain Village have access to the Golden Door Spa. The lodge offers accommodations in the main lodge, in fully furnished one-, two-, and three-bedroom condominiums, and in log-and-stone cabins.

It's a 13-minute ride by complimentary gondola from Mountain Village to the Victorian town of Telluride, which still looks much the same as it did when Butch Cassidy robbed its San Miguel National Bank in 1889. Today's Telluride, a year-round resort, is designated a National Historic District.