T.D. Smith: 37 Years of Telluride real estate experience

The Telluride region’s newest luxury resort has earned one of the most sought after recognitions in the travel industry, lending it a boost at the start of the upcoming summer season.

Condé Nast Traveler magazine has listed the Telluride Capella, which opened this winter in Mountain Village, to its “hot list” for 2009. The recognition places the Capella among just 34 new hotels in the United States to be listed.

“As the first U.S. destination for Capella Hotels and Resorts, we had the great responsibility of introducing a world-class hotel founded upon the principle of service,” said John Volponi, general manager of Capella Telluride, quoted in a press release. “Condé Nast Traveler’s recognition – and so soon after opening – is a testament to the excellence of the entire Capella Telluride team, and I congratulate them wholeheartedly.”

From a local perspective, The Capella enjoys the distinction of being one of just two new hotels, along with lumiere, to have opened its doors in recent years in Mountain Village. In 2006, three other major hotels won development approvals, marking a long-anticipated increase in the region’s bedbase. But as of today, the proposed Telluride Rosewood, the proposed Silverline and a massive remodel of The Peaks are all on hold, set back at least in part by frozen credit markets and the weak economy.

Condé Nast Traveler’s annual hot list is produced by the magazine’s editors and correspondents. It can be seen at www.cntraveler.com/hotlist.

The magazine praises the “100-room stone-and-stucco resort” for feeling “pleasingly intimate despite its large scale,” and describes the staff as “polished” and “as courteous as they are good-looking.”

Among the hotels on the hot list, the Capella Telluride is a relative bargain, thanks to a special introductory rate of $195 from May 21 – Oct. 17, 2009, subject to availability.

The Capella got an additional boost when it was one of the hotels on the hot list specifically discussed health partners pharmacies on NBC’s Today Show on April 14, in a story about the Conde Nast Hot List.

The Today Show segment can be seen at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30134873#30134873.

Despite being one of the oldest real estate brokerages in the Telluride region, TREC is dedicated to remaining on the cutting edge of marketing, technology, and competition.  That’s why, when recently invited to join Leading Real Estate Companies of the World as Telluride’s sole affiliate, we jumped at the chance.

Initially formed in 1963 as a referral network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World has evolved into the leading business affiliation for independent, non-franchised real estate companies.  According to REAL Trends Top 500 survey, Leading Real Estate members led in total 2008 sales among the 500 highest-producing residential real estate firms in the U.S. who reported to the survey.  Representing over 555,000 closed transactions, Leading R.E. closed 130,000 more sales than its closest national franchise competitor.  Furthermore, Leading R.E. member offices were the market leaders in more markets than any other national brand.  As noted by Leading R.E. CEO Pam O’Connor, “even in these challenging economic times, our strong locally branded brokerage companies continue to set the pace.”

Of course, the luxury auction house affiliation model has proven to be highly successful, but we are now able to better serve our clients by expanding our reach even further through the addition of this new affiliation.  Leading Real Estate Companies’ website network receives more traffic than the network of our strongest local competitor, and is far-reaching with offices in 38 countries.  In a U.S. market that has been experiencing huge growth in sales to internat online health pharmacy ional buyers, aligning ourselves with brokerage firms in other countries is more important than ever.  The unique opportunity that has been offered to us to couple our Christie’s Great Estates affiliation with that of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World affords us the opportunity to offer our clients unparalleled marketing of TREC listings on a global scale, as well as a referral network that spans the world with over 170,000 sales associates and 40,000 broker-to-broker referrals annually.

As a non-franchised independent brokerage firm, our affiliations provide a competitive advantage  in the Telluride market with nationally franchised competitors.  We are thrilled to be rolling out our new affiliation and look forward to offering its benefits to our clients.  Look soon for all TREC listings to appear on www.RELOhomesearch.com and www.RELOdirect.com, both of which have exceptional web traffic.  Additionally, please speak with your TREC agent should you find yourself seeking assistance in buying or selling a home in another area—with affiliations with both Christie’s Great Estates and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, we will be able to match you with an agent to suit all of your needs.