Colorado
Denver
Denver is the rare big city where the mountains are part of the itinerary rather than the backdrop: a mile-high downtown with a gold-domed Capitol, a restored 1914 rail station that became the city's living room, a free-to-roam mural district, and a museum row that runs from Daniel Libeskind's titanium shards to dinosaur halls with the Front Range framed in the windows. Fifteen miles west, Red Rocks puts a concert stage between two 300-foot sandstone monoliths; ninety minutes north, Rocky Mountain National Park climbs past treeline. This guide books the city properly — Red Rocks by day and by night, Meow Wolf's multiverse, the Denver Art Museum and the Nature and Science museum, Coors Field behind the scenes, the free Capitol dome climb and the US Mint tour — then sends you out on the day trips that make Denver Denver: Golden and the Coors brewery, Garden of the Gods, and the national park. And it matches the hotel to the trip, from Union Station's sleeper-car rooms to the Brown Palace's 1892 atrium, because in a city where you will be up early chasing mountain light, where you sleep is strategy.
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Hotels
Where to Stay
The Crawford Hotel
Union Station / LoDo
Rooms on the upper floors of Denver Union Station, styled after the golden age of rail — Pullman sleeper-inspired rooms, art deco touches, and the Great Hall's bars and restaurants waiting downstairs.
The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
Downtown / 17th Street
Denver's grand dame since 1892 — a triangular sandstone landmark around an eight-story atrium, afternoon tea beneath stained glass, its own artesian well, and a century of presidents and rock stars in the guest book.
Four Seasons Hotel Denver
Downtown / Theater District
Big, quiet rooms high in a 45-story downtown tower with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the Rockies, polished Four Seasons service, a spa and pool deck — the city's most complete luxury hotel.
The Oxford Hotel
LoDo
Denver's oldest operating hotel, a block from Union Station, with 80 art-filled rooms, the art deco Cruise Room bar that opened after Prohibition, and a spa and gym downstairs.
The Ramble Hotel
RiNo Art District
RiNo's first hotel and still its best — 50 residential-feeling rooms above Death & Co's celebrated Denver bar, independent and design-led, with murals and breweries at the door.
Halcyon, a hotel in Cherry Creek
Cherry Creek North
A relaxed, residential-feeling luxury hotel in walkable Cherry Creek North — 154 rooms, a rooftop, record players in the rooms, and the city's best shopping and dining blocks around it.
Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center
Aurora / Near DEN Airport
A self-contained mountain-lodge mega-resort six miles from the airport — a three-acre water park with a year-round heated pool, ten places to eat and drink, a spa, and the ice! holiday spectacular from late November.
The Source Hotel
RiNo Art District
RiNo's design hotel, built from an 1870s iron foundry on Brighton Boulevard, with a rooftop plunge pool facing the mountains, a rooftop restaurant and two market halls of food and makers downstairs, all in the middle of Denver's brewery district.
The Rally Hotel at McGregor Square
LoDo / McGregor Square
A baseball-themed hotel across the street from Coors Field in the McGregor Square development, with Rockies-purple design touches, a rooftop pool deck with a bar and stadium views, and a giant outdoor screen on the plaza below.
The Ritz-Carlton Denver
Downtown / Theatre District
Downtown Denver's classic luxury address, with large rooms, a Club Level, a full-service spa open to the public and ELWAY'S Downtown steakhouse in the lobby, a short walk from the Convention Center and the theatre district.
The Art Hotel Denver, Curio Collection by Hilton
Golden Triangle Museum District
A gallery you can sleep in, across Broadway from History Colorado and steps from the Denver Art Museum: works by Oldenburg, Emin, Ruscha and LeWitt in the public spaces and every room, plus a terrace restaurant and lounge.
Thompson Denver
LoDo
A stylish eleven-story Hyatt boutique in LoDo with a mountain-chalet-meets-midcentury look, a two-story lobby fireplace, French brasserie Chez Maggy and cocktail bar Bar M, a few blocks from Union Station.
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Denver
Downtown
A playful, pet-loving Kimpton on Champa Street downtown, with free red bikes to borrow, a well-loved Italian restaurant downstairs, and Union Station, the Performing Arts Complex and LoDo all within walking distance.
Hotel Boulderado
Downtown Boulder
Boulder's grand 1909 hotel, a block from Pearl Street, with a stained-glass lobby ceiling, an original Otis elevator still in service, Victorian and modern rooms, and a basement speakeasy-style bar.
The Curtis Denver, a DoubleTree by Hilton
Theatre District / Downtown
Downtown's most playful hotel, opposite the Denver Performing Arts Complex: thirteen pop-culture-themed floors, a retro lobby with board games, a martini bar, and a fresh 2026 makeover, at DoubleTree prices.
Attractions & Tours
What to Do
Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance
Denver's 130-year-old zoo in the heart of City Park, now the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance: lions on Predator Ridge, a ten-acre Asian habitat complex, the walk-through Down Under, newly arrived white rhinos and, in winter, the three-million-bulb Zoo Lights.
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
Free-roaming bison, deer, raptors and prairie dogs on fifteen thousand acres of restored prairie, twenty minutes from downtown: a former wartime manufacturing site turned into one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the country.
Travel Guides
Plan It Properly
Denver in Three Days: Union Station, Red Rocks & the Rockies
The itinerary that balances city and mountains — a LoDo-and-museums day, a RiNo-and-Meow Wolf day with Red Rocks at sunset, and a full mountain day, plus the reservations to lock in first.
First Time in Denver: Altitude, Getting Around & What Not to Miss
The practical primer — how the altitude really affects visitors, the airport train, getting around without a car, sun and weather, tickets to book, and the free sights that are better than the paid ones.
Where to Stay in Denver: LoDo, Downtown, RiNo, Cherry Creek or the Airport
The base decision by trip type — Union Station and LoDo for first visits, downtown for history and luxury, RiNo for style, Cherry Creek for calm, and the airport resort for families, with this guide's seven hotels placed.
Eating and Drinking in Denver: Green Chile, Food Halls & the Craft Beer Capital
What to eat and where to drink — Colorado green chile, bison and lamb, the food halls that make grazing easy, Denver's beer story from Coors to the brewpub boom, and the cocktail bars worth a detour.
Denver in Winter: Holiday Lights, Sunny Days & Mountain Road Realities
When to go and what to expect from November to March — sunny city days, holiday light shows, what closes in the mountains, traction laws and ski traffic, and the indoor and outdoor plan that makes winter one of Denver's best seasons.
The Best Mountain Day Trips from Denver: Red Rocks, Golden, Garden of the Gods & Rocky Mountain National Park
How to choose and plan a day in the foothills or the high country — drive times, seasons, reservations, altitude and road tips, and how to pair each trip with the right stops along the way.