Motel websites built for Ouray

Ouray sits at the bottom of a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, walls rising on nearly every side — which is why they call it the Switzerland of America. The town-owned hot springs pool steams at the north end, waterfalls hang in the cliffs above the streets, and the Million Dollar Highway (US 550) climbs south over the passes toward Silverton on one of the most dramatic drives in the country. In winter, the Ouray Ice Park draws climbers from around the world to its frozen routes.

It's a small town with an outsized draw and a genuinely four-season calendar: jeeping and hiking summers, golden-aspen falls, ice-climbing winters, and shoulder soaks in the hot springs. The lodging is almost entirely independent — historic motels, small inns, and lodges — competing for a limited number of rooms in a place people plan trips around.

With rooms scarce and the scenery doing the selling, the website's job is to be found and to book. It has to rank for the San Juan searches, show the canyon and the springs honestly, and take the reservation directly — because an Ouray room is too valuable to give a platform a cut.