Urban and rural, mountain and prairie, Front Range and Western Slope – Colorado has no shortage of top-notch accommodations with a strong sense of place.

Colorado’s reputation as a premier destination has only increased in the decades since movie stars and moguls made their mark on towns like Aspen and Telluride.

So, what does luxury look like across the state? Below we showcase seven of the state’s top hotel suites, from those whose nightly rates rival monthly mortgage payments to spots where opulence is semi-accessible. Though not a definitive list of every suite in the state, it’s a glimpse at how the other half lives – and how you can, too.

 

Aspen

Jerome B. Wheeler Presidential Suite, Hotel Jerome

Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection has long been referred to as “Aspen’s living room” by locals and travelers alike. Known to be an exclusive playground for celebrities, it has become increasingly popular with guests in
the tech industry and performing arts.

“There is no better town that I know of that is so small, so naturally beautiful and so culturally rich,” General Manager Patrick Davila said. Jerome’s reputation as the social center of Aspen has only grown with these demographic shifts. This also extends to the property’s diverse suite offerings, including the suite in highest demand: The Jerome B. Wheeler Presidential Suite, which overlooks Aspen Mountain Ski Resort’s namesake peak.

But it’s not the photo-ready panorama and sumptuousness of the suite (or the corresponding costs, as rack rates can be upwards of $7,500 a night in peak season) that is most intriguing at Hotel Jerome – it’s how guests use the space. A growing number of presidential guests use the Wheeler Room, the third floor’s antique hardwood dining room, as an exclusive entertaining space. Owing especially to the Jerome’s central location, these pop-in patrons eschew overnight accommodations and instead ask the property to cultivate custom events lasting only a few hours at a time.

Hotel staff delights in these “unique, nimble and unprescribed” experiences for all guests. Davila arranged sushi omakase flown in from New York City and a select tasting of Colorado whiskeys with its own Certified Whiskey Specialist. There are many perks to booking the Presidential Suite as a party spot, but perhaps the best is that hosts can leave whenever they want, leaving the cleanup to someone else.

The Wheeler’s south-facing living room windows overlook Aspen Mountain – sometimes called “Ajax” – centers both hotel and party guests alike. From this vantage point, the natural beauty merges with Hotel  Jerome’s energy and the rich music, arts and culinary scenes that extend into the town beyond.

 

Denver

Presidential Suite, Halcyon

Potential employees are always asked one question in their interviews: “On a scale of 1-10, how weird do you think you are and why?” To ensure staff members can challenge themselves to give each guest a memorable experience, the hotel employs this “weird” interview style at the Halcyon Hotel in Cherry Creek.

Despite these techniques, the Halcyon experience is anything but weird. The Presidential Suite – with private street level entry, a vast outdoor patio complete with a telescope for stargazing and a 150-square-foot shower – is often what seals the deal for the independent thinkers who opt for this boutique hotel’s suite life. Collaborations with arts and culture venues like Denver Botanic Gardens mean guests not only get complimentary passes, but they also might run into the performers who play at the Gardens’ summer concert series and also stay at Halcyon.

Those musicians often stay in the Presidential Suite, which can be reconfigured to add a second and third bedroom and includes a secret interior entrance and exit as well as a semi-private elevator.

The most memorable suite guests aren’t the national touring acts or the celebrities who have hosted baby showers, but the non-famous Denver couple who approached the hotel about helping them host a secret wedding. The couple, who had been together for years, set up a formal, black tie cocktail party for both sides of their family. Their guests assumed that they were about to witness a long-awaited proposal and buzzed with excitement.

To cover the true meaning behind the party, Halcyon staff covered the suite’s windows with vinyl decals to make them look like stained glass and set up an area for photographs. Guests arrived and mingled inside, unaware that hiding behind the vinyl were chairs and an altar set up on the near 600-square-foot outdoor terrace. A staff member even got ordained to marry the couple. The wedding was a surprise worth the wait.

“We get paid to make people happy,” said Clinton Heil, general manager of hotel operations.

“As long as we’re not breaking the law and it’s ethically, morally, okay, it’s never a ‘no.’ ”

 

Vail

Blue Sky Presidential Suite, Grand Hyatt Vail

When Kym Nunan-Squier decided to upgrade a repeat guest to the Blue Sky Presidential Suite at Grand Hyatt Vail, she didn’t think much beyond the fact that the room was available and this was the fifth time the man and his son were coming to ski over the 2023-2024 ski season.

What she couldn’t have known was that the man was having a horrible week: He was in the midst of a stressful remodel and his father had just died. “He went through this laundry list of terrible things,” Nunan-Squier said. Every time she saw him after, she noticed how his body language had shifted, reminding her of Maya Angelou’s quote about how people may forget what you say, “but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

There are a lot of memories attached to the Blue Sky, especially since it’s booked as often by families for their reunions as it is by couples who use the room to get ready on their wedding days. The Blue Sky is large but intimate, known for great photography lighting and two balconies for capturing life-changing moments. There’s a tub that Nunan-Squier described as “made to get lost in”: guests can slide into the bath and live as royalty.

Nunan-Squier will never forget one memorable bride who came to the lobby carrying her gown. Tears streamed down her face as she showed the security tag still attached to the dress that had been shipped all the way from the East Coast. Staff tried magnets and many internet suggestions, but the tag only successfully detached after an engineer hit it with a hammer, leaving a hole in the dress. Nunan-Squier went up to the room with her sewing kit to hand-stitch the hole closed, leaving none the wiser and making yet another memory in the Blue Sky.

 

Colorado Springs

The Penrose Suite, The Broadmoor

“Ms. Crawford is a star and should be treated as such,” the telegram read at the end of the first paragraph. It was the early 1960s and Joan Crawford, winner of the 1946 Best Actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce, was coming for a two-day stay in the Penrose Suite. Her management had wired a list of requests for the hotel, such as painting the suite a specific shade of white. “Ms. Crawford is a star and should be treated as such,” the management note stated a second time. Vodka should be placed in every room so her ice cubes might never run dry, because, as the final line also repeated, “Ms. Crawford is a star and should be treated as such.”

Decades later, The Broadmoor continues to serve celebrities, seated and past U.S. Presidents and other dignitaries alongside families and foreign tourists. Memory and legacy are part of the allure, said Resident Manager Ann Alba, who first started at the property as a banquet server 37 years ago. The Joan Crawford story has always stuck with Alba, who continues to do “whatever is required, so long as it isn’t illegal, immoral or life-threatening.”

From arrival to departure, Alba pays attention to her guests and finds ways to make each visit special. One family has stayed in the Penrose for the past five generations every summer. “People get attached to these suites, newer or older,” Alba said. “No matter what we build and how bright and shiny that something is, you cannot pull them from the main suites and the Penrose in particular.”

The suite is named for co-founder Julie Penrose, who made this her residence from 1944 until 1957. Together with husband Spencer, the Penroses made their mark on Colorado Springs and beyond. The Pikes Peak Highway, Penrose Memorial Hospital, El Pomar Foundation and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are among their many legacies that continue to shape modern day Colorado. Though the Penroses knew The Broadmoor was something special when they opened it in June 1918, they might not have realized that 106 years later it would continue to attract family generations and Hollywood royalty.

 

Denver

Premier One-Bedroom Suite, Four Seasons

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Denver and EDGE Restaurant & Bar are both among the highest-rated in their respective categories. Yet families are often the focus of the brand’s legendary service and offerings at the hotel: Children’s menus are standard for the 24-hour in-room dining, and the hotel provides complimentary kid-friendly snacks and tents for indoor “glamping” adventures.

The Premier One-Bedroom Suite is the favorite among families, especially for small gatherings and birthday celebrations. Locals like to host cake and pizza, enjoy the third-floor heated pool and book their teens for pedicures at the spa. Beyond the roomy collective spaces or the extra rollaway bed the staff adds for overnight guests, the suite also offers unobstructed views of the Denver skyline and the Rocky Mountains beyond. These vistas are visible from every room – even the bathroom.

“One of my favorite guests was a family who was doing a cross-country road trip,” said Hotel Manager Tim Churchmack, who remembered how the family had initially only booked a single night. After their arrival – and using amenities like the rooftop pool terrace and child-sized bathrobes – they extended their stay into five nights and explored more of Colorado via day trips to the mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park.

“A few weeks later, on their way back home, they called us and said instead of staying south for the return drive, they re-routed to Denver so they could have a few more nights!” Churchmack said. Churchmack and his team focus on wowing all guests, including the littlest luxury travelers.

 

Vail

Vail Mountain Suite, Sonnenalp Hotel

“Gemütlichkeit means a feeling of warmth and welcome,” said Victor Rossi, who has spent the past 24 years as Chief Concierge at Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail. This singular German word “sums up what we try to convey every time a guest walks in the door,” Rossi said.

This philosophy makes perfect sense for a property where the European atmosphere intentionally matches the aesthetic of Vail Village. Repeat guests often tell Rossi that he feels like a member of their extended family. This intimacy also includes direct access to the hotel’s owner, whose office is located off the main lobby. Even celebrities like the actor Jim Carrey, who checked in under the pseudonym “Johnny Pineapple,” was eventually asked whether he’d like to be referred to as “Johnny” instead of “Mr. Pineapple.”

Of the 127 accommodations at Sonnenalp – “sun on the mountain” in German – 112 are suites, nearly all rooms named for nearby locales like Bald Mountain, Castle Peak and Gore Creek.

But it’s the Vail Mountain Suite, which faces the namesake mountain, that is Rossi’s favorite: “If you were going to design your own two-bedroom apartment, you’d want it to be like this.” Natural light streams into the living room, which was built for entertaining around the fireplace. The German-style patio doors open completely for outdoor access or partially to let in only the fresh air. The heated marble floors are especially beloved in the winter months.

Sonnenalp guests engage the ski concierge service in winter to have rentals brought directly to them. The popular snowshoe tours are offered thanks to a special-use permit granted by the U.S. Forest Service. But Rossi’s favorite season is summer because of his own affinity for hiking and mountain biking and the “sheer diversity of activities available,” both on the property and in the Vail Valley beyond.

The goal is for guests to find Gemütlichkeit, no matter the time of year.

 

Dunton

Well House Cabin at Dunton Hot Springs

Nestled in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains is a cluster of hand-hewn, historic and now-luxurious log cabins in the 1885 mining ghost town of Dunton Hot Springs. 

Located a little more than an hour’s drive from Telluride, Dunton attracts celebrity travelers. The secluded location charmed Netflix series Emily in Paris actress Lily Collins (daughter of Genesis lead singer Phil). It’s here that she wed The One I Love director Charlie McDowell (son of award-winning actors Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell) in 2021. Dunton likewise appealed to adventurous women who arrived by cross-country skiing.

The couple that runs Dunton, Edoardo and Christina Rossi, is experienced in hosting remote destinations. Christina’s favorite guest stories involve families, like the parents from Mexico whose daughter had never seen snow.

“The dad called (and continued calling often) prior to their visit, asking if we had snow, if there would be snow, could we guarantee snow,” said Rossi, who began to get nervous as the family’s arrival approached, and the wet, white stuff was nowhere to be found. The family arrived late in the afternoon and, luckily, when they awoke the next morning, a massive snowstorm had moved in overnight. Rossi awoke to find the family out on the deck of the saloon “shoveling snow because they were just so excited to see it!”

The most requested cabin at the former Dolores County ghost town is Well House, 450 square feet that accommodate two. That’s because a good portion of the cabin includes an indoor hot spring, just steps from the bed, with a mountain view out the windows. Guests simply turn the valve handle and hot spring water pours directly into the large stone tub.

Rustic luxury plus private hot springs? Now that’s the suite life.