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Movie Set Hotel: 'The Prestige' and the Cliff House at Pikes Peak

Where: 306 Canon Ave [map], Manitou Springs, CO, United States, 80829

While we're not quite done with discovering what celebrities are staying in what hotels, we are taking a page from baby bro Jaunted's playbook this week by looking at hotels that have appeared in movies. However, we are eschewing the cliche movie hotels like those that appeared in"Pretty Woman" and "The Shining." Instead, we are looking at recent movies or little-known hotel cameos. If you happen to be a movie hotel buff, send us your fave appearances.

As we write this, "The Prestige" starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman (with Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine in supporting roles) raked in about $15 million in its opening weekend.

The perfect fare for magic freaks, the movie follows the intense and disturbing competition between two magicians in late 19th century London. (Animal lovers should probably skip this one as there's a lot of birds that "disappear.")

Without giving too much of the movie away, Jackman's character, Robert Angier, (the Great D'Anton) retreats to Colorado Springs in search of a magic secret. He stays there for an indefinite amount of time at a local hotel while he seeks out inventor Nikola Tesla (played by David Bowie believe it or not.)

Naturally, we wanted to see if there was a real-world counterpart to this movie hotel and abracadabra! we found the Cliff House at Pikes Peak where the hotel scenes were filmed.

The Cliff House actually has authentic history here as the website claims:

Built in the winter of 1873, the Cliff House at Pikes Peak has been open to guests longer than Colorado has been a state, compiling a fascinating history of its own over its 125 years.

The hotel survived two fires, the second which shut down the place for 16 years. However, it reopened in 1997 and today there are 55 rooms and suites that combine the Victorian flair of the late 1800s with modern technology like cable TV, WiFi and heated toilet seats.

But this isn't just some hotel in the mountains. Travel + Leisure voted it one of the Top 100 Hotels in the world in 2006 and the hotel has been the recipient of AAA's Four Diamond Award for the past four years.

You also won't need to pull money from behind your ear to afford this place. Studios start at $119 while deluxe suites start at $199.

Related Stories:
· Cliff House reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Pikes Peak Prestige [KRDOTV]