SKY HOTEL
709 Durant Ave., Aspen, CO 81611, 970-925-6760,
Rates: Standard rooms with one king or two double beds start at $185 and go up to $589 in the summer, and start at $209 and go up to $669 in the winter. Overnight parking is $26 per night.
Stay here if you: want to be in the middle of the Aspen action, with 39 Degrees off the lobby, one of the hottest bars in town. It opens onto a pool scene that’s boiling.
It’s close to: the Little Nell, the best hotel in Aspen and one of best in America (and a great stop for lunch by the pool to feel rich). In the summer, Sky is next to just about everything, not only the chic shops and restaurants, but the grocery and liquor stores. In the winter, it’s at the base of the Silver Queen gondola. You know what they say about location — this is it.
The rooms are: much improved since the hotel opened as Sky a few years ago. Although not spacious, they all have small patios, thick beams, fine linens and down comforters, Internet access ($11 per day), iPod hookups, air conditioning and L’Occitane en Provence bathroom amenities. The water is overly soft. On the walls are large black-and-white prints of skiers and mountain climbers.
They put all of the money into: the location, the pool and the lobby and bar. Sometimes the large wooden beams seem to conflict with the hip vibe. And the “Alice in Wonderland,” high-backed, white-leather chairs seem embarrassingly dated. But you simply cannot beat this location — and the bar is often the site for the ski town’s hippest parties.
The bottom line: Sky Hotel does not approach the luxury of other slopeside inns (the aforementioned Little Nell, the St. Regis), but it is undeniably the hippest hotel on the hill. And although the rates are not bargains, they may seem so when you do some comparison shopping in Aspen. It’s convenient, the staff is cordial and the bar is always full. Bill Husted
