The perfect setting to put romance on trial — or to enhance what you already know is the real deal — Colorado has mountains, fireplaces, horses to ride, llamas to hike with, hot springs to soak in, cabins, luxurious hotels with bathtubs big enough for two, and terraces with exclaim-making views. In the Centennial State, you can hike, bike, ski, fly fish, rock climb, try goat yoga, and ride the rapids. Or, you can loll about, cuddling and canoodling in bathrobes (or donning much less), lazily sipping hot chocolate, beer, or something bubbly and suggestively provocative. Whether you stay in see-and-be-seen Aspen along with other glitterati, steps from the gondola, tuck into a glamping tent or yurt, run from a hot spring through the snow back to the comfort of your toasty cabin, or spread out in a huge suite in a grand dame hotel, Colorado will set your hearts aflame. Here’s where we go when seduction calls.
For Europe-Obsessed Romantics: Sonnenalp, Vail
Not everybody knows that Vail was a new-build ski town by the clever Pete Siebert (and friends) who served in the 10th Mountain Division in World War II. His team of skiing and mountaineering-trained soldiers was based in the alpine region of Italy, just below the Austrian border. Having fallen in love with Tyrolean and Bavarian style, he hankered to replicate the European mountain villages he had come to love. With Vail, his dreams became reality. Today the village’s gingerbread architecture, village-like nooks, German-intoned restaurants, and steep mountain slopes evoke distinctive Austrian/German mountain flair. No hotel personifies Siebert’s vision better than the Sonnenalp, a family-owned hotel opened by Bavarian hoteliers in 1979. Mere steps from Vail mountain, The Sonnenalp exudes convivial gemütlichkeit at every turn — from the dirndl and lederhosen-wearing staff to the Bavarian-made furniture in the suites to the European-style breakfast buffet (don’t pass up the hot chocolate).
What to Love: The roaring fireplace in the King’s Club with hot toddies after a day of adventure.
Room To Book: Cross Creek Junior Suite
For Besotted History Buffs: Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection, Aspen
Endowed with one of the world’s most diabolically delicious speakeasies, Bad Harriet, (camouflaged in an adjacent, antiquated newspaper office), Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection brings confident elegance and beau monde flourish to play in its poshly refurbished fin de siècle lobby and tastefully western suites. Opened in 1889 during Aspen’s silver boomtown phrase, it also deftly evinces the glam ski town’s history, proudly keeping a metaphorical foot both in the past and the present. Featuring rooms that overlook Aspen Mountain and downtown, as well as bungalow-like pool suites by the water, Hotel Jerome feels happily removed from the buzz — which introverted couples appreciate. This seductive hideaway in the middle of town has soul.
What to Love: The elevator with its tooled leather walls, the classy western design, and big bathrooms.
Room to Book: The Deluxe King on the third floor with mountain views and a soaking tub.
For the Racy and Refined: Four Seasons Resort and Residences, Vail
This fancy mid-village retreat has a pied-à-terre vibe, the sort of place you stumble into with your poodle and dashing significant other preparing to go back out and ski a slope or climb a mountain. But, as it turns out the hotel has a dangerous effect, almost hypnotic. Sure, you’ll gaze at the mountains from your balcony, but you’ll linger in your oversized room (the largest in Vail), flip on the fire, wander down to the gorgeous pool — the resort’s centerpiece — or plunge into your immense soaking tub. Serene, pampering, with regal service, Four Seasons Resort Vail might tempt you to spend your long weekend unapologetically inside.
What to Love: The pool, the spa — basically everything.
Room to Book: The One Bedroom Suite for its commodiousness and contemporary design.
For Seductive Submergers: Dunton Hot Springs, Dolores County
Once a scrappy 1800s mining town wedged deeply into the San Juan Mountains (and legendarily a tent city where Butch Cassidy hid away after a bank heist), Dunton Hot Springs now regales mineral springs enthusiasts. Luxuriously repurposed as an intimate glamping resort, it is composed of just 15 original, artistically restored, lavishly appointed cabins — one with its own hot springs inside. With skiing (and other cold weather sports) in winter and hiking (and rock climbing, river rafting, biking) in warmer months, Dunton Hot Springs — across the mountain from Telluride — is the brainchild of German billionaire, nature worshiping Christoph Henkel, founder of Utah’s Amangiri and Dunton Destinations. Finding Dunton as a dilapidated ghost town, he bought, restored, and transformed it into the wellness-meets-culinary mecca it remains today. The all-inclusive Relais & Châteaux property can be booked turnkey for weddings and other events.
What to Love: The unique artifacts that adorn the cabins, the bell that calls you to meals, the lush robes and felt slippers made in Germany, and the various hot springs across the property.
Room to Book: The Well House for its own interior hot springs and cold plunge.
For Coddle-Seeking Cohorts: The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, century-old Italian Renaissance-style The Broadmoor has welcomed its share of sweethearts — including a long list of silver screen stars. On Lake Cheyenne, it imparts a Lake Como-vibe, even offering up the original wooden canopy boats that once cruised the lake — ideal background scenes for popping the question. On 5,000 acres, the colossal resort nevertheless feels intimate, though its laundry list of amenities would suggest otherwise: 20 restaurants, 20 retail boutiques, 2 championship golf courses, and an award-winning spa.
What To Love: The vast array of activities offered from falconry to fly fishing.
Room to Book: The Edith K. Gaylord Suite for its opulence.
For Oenophile Couples: The Little Nell, Aspen
If location is everything, then The Little Nell garners a gold medal for its sense of perfect place, a propitious hot spot that proves to be the essence of Aspen’s pluck and moxy, set just at the foot of Aspen Mountain. The famed gondola feels close enough to touch. As the hip town’s five-star, five-diamond hotel hero, The Little Nell supports guests’ penchant for unique activities whether it’s a gourmet picnic, fly fishing, first-track ski adventures, or snowcat powder tours. Break out of your sumptuous room to delve into the riot of unparalleled wines stored in Little Nell’s famous wine cellar. With 20,000 wines in its cache, the hotel happily offers up one of its dozens of sommeliers to lead you through a tasting that will change your life.
What to Love: Truffle fries at Ajax Tavern and suites designed by In Champalimaud Design and Holly Hunt.
Room to Book: One Bedroom Mountainside Suite for the view, Bryte Balance mattress and heated marble floors.
Featured photo courtesy of Hotel Jerome
