Denver

About Denver

Denver is two hotel markets wearing one skyline. In summer and early fall, it's a convention-and-festival city where downtown towers fill with conference badges and concert crowds headed to Red Rocks. In winter, it flips into the staging area for the entire Colorado ski economy — travelers overnight here before driving into the mountains, where resort-town rates run two to three times higher. Both versions reward rate-checking: Denver's public prices swing hard around events, and member rates show a different set of numbers than the open web. Some nights the gap is wide, others narrow, but a city this event-driven is exactly where it pays to look twice.

The city has grown into far more than a basecamp. Union Station's restoration turned a train depot into the most beautiful hotel lobby and food hall in the Mountain West, and the surrounding LoDo blocks hold Coors Field, rooftop bars, and most of the city's walkable nightlife. RiNo — the River North Art District — layers murals, breweries, and converted-warehouse restaurants into Denver's most current neighborhood. Cherry Creek is the polished retail-and-spa quarter, and Capitol Hill brings historic mansions, music venues, and the city's bohemian streak.

Our Travel Editor's Denver advice: if you're skiing, the airport-night-then-drive pattern saves real money versus an extra night at the resort — book the night before your mountain leg downtown and leave early. In summer, check the Red Rocks and Coors Field calendars before picking your dates; a big show can quietly raise the whole city's rates. And give yourself a day to acclimate to the altitude before doing anything ambitious. The mile is not a metaphor.

— Our Travel Editor