By Kathleen Sterling
Heading to the slopes this winter? Aspen? Vail? Breckenridge?
Consider schussing over to Denver to acclimate to the altitude – and enjoy the ambiance.
The mile-high city has a lot to offer a visitor – for a quick weekend stopover or as a longer vacation spot.
Downtown Denver centers around Union Station and the walkable streets that surround it, filled with art galleries, boutiques and great restaurants.
Sports fan? Stroll over a few blocks to Coors Field.
We based our stay at The Maven Hotel, an award-winning boutique hotel in the heart of downtown. The art-filled, energetic hotel was just blocks from Union Station and adjacent to the cool and funky dining and drinking destination Dairy Block.
The Maven’s rooms are large and modern and hello – they had me at the tub – a huge round basin complete with loofahs and bath salts. I could have stayed in the room forever! The shower, for those so inclined, was also extra large, with an amazing rainhead.
We started our first day in Denver with breakfast at Kachina Cantina, a Southwestern-themed, art filled restaurant. Well-fortified with pork green chili burritos and churro waffles (we indulged) we set out to explore Denver!
We visited the historic Union Station, spent far too long at its bookstore, browsed the galleries along Wazee Street and had a lazy morning.
Armed with our Denver Passport, which gets you free admission to over 22 museums and attractions, we hit the Denver Art Museum to see their beautiful collection of Impressionists – and the modern Oceana exhibit. The passport also gained us entrance to the Denver Botanic Garden, and we spent a quick hour strolling its pathways and admiring the lush gardens.
We cruised the Dairy Block to catch the nightlife and settled back at The Maven for a complimentary happy hour glass of wine at the Airstream bar in the lobby before heading out to dinner.
We have family in Denver, and met them at Bistro Vendome in Park Hill, just a quick Uber ride away from downtown. This local neighborhood restaurant offers authentic French cuisine and a predominantly French wine list. We loved catching up with the family news and dining on traditional steak au poivre and creme brulée.
Not quite ready to tuck it in, we had a late-night drink at The Maven’s Poka Lola Social Club off the lobby, with its retro feel and large bar.
Early morning we hit the Milk Market adjacent to The Maven. Milk Market is a 16-venue mix of take-away and dine-in restaurants that flows from the lobby of The Maven. We grabbed great lattes and muffins and took off on adventures.
We took a few day trips out of Denver – up to the gorgeous Estes Park, the base camp of the Rocky Mountains. We saw the quaint little town with its shops and restaurants, and herds of elk just hanging out around town!
Another day we drove out to Red Rocks – the famous open-air amphitheater built right into the gorgeous rock formation. We didn’t see a show but toured the arena and the visitors center and got a feel for what it must be like to sit under the stars during a concert.
We returned to the city and checked into the Halcyon Hotel, a luxury property in the ultra chic Cherry Creek neighborhood.
Cherry Creek is home to upscale boutiques, an amazing golf course, and of course, fantastic restaurants.
The Halcyon staff greeted us with a complimentary glass of rosé or a latte – we were on vacation and went for the rosé! The special treatment continued in our room, which boasted crystal glasses, a shaker, and bottles of Hendrick’s Gin so we could make our own martinis. Of course if you wanted to chill out another way, the room also comes with a yoga mat.
The coolest thing about The Halcyon is their theme – all rooms boast a modern Victrola and records. You can actually spin the vinyl (or use a CD or stream from your phone) but we chose to play records and dance around a little to celebrate such a fun amenity.
Service is key – and The Halcyon offers complimentary muffins and a coffee bar every morning. You can also visit their rooftop bar Rare Bird late afternoon for an aperitif and amazing views of the Rockies.
Want the full Colorado experience? Guests at The Halycon can check out equipment from the Gear Garage – everything from sleds and snowshoes to bikes and scooters.
Since we’re more into sipping than sledding, we headed out for drinks and dinner on the town.
We dropped into Tavernetta at Union Station, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant featuring authentic Italian cuisine. We ordered nibbles, wine and cocktails at the bar – sipping a Negroni and sharing a plate of their stellar appetizers – amazing lavender almonds, arancini and marinated olives.
Keeping with the vinyl theme of the week, we dined at Sunday Vinyl, a 2023 James Beard Semi-Finalist, owned by the same French Hospitality Group that owns Tavernetta.
Sunday Vinyl honors the ritual of slowing down and connecting over great food, music and wine. Music plays all day and night, and the food truly is amazing.
We started with a complimentary glass of bubbles, which set the tone for a fun evening, then followed with their grilled cheese app. Sounds basic but the open face sandwich with MouCo Camembert, brioche and strawberry jam was a work of art and a meal in and of itself.
Sunday Vinyl also offers caviar, oysters and a charcuterie plate to start, but we almost ordered another grilled cheese, it was that good.
Our great server recommended wines to complement our meal, laughingly saying, “We have a lot of dishes that go with wine!”
We chose to go with the gnocci Parisien with winter squash, miso, maitake and brown butter. Again, a dish to savor.
You would think we wouldn’t have room for dessert, but since we were sharing all plates… we went with a traditional tarte tartin (it was for two) that came with delicious pink peppercorn ice cream.
Fully sated, we returned to The Halcyon for a fabulous night’s sleep and our last day in Denver.
After the decadent dinner the evening before, breakfast at Local Jones in Cherry Creek was a healthy green juice and bagels, yogurt and granola.
We took an hour or two to walk around the upscale boutiques of Cherry Creek before heading out for one last look at Denver.
Our Denver Passport got us into the Natural History Museum and its dinosaur exhibit. The park and lake that front the museum were a great spot to stop and reflect on what were our favorite Denver doings.
Turns out – we loved everything! The city life with the great restaurants and bars, the museums and cool hotels. But also the outdoors – this is Colorado of course!
Check out current events and happenings and plan your own adventure at visitdenver.com. It offers places to stay, dining suggestions, exhibitions, tours and more.
