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Another Day, Another Hotel Sets a Cougar Trap

Where: 709 E. Durant Ave. [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Hmm. As if we didn’t make fun of it enough the first time around, the “cougar den” has struck again. First Hotel Diva in San Francisco set a cougar trap — a “Cougar Contest” asking potential guests to explain why they belong in the hotel’s cougar den. Now Aspen’s Sky Hotel has released a “Cougar Den Women’s Getaway Package.”

Of course, Sky Hotel is an animal-print-loving Kimpton property, so we suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. The package includes a minimum of two rooms plus a “Girl’s Night Out” welcome basket (we shudder to think of its contents) plus a reserved Cougar Den table in loungey 39 Degrees, including two appetizers and one bottle for bottle service.

The offer is available Nov. 25 through April 11, with rates starting from $329 a night.

Tags: Hotel Packages / Aspen Hotels / Hotel Parties / Thanksgiving Hotels / → All Tags

Aspen's Hotel Jerome Turns 120 in Grand 1889 Style

Where: 330 E Main St [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

This Thanksgiving eve, Aspen ski bunnies have a little extra to be thankful about—the 120th birthday of Hotel Jerome, A RockResort. Aspen’s first ski weekend of the season will host a big birthday bash for the local landmark, which includes a “120th Anniversary Celebration” package.

Available Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 25–29), the package includes a four-night stay in a junior suite, two full-day ski lift tickets for two, two tickets to Hotel Jerome’s 120th Anniversary gala on Wednesday evening, Thanksgiving dinner for two, and a 50-minute massage per person at the Aspen Club and Spa.

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Tags: Hotel Renovations / Aspen Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags

The Little Nell Has Closed For Not-So-Little Renovations

Where: 675 E. Durant Avenue [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

What the remodeled rooms at The Little Nell will look like.

Fancy a fall getaway to the posh Little Nell Hotel in Apsen with your lover? We hate to break it to you but you'll have to wait until December. The hotel has closed down for an $18 million renovations of its guestrooms. But it should be well worth the wait.

Renowned residential designer Holly Hunt will be in charge of freshening up The Little Nell's look. When all is said and done on December 1, the hotel should have a plethora of high-tech toys for guests, as well as the "lap of luxury" comfort and style that you expect from TLN.

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Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Aspen Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Celebrity Chefs / → All Tags

Meet Your (Charcuterie) Maker: Ryan Hardy of Montagna at The Little Nell

Where: 675 E. Durant Avenue [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

2009 James Beard Best Chef Southwest Award finalist Executive Chef Ryan Hardy oversees Montagna inside the pride and joy of Aspen’s WASP-y jet set, The Little Nell. Two years ago, Hardy and his business partner Michael Waters purchased a 15-acre sustainable farm in Crawford, a small town in Western Colorado about half way between Aspen and Telluride. They named the 1870 homestead Rendezvous Organic Farm and now Hardy supplies Montagna's vegetables, eggs, heritage pigs, and cage-free chickens. He also makes his own cheese.

The menu at Montagna places emphasis on the seasonality of ingredients, but it’s Hardy’s homemade charcuterie that sends carnivores into a cured meat frenzy.

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Tags: Facebook / Aspen Hotels / Ski Hotels / Kimpton Hotels / → All Tags

Aspen's Sky Hotel Dishes Out Deals For Snowbird Facebook Fans

Where: 709 E. Durant Ave. [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

The words “Aspen” and “affordable” typically don’t have any business sharing the same sentence, but Kimpton's Sky Hotel is doing its part to make this swank resort town slightly more affordable for its Facebook fans with last-minute hotel deals.

Dubbed "the sexiest ski lodge in North America" by Playboy magazine, this chic Kimpton property has racked up nearly 200 “friends” within days of its initial Facebook post. Although tech-savvy staffers are still in the beginning stages of getting their fan page off the ground, rumor has it there will be frequent deals to be had for those who sign on as a friend or fan.

Stay tuned when ski season rolls around (November 26th is the official opening date for the mountain) – spoiled Aspenites will be able to stay in the snow loop with real-time Facebook posts regarding snowfall amounts.

With all the money you save, maybe you can snag a pair of Muk Luks or a few pricey signature cocktails at the hotel’s hip 39 Degrees lounge.

Rooms start at $249; extra credit for being Fido-friendly.

Tags: Hotel Renovations / Aspen Hotels / Hotel News / Ski Hotels / → All Tags

Aspen's WASP-y Little Nell Will Be Spruced Up By Ski Season

Where: 675 E. Durant Avenue [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Ah, Little Nell: our most favorite-est WASP ski hotel. An ultra-luxe Aspen classic that has been a fave of the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List time and time again (as well as where we assume Lauren Holly's character in Dumb and Dumber would have probably stayed), the place is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. And, as a birthday gift, it's getting an $18 million makeover.

Designer Holly Hunt will be overseeing the redesign of the hotel's guest rooms, junior suites, and corridors, infusing the decor "with a contemporary aesthetic that is indicative of the Holly Hunt brand." In addition to the decor, the hotel will implement some high-tech green practices as well:

LED lighting will ensure a soft, pleasant glow, and with one button, a cutting edge Control4 wireless system developed initially for residential homes, will shut down all energy use in the room. Sensors in each room will shut off all of the lights, fireplace, and reduce the temperature two to three degrees upon exiting.

The hotel will be closed for renovations from September 7th to December 1st, so these had better be done quickly (uh, we hope they can finish in under three months) — Aspen mountain opens on Novemeber 26th, so the spruce-up won't really cut into ski season if it's completed on time.

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Hotel Jerome Evacuated After New Year's Eve Bomb Threat

Where: 330 E Main St [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

New Year's Eve celebrations were majorly derailed in Aspen, CO this week when bomb threats forced the resort town to virtually shut down. According to the NY Times, two homemade gasoline bombs with threatening notes were found at two banks and two more were found in an alley, left by "a longtime Aspen resident who an acquaintance said was bitter because he had not profited from the community’s transformation from a rural mining town into a luxury resort town."

The bomb threat forced downtown restaurants and bars to close and a NYE fireworks display was canceled, sending would-be partiers back to their hotels to party with a bottle of champagne and televised celebrations — except for the Hotel Jerome guests, who were evacuated from their hotel.

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Tags: Joe Sharkey / Hidden Fees / Scott Booker / Starwood Hotels / Business Travel Hotels / → All Tags

The St. Regis Aspen Has No Qualms About Charging Joe Sharkey Cancellation Fees

Where: 315 E. Dean Street [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Joltin' Joe Sharkey, the NY Times Business Travel columnist, is not excused from hotel cancellation fees. In his recent column, he gripes about having to cancel a business trip to Aspen where he was going to attend an aviation conference.

He had booked two nights at the St. Regis Aspen which had negotiated good rates for the conference of $414.29 for two nights.

Yet when Sharkey had to cancel the day before, the hotel told him that they would have to charge him the "whole enchilada" because he had missed the cancellation deadline which was two weeks prior.

Had I known that the St. Regis in Aspen confiscated the full two-day rate, I would simply have made a reservation elsewhere.

Not even speaking with a Starwood rep got his money back. Sharkey then went on to interview our old friend Scott Booker of Hotels.com who shed light on some of the fees that hotels are charging these days.

Still, none of this helped good ole Joe who was out $714.29 from a business trip (that's including his airfare) that he didn't take.

Tags: Anti-View / Aspen Hotels / → All Tags

Room With an Anti-View: Basement Rooms at the Hotel Durant

Where: 122 East Durant [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

There are only 19 rooms at the Hotel Durant in Aspen, Colorado. And one of them, at least, has this horrid view. That means the odds of getting stuck with this anti-view are pretty good so make sure you ask before you spend your days staring up out of jail.

Apart from the view from some bottom floor rooms, Hotel Durant doesn't seem such a bad option. It's very central, and has average rates of around $130 which isn't too bad for Aspen. The main thing that bothers us (other than this view) is their website slogan: "The Aspen hotel to stay in!" We're just not sure that's actually a sentence.

[Photo: richmanwisco]

Tags: Aspen Hotels / Kimpton Hotels / Aspen Food and Wine Classic Hotels / → All Tags

Swanky Summer Splurge :: Chef-o-phile Heaven at Aspen's Sky Hotel

Where: 709 E Durante Dr., Aspen, CO, 81611

It's hot. The beach at Coney Island is crowded and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs just aren't doin' it for you anymore. You're sitting inside watching Top Chef, your tummy is rumbling, the chefs turn you on and you're wondering which contestant is going to land that coveted ticket to the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen.

And then it dawns on you: Colorado is not as hot as wherever you are, and the Aspen Food and Wine Classic is this weekend (June 13-15). The place will be crawling with hot chefs. You should go.

Well, here's the catch: tickets to the Classic have been sold out for a good long while now, but rumor has it that celebrity chefs and culinary giants head over to the ultra-swanky Sky Hotel for some partytime during the weekend.

And they choose Sky for a pretty good reason, too.

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Tags: Ski Hotels / Aspen Hotels / Ski-Hotels-2008-Map / → All Tags

Cubicle Dreamin': A Ski Day in Aspen

Where: 435 W. Main Street [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.

In this episode, Contributing Editor NatalieWW hits the slopes...in her mind. Enjoy.

With much of the Western U.S experiencing dramatic snowfall, I just couldn't help myself. I took a sick day (shh! don't tell the boss) and headed three hours up into the mountains (yes, Arizona has mountains) for some skiing. But one day just wasn't enough. Having returned to my cubicle and the relentless sunshine of Phoenix, I am dreaming today of downy powder and rolling, wide-open groomers -- but this time, with better digs.

I'm thinking somewhere like the L'Auberge d'Aspen at Aspen/Snowmass. Each "fabulously styled" cabin has a real wood-burning fireplace, down comforters, hand-crafted furniture, kitchenette and individually-themed décor. Oh -- and everybody's favorite accessory -- antler chandeliers. Most rooms have what I consider a necessity for a ski cabin, your own private Jacuzzi.

I believe I would go for Club Cottage #22, The Bells. The theme is Ralph Lauren-meets-Robert Redford, with dark woods, high beamed ceilings, overstuffed leather sofa, and romantic iron headboard. I think I'm feeling another sore throat coming on....

[Photo: ChrisWotipka]

Tags: Aspen Hotels / WASP Hotels / → All Tags

WASP Hotels :: Aspen's Little Nell

Where: 675 E Durant Ave [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Of course, Lloyd Christmas described this city best when he decided to follow his lady love across the country in Dumb And Dumber:

A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.

In the film, Lauren Holly, as the endearingly indifferent object of Lloyd's affection, embodies the WASP persona. When visiting Aspen, her character, Mary Swanson, could very well have stayed at The Little Nell. For the past three years, The Little Nell has made Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List. It's self-described "understated elegance" sounds like the kind of quiet haughtiness exclusive to Old Money folks.

And starting at $470 a night, you'll need to have kept your cash in Escro for quite some time to afford to stay. The simply-named The Bar is known for its martinis, naturally.

[Photo: Conde Nast Traveler]

Related Stories:
· Traveler's Gold List [Conde Nast Traveler]