In days of old, elegant men and women traveled from the East to Colorado to take in the magnificent scenery and to breathe clean mountain air. Steam trains carried passengers across the plains to Denver; from there they'd travel on to Colorado Springs, Estes Park, and Glenwood Springs--all destinations with hotels grand enough to boast about back home. I asked contributing editor Melanie Walker if the hotels that still exist give guests as much pleasure today as they did years ago. Happily, the answer is, "Yes."

If you're flying into Denver, Melanie says today's first stop should be the same as yesteryear's: the Brown Palace Hotel. Operated continually since 1892, the Brown is a triangular-shaped building located in the heart of downtown Denver. Its stone façade, while impressive architecturally, does little to hint at the opulence inside. Soaring eight stories to a stained-glass ceiling, it's impressive and elegant.

Class--not pomposity--is what you get at the Brown. Fluffy terry robes, excellent service, and an aura of comfortable sophistication envelop you. Harpists or pianists provide the musical score in the atrium lobby where afternoon tea is served daily, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream is on tap from room service around the clock. Check-in is accompanied by a packet of information that describes activities in the heart of Denver within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel's fine-dining restaurant, the Palace Arms, is a Mobil four-star restaurant with a spectacular wine list.

From Denver, vacationers often traveled into the Rocky Mountains to take the fresh air at higher elevations. In 1909, the historic Stanley Hotel opened in Estes Park. The brainchild of F. O. Stanley, who came to the mountains to cure a chronic lung condition, the Stanley was erected only after he built the entire infrastructure of Estes Park--complete with sewers, electric lines, and roads.

The Stanley is an elegant, white clapboard hotel with a spacious front veranda looking out toward the towering peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park. Nearby hiking in the national park, a heated swimming pool, tennis courts, volleyball, and outdoor lounge areas on the 35-acre grounds add to the appeal of this classic grand dame.

Rooms range in size and ambience. There are cozy rooms under the eaves with exposed rafters and charming antiques, as well as larger, spacious rooms appointed with sumptuous furnishings and elegant art deco touches. And the Stanley also accommodates some ghosts and goblins. Because of the many tales of hauntings, Stephen King chose to stay there while writing The Shining. Each year the Stanley hosts a "Shining Halloween Ball," and ghost tours are available year-round.

The Broadmoor is a striking, pink stucco building with four wings located on 3,000 acres in Colorado Springs. Opened in 1891 as a gambling casino by the Prussian count James Pourtales, it has developed into an enormous resort complex set around Cheyenne Lake. Today there are more than 700 guest rooms, 11 restaurants, a 6,000- bottle wine cellar, three golf courses, tennis complex, spa, shopping complex, ballooning opportunities, three swimming pools, and a large network of walking, hiking, and riding trails as well as fly-fishing streams.

Melanie reports that the amenities alone could keep you busy for a week. But close proximity to Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge, the Air Force Academy, and the Garden of the Gods lure one off the lush grounds, which one guest recently described as an "adult Disneyland."

Glenwood Springs is the final resting place of famous outlaw Doc Holliday, as well as the location of the Hotel Colorado, a lovely old establishment within close proximity to the medicinal hot spring baths and steam caves for which the city is named. Its décor is a mixture of Italian Renaissance and Victorian charm. Renovations that began in 1999 and will conclude in 2001 will emphasize these characteristics.

The hotel breathes history. President Theodore Roosevelt used to hunt bear in the surrounding woods, and some claim the Teddy Bear was invented there. The story goes that Roosevelt returned discouraged from an unsuccessful hunt, and a member of the cleaning staff fashioned a small stuffed bear to console him.

The recent reopening of the magnificent Fairy Caves and the newly discovered Glenwood Cavern attached to the caves has given guests an extra reason for spending a few days. Drive 45 miles and you're in the middle of downtown Aspen to star-watch and browse before returning to Glenwood, where you can soak in the hot springs under the real stars each night.

These old hotels may have witnessed a world of elegance long gone, but they have been neither forgotten nor neglected.

WHERE TO TAKE THE WATERS

Travelers from the East historically would "take the waters" at natural mineral springs abundant in the mountains. Today some of those original springs still offer relaxing treatments to pamper body and spirit.

Just steps from the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs are two facilities that seduce visitors back to the mountains again and again. The first is the Yampah Spa and Vapor Caves. This 106-year-old spa offers massage, body wraps, herbal wraps, facials, mud packs, and Melanie's favorite, taking the vapors in the geothermal steam baths. These are the only known natural vapor caves in North America. Melanie says there's something "otherworldly" about descending the stone steps past rough-hewn walls deep into the caves. Lying supine on the granite slabs that line the walls while breathing the vapors as they swirl about in a soothing fog unknots every kink, she says. Yampah means "big medicine" in Ute, and the Indians believed the caves purified body and spirit. A day pass costs only $8.75. Call 970-945-0667.

Only feet away from the door of the Yampah Spa is the other Glenwood Springs pampering tradition, the Hot Springs Pool, the world's largest outdoor hot springs pool. It maintains a temperature of 90 degrees, and a smaller therapy pool is at 104 degrees. Melanie says nothing beats soaking in the hot springs on a cold winter night as steam rises in clouds and disappears into the star-studded indigo sky. A day pass is $8.75. Call 800-537-SWIM or point your browser to http://www.hotspringspool.com.

The Indian Springs Resort lies 32 miles outside Denver in Idaho Springs. Here, between 1903 and 1911, two separate facilities--one for women, one for men--were carved into solid rock in the mountainside to create geothermal cave baths. The large, sunken tubs are filled with waters ranging in temperature from 104 to 112 degrees. At $14, for as long as you want to soak, the baths are a steal. A cool shower and benches outside allow you to rest and relax between soaks. Massages and other treatments are also available. The water at Indian Springs comes from a natural spring rich in calcium, fluoride, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium, sodium, sulfate, and zinc. Call 303-989-6666 or drop in online at http://www.indianspringsresort.com.

COLORADO GRAND: JUST THE FACTS

The Broadmoor
1 Lake Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
800-634-7711
Fax: 719-577-5738
http://www.broadmoor.com
Room rates fall into five categories: low season, $195 to $345; high season (May 1 to October 31), $310 to $460. A traditional room in the old building runs from $195 to $310. A $110 million renovation of the old building is scheduled for mid-November 2001, and the building will reopen May 2002.

The Brown Palace Hotel
321 17th Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-297-3111, 800-321-2599
Fax: 303-312-5900
http://www.brownpalace.com
Rooms range in price from about $200 per night for a standard "executive room" to $1,245 per night for the two presidential suites with two bedrooms attached. The Brown recently completed a $14 million renovation, and the rooms on the eighth and ninth floors are loaded with new conveniences for the business or leisure traveler.

Hotel Colorado
526 Pine Street
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
970-945-6511, 800-544-3998
Fax: 970-945-7841
http://www.hotelcolorado.com
Room rates start at $118 per night and range up to $430 for the deluxe Deveraux Suite with three bedrooms and three baths.

The Stanley Hotel
333 Wonderview Avenue
PO Box 1767
Estes Park, CO 80517
970-586-3371, 800-976-1377
Fax: 970-586-4964
http://www.stanleyhotel.com
Prices range from $79 for the smaller rooms to $129 to $250 for the larger suites in off-season, mid-May through mid-October; during high season, room rates range from $159 for a standard room to $159-299 for suites.

December 2000