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Hotel Desserts / Hotel Giveaways / DoubleTree / Hilton / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

Colorado Springs Getting A Taste Of DoubleTree's Cookies Today

Where: 1775 E Cheyenne Mountain Blvd [map], Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80906

Remember that DoubleTree cookie tour we told you about in May? Since kicking off in New York, the dessert truck has made its way across nineteen states in the country, and today, they roll into downtown Colorado Springs, CO. We figured you could use a little pick-me-up to get you through the end of the week. And free cookies definitely have that uplifting quality to them!

For those who live in the area, prepare to get your cookie around 2:30pm this afternoon. The CAREavan will show up at the corner of Tejon St and Colorado Ave, about five miles north of the DoubleTree by Hilton Colorado Springs. Everyone is entitled to a free cookie—no singing or Cookie Man dancing necessary. Cookies will be available until 5:30pm, at which point you should go find yourself a proper meal.

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Hotels for Teens / Teen Lounges / Family Friendly Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Westin Hotels / → All Tags

It's Official: Teens Have Cooler Hotel Lounges Than Grown-Ups

Where: 126 Riverfront Lane [map], Avon , CO, United States, 81620

NOMG. Teens totally have it way better than adults at hotels these days. The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas kicked off the teen lounge trend with their teens-only nightclub, Crush, followed by the JW Starr Pass in Tucson with their teen lounge, Blur. Now, teens vacationing in Colorado have their own place to chill away from the lame adults.

Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain will launch 7430, a new program for teenagers ages 12 to 16 on July 1.

The program offers teens a parent- and little-kid-free zone where they can hang out. The centerpiece of it is the Whitewater Lounge, where for $20-a-day cover charge they can play video games on the Xbox Kinect system, watch a movie or go online on one of the computers.

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Ski Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Capella Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags

Double Dose of Telluride Ski-and-Stay Deals

Where: 568 Mountain Village Blvd. [map], Telluride, CO, United States, 81435

Presidents Day may have come and gone, but ski season is far from over, at least out west. Telluride, for example, has more than five feet on the ground—and two hotels are offering 50 percent off a second room to encourage group ski trips.

First up, the Hotel Madeline, the former Capella Telluride property that was handed over to West Paces Hotel Group earlier this season. (Service, at least per TripAdvisor, hasn't suffered.) The 84 guest rooms start at $250 a night, and a second room is free if you book at least two nights. Split the cost over a foursome, and you're looking at 50 percent off.

The deal also extends to the Inn at Lost Creek, a 32-suite boutique next door, where rooms have fireplaces, kitchens, balconies, jetted tubs and washer/dryers. Again, the second room is free when you book at least two nights. The "Spring Ski Fling" offer is good for stays through June 1.

[Photo: Inn at Lost Creek/Facebook]

Haunted Hotels / Hotel Ghosts / Halloween Hotels / Estes Park Hotels / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

The Stanley Hotel is a Shining Example of A Good Ghost Tour

Where: 333 Wonderview Ave [map], Estes Park, CO, United States, 80517

With Halloween coming up there was one place we had to go during our stay in Denver last week: the Stanley Hotel up in Estes Park.

The Stanley, of course, is where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining and is known as one of the most haunted hotels in America. Obviously, we took the ghost tour – they run on the hour and cost $15. You can add in a tour of the haunted Concert Hall for $5 but they only run on certain days.

You definitely get bang for your buck, even if you don’t see any spooks – our tour ran for two hours thanks to our guide, Kevin, who was one of the most sweetly enthusiastic tour guides we’ve had before. He was funny, interesting and even knew how to deal with some annoying brats who kept saying like a broken record “that’s not scary” until we were itching to show them what is scary.

What surprised us most was that it wasn’t a gratuitously spooky ghost tour – about half of it was taken up with genuine hotel history (FO Stanley and his brother, who built the hotel, also invented the first hybrid car, made violins and all sorts – clever gents).

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Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Park Hyatt Hotels / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

A Colorado Wildflower Grows at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek (And You Can Drink It)

Where: 136 East Thomas Place [map], Avon, CO, United States, 81620

Who's thirsty? It's time for another installment of our Summer Cocktails series. All summer long we'll profile fun new summer drinks served at hotels around the world. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!

Do you like flowers? We think they're pretty and all, but they're not at the top of our list of things to notice. We're not even sure that we need flowers in our cocktails, as is the current mixology trend. But the Colorado Wildflower Cocktail, served at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek looks just lovely so we put our petal bias aside for a moment to find out what's in it.

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Family Friendly Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Westin Hotels / Westin Kids Clubs / → All Tags

The Westin Riverfront Has a Kids Club That Even We Want to Join

Where: 126 Riverfront Lane [map], Avon, CO, United States, 81620

Westin Kids Club

It's hard for parents to keep the kids occupied during the winter, when they're cooped up inside. But kiddies can enjoy the great, cold outdoors with the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa's Mini Mountaineer package.

Don't worry, there's no actual mountaineering going on. The hotel's playing off of its location at the base of the Beaver Creek Mountain. Your 6-year-old won't get a harness and helmet and get sent down a mountain for some rappelling. Instead, the fam will get a two-bedroom condominium and a s'mores kit delivered to the room upon arrival.

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Viceroy Hotels / Ski Hotels / Snowmass Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Luxury Resorts / → All Tags

Viceroy Snowmass Bumps Trance Music as You Ski-In, Ski-Out

Now that ski season has hit its peak (very punny, we know), it's the perfect time to check in with the Viceroy Snowmass to see if the resort is living up to its name.

A handful of TripAdvisor readers have chimed in with reviews, all of which praise its service, chic quotient, and over-the-top luxury amenities. We're hearing a lot of what we expected: gourmet food, cool bath fixtures, and obsessively clean—it is a Viceroy, after all—but we were surprised to hear one user describe it as having an "LA style 'boutique' feeling."

Just how "LA" is the Viceroy? So La-La that there's "[t]rance music...piped in EVERYWHERE you go." That's wildly different than the Overlook Hotel-esque ski resorts we're used to staying at.

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Holiday Cocktails / Holiday Hotels / Colorado Hotels / Hotel Bars / → All Tags

The Holidays Are Here, Let's Celebrate With Some Hotel Cocktail Cheer

Where: 1 Lake Avenue [map], Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80906

You know how much we love our cocktails here at HotelChatter. We'll find any reason to celebrate with a cocktail and fortunately for us (but not for our liver), hotels feel the same way. We've slurped down Summer Cocktails and Halloween Cocktails and now we're ready for the main event, Holiday Cocktails. We'll be taking a look at these concoctions all season long. If you have a suggestion, don't hold out on us. (Photos, recipes and prices are helpful too!)

The weather outside is (nearly) frightful, but indulging in a warm cocktail is always delightful. The Summit at The Broadmoor is getting into a bone-warming state of mind their Hot Holiday Cider. With good reason, too – overnight temperatures in Colorado Springs have been dipping into the teens. Brr....

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LEED Hotels / Hotel Packages / Hotel Deals / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

Hotels Keep Gettting Greener: The Westin Riverfront Takes the LEED

Where: 26 Riverfront Ln [map], Avon, CO, United States, 81620

Green hotel news has been taking the LEED (sorry, we couldn't resist the pun) on HotelChatter lately, but don't tab this eco-friendly movement as a passing trend. Most hotels are jumping on the bandwagon by, at the very least, introducing organic linens and natural bathroom amenities into suites. But more ambitious, environmentally-aware hoteliers and conglomerates are enacting full-scale green overhauls. From stem to stern, or penthouse to lobby, rather, we're seeing more hotels take the necessary steps toward meeting critical green standards.

Colorado's Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, a hotel nestled among nature's mountains and trees, recently announced that they've earned Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, making them one of only nine hotels in the country to carry the title.

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Hotel Deals / Colorado Hotels / Ski Resorts / → All Tags

Naughty or Nice, It's Christmas in July in Vail Valley

Where: 126 Riverfront Ln. [map], Avon, CO, United States, 81620

We’ll admit we’ve never totally gotten behind the whole “Christmas in July” concept, but we may have to change our tune. Our newfound festive spirit comes courtesy of Vail Valley’s new Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, whose Christmas in July promo offers half-price rates for November and December stays that are booked this month.

Perched at the base of Beaver Creek, the typically-pricey Westin Riverfront’s half-off prices are pretty good for ski season, starting at $149 for studio suites, $219 for one-bedroom condos, $329 for two-bedroom condos, and $549 for three-bedroom condos. All options feature fireplaces, living areas, and fully stocked kitchens. Rates must be booked by the end of July and are available for visits between Nov. 20 and Dec. 25, 2009.

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Hotel Contests / Ski Hotels / Mountain Hotels / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

Lucky Shutterbugs Can Win an Inn in Leadville, CO

Where: 127 E. 8th Street [map], Leadville, CO, United States, 80461

Okay, this is one of the wackier promotions we’ve heard of in awhile. The Leadville Inn is having a photography contest to give itself away. In a difficult economic market, owners Tracey Lauritzen and Dan Houtchens have gotten creative in their efforts to unload the property in an attempt to ultimately travel to the high-altitude town.

Here’s how it works: Snap a pretty picture (it looks like it can be a photo of anything, but no nudie shots, please!) and enter it into the contest by August 31st, 2009 (midnight Mountain Time) with an entry fee of $275. Contest organizers are only accepting 3000 entries and you must at least be 18 years old as of the date of entry. There is a whole lot of legalese on the online contest page, but it all looks legit, so give it a quick gander before you enter. Entries will be evaluated by three independent judges.

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Thanksgiving Hotels / Boulder Hotels / Colorado Hotels / → All Tags

Turkey Day at The St. Julien in Boulder

Where: 900 Walnut St. [map], Boulder, CO, United States, 80302

The St. Julien Hotel in Boulder recently got a shout-out from Conde Nast Traveler as the only hotel in Colorado to make it on the mag's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards for the Top 100 U.S. Hotels. Pretty impressive, considering all those richie rich hotels in Aspen.

If you want to spend Turkey Day out West, the hotel is putting together a Thanksgiving Day Buffet that is $39.95 for adults and $19.95 for children between the ages of three and 12. Seatings are available between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. Expect turkey goodness, sweet and garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables and alcohol in the form of champagne, mimosas and bellinis. Room rates start at $239 a night.