Denver Travel Guide
Where to Stay in Denver
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.
Denver's hotel decision comes down to one question: how much of your trip is in the city, and how much is in the mountains? City-focused trips belong downtown, where you can walk to almost everything. Mountain-focused trips can trade walkability for easier highway access, or for a resort with its own entertainment. Here is how the neighborhoods break down.
Union Station and LoDo (best for first visits). The historic warehouse district around the restored 1914 station is the best all-round base. The A Line from the airport ends here, the Great Hall's bars and restaurants are on the doorstep, and Larimer Square, Coors Field and dozens of restaurants are within a few blocks. The Crawford Hotel, set inside Union Station itself with rooms inspired by golden-age rail travel, is our top pick for a first visit: there is no more Denver place to sleep. A block away, the Oxford Hotel, the city's oldest operating hotel, offers historic character, the famous Cruise Room bar, and somewhat lower rates. The trade-offs are weekend noise around the bars and game-day crowds near the ballpark.
Downtown and the 17th Street corridor (best for history and luxury). A few blocks southeast, downtown proper puts you between LoDo and Civic Center, close to the Capitol and the museums. The Brown Palace, a grand dame since 1892 with an eight-story atrium and afternoon tea, is the classic historic choice and ideal for special occasions. The Four Seasons, in a 45-story tower beside the performing arts complex, is the city's most complete luxury hotel, with large rooms, mountain views, a spa and a pool terrace. Both are walkable to the Civic Center museums and a short ride or MallRide trip from Union Station.
RiNo (best for style and nightlife). The River North Art District is Denver's creative heart, and the Ramble Hotel, its first hotel, is the place to stay if you want murals, breweries and food halls outside your door and one of the country's best cocktail bars, Death & Co, in the lobby. The A Line stops nearby at 38th and Blake, making the airport easy. The trade-off is distance from the Civic Center museums, which are a rideshare away.
Cherry Creek (best for a calm, polished stay). Southeast of downtown, Cherry Creek North is the city's upscale shopping and dining district, walkable and leafy, with the Cherry Creek Trail for runs along the water. Halcyon, a residential-feeling luxury hotel with record players in the rooms and a rooftop, suits couples, shoppers and repeat visitors. It is close to the Denver Botanic Gardens and Cheesman Park, but you will need rideshare for downtown sights.
Near the airport (best for families and holidays). Gaylord Rockies, a mountain-lodge-themed mega resort about six miles from the airport, is a world of its own, with a water park including a year-round heated outdoor pool, ten dining options, a spa and, from late November into January, the ice! holiday attraction. It is convenient for early flights and families who want resort amenities, and the airport rail line provides a straight ride downtown, but it is far from the city's neighborhoods, so plan on a car or rideshare for most outings.
Matching the hotel to the trip. First visit, long weekend: the Crawford for the experience, the Oxford for value. Anniversary or celebration: the Brown Palace for history and afternoon tea, or the Four Seasons for modern luxury and mountain views. Design lovers and cocktail fans: the Ramble in RiNo. Shopping weekend or quieter trip: Halcyon in Cherry Creek. Family holiday or airport-adjacent stay: Gaylord Rockies, especially when ice! is running. Mountain-heavy trip: any downtown hotel works, as I-25 and I-70 are easily reached, but book one with parking and consider a night in Estes Park before a national park day.
Practical notes. Downtown hotels charge for parking, often steeply, and several add nightly amenity fees, so factor these into comparisons. Rates rise around major conventions, big concerts and holiday weekends. Rooms facing busy streets or lively bars can be noisy; ask for a higher or quieter room. And wherever you stay, remember that the A Line to the airport starts at Union Station, which makes LoDo and RiNo the easiest places to arrive and depart.
A word on splitting the stay. Longer trips often work best in two parts: two or three nights in LoDo or downtown for the city, then a night in Estes Park before a national park day, or a night in Colorado Springs to catch Garden of the Gods at sunrise. Families sometimes reverse the pattern, starting with resort time at Gaylord Rockies after a long flight and finishing downtown. Either way, a split stay cuts driving time and lets you enjoy the mountains at their best hours rather than in traffic.
When to book. For summer weekends, major concerts at Red Rocks, the Great American Beer Festival in the fall and the holiday season, book several weeks or months ahead. Shoulder seasons and midwinter weekdays bring the best rates, and many downtown hotels run packages that bundle parking, breakfast or experiences such as afternoon tea or spa treatments. Before you book, map the two or three experiences that matter most to you — a Red Rocks show, a museum day, a national park morning — and pick the base that shortens the trip to those, not the one with the lowest nightly rate. In Denver, the time and parking you save usually outweigh the difference.