Montrose has long been the town you pass through on the way to other Colorado adventures. It’s the airport before Telluride, the turnoff before the Black Canyon, and the last stop for gas before the mountains close in. But lately, there’s a reason to linger, and The Rathbone Hotel & Parlor Bar is a big part of why.
Inside the historic K.P. Building on Cascade Avenue, the boutique hotel brings new energy to downtown Montrose. The structure was built in 1909 by the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization that played a major role in the town’s early development. Today, the building has been thoughtfully reimagined as a 17-room stay, reshaped for modern travelers from a century-old gathering place.
Owner and operator Clay Bales first arrived in Montrose while working for a Denver-based hospitality company and quickly recognized an opportunity. “The demand is real,” he says. “People want things with a little more design, a little more taste.” What Montrose lacked at the time wasn’t visitors but a downtown that invited them to stay.
When Clay first stepped inside the building, it was barely standing. “It had burned from the inside down,” he recalls. “There was no roof on it. It was literally four walls that were crumbling.” Rather than demolish the ruin, Clay and co-owner Jason Raible stabilized the historic exterior and built an entirely new structure within the shell, preserving the building’s storied presence while quietly bringing everything behind the scenes up to modern-day standards. The meticulous restoration has since earned multiple preservation awards, and the property is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Inside, the hotel feels grounded and refined. Tall windows and high ceilings hint at the building’s past life, while the guest rooms feel bright and breathable, with natural light pouring in and clean, contemporary furnishings that create a calm, uncluttered place to land. Each room also includes a portrait of Justus Rathbone, founder of the Knights of Pythias, reimagined by Western artist Connor Liljestrom as a playful tribute to the man who set the whole story in motion.
Downstairs, the Parlor Bar serves as the social heart of the property. Mornings begin with locally roasted coffee, quiche, and pastries. By evening, the space shifts into cocktail mode, with seasonal drinks and a low-lit, convivial atmosphere. Even check-in happens here.
“It was done intentionally,” Clay says of skipping the traditional front desk. Instead, guests arrive at the bar, where the welcome is immediate, and the tone of the stay is set. The arrangement gives the space an Old West saloon feel, when travelers once checked in for a room and a drink in the same place. “A real person is going to be standing there, ready to welcome you,” he says, often with a glass of champagne or a cocktail to start the visit.
That sense of hospitality extends beyond the hotel itself. When the Rathbone opened in 2024, downtown Montrose had only a handful of businesses. Since then, restaurants, cafés, and shops have begun filling in around it, transforming Cascade Avenue into a walkable stretch with real momentum. “We wanted to create a sense of place,” Clay notes. “Somewhere people could come, have a drink, meet someone, and feel connected to the town.”
For Front Range travelers craving a change of pace, Montrose offers a quieter version of Colorado. Days might begin with coffee at the Parlor before heading out to nearby orchards and roadside farm stands selling Olathe sweet corn and peaches, or to trailheads where you might not see another person all day. A block away, the Soak Day Spa offers red-light therapy and sensory-deprivation floats.
The Rathbone makes an easy home base for it all, arranging rental cars for canyon drives, vineyard visits, or wherever the day leads.
That sense of ease is exactly the point. As Clay puts it, the experience here is simple: “No lift lines, no traffic lines, just the ability to enjoy the best that Colorado has to offer.”
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