What other reviewers have said about Muscatel Flats is true. So why not five stars? A minor annoyance, explained below—it mattered to me; it might not to you, depending on when you visit and how your plan your daytime activities.

The unit, a condo on the top floor of a little complex beside the Telluride post office, is comfortable, well maintained and well appointed. My spouse and I cooked in, for example, two of the nights we stayed here and found all the kitchen gear we needed for a basic meal. The unit is also walking distance from pretty much anything you need in town (except the Telluride Brewing Co., which is a few miles away in a little industrial park between Telluride and Mountain Village). And the views from its windows and back deck are a salve for the soul. The complex sits beside the San Miguel River, and there’s a town park on the opposite bank. So the unit’s many windows have unobstructed sight lines to the mountains.

What was the problem? We found the unit noisy in the afternoon. A stretch of the riverbank just outside the unit—I’d be surprised if it’s 100 feet away—seems to serve as a local swimming hole. The three days we stayed here, groups gathered by the river each afternoon, and hubbub ensued. One day, it was teens, shouting and shrieking. The next, it was families with kids, who were quieter than the teens, but they brought their dogs, which weren’t. The third day wasn’t as bad, though still too noisy to nap, which we like to do in the afternoon after we’ve returned from hiking or biking. If you’ll be out all afternoon, you’ll have no worries—the unit was quiet in the morning, and in the evening, it gets a little noise from the ball fields in the park, but nothing bothersome.

If you don’t mind some (summer) noise, I suspect you’ll like this place. Sitting on the deck in the morning with a coffee and taking it the view will likely make you forget about your worries at home. We'd rent it again (though I'd make sure to bring earplugs).