Aspen Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Aspen

The rooms are pretty mediocre, but the location is good, the staff is kind and helpful, and the expensive price is still going to be cheaper than most of the places in Aspen proper.

The room - The best thing I can say is this is a warm, safe, clean place. The bed is comfortable, the room is well-lit, and you've got a thermostat that is quick to keep the place warm. However, the rooms are in desperate need of some TLC. You can see some cracks in the seams, leaky windows, and everything just seems old. The walls do a semi-decent job of insulating noise. Although you can hear some stuff, it's not paper thin and the area is a pretty quiet place. I was able to sleep comfortably at the end of each day.

Showers - The hot water seems to be shared among everyone else in the building. For the most part, the water is hot, but occasionally it will pewter to a lukewarm temperature. Pro-tip - The shower soap dispenser is unlabeled, but the "grapefruit reddish orange" liquid on the right side is the soap, and the "honey yellow' liquid on the left is the shampoo.

Breakfast - Food is pretty basic. It's mainly carbs with bread, bagels, and oatmeal. In terms of protein, there's only eggs and yogurt. No meat or meat substitutes. In terms of drinks, importantly - there is unlimited coffee and a decent amount of caffeinated and decaffeinated tea options. And, there are hot chocolate packets and apple cider packets for the kids. A variety of juices and milk (including almond milk) are also included.

Skiing - The best part of this place is that it's a 3-5 minute walk to bus stops for Aspen Highlands, Ajax, Snowmass, and Buttermilk. There's a return bus stop that's also nearby at the end of your ski day. The rooms themselves are big enough to dry your gear at the end of each day, and the staff are cool with you bringing your skis/board inside.

Service - Lastly, the staff were polite and helpful throughout my stay. They host a "happy hour" from 5-6PM on Fridays and Saturdays with a surprisingly nice charcuterie board (ham, cheese, grapes) with free wine. They gave me the spare half-finished bottle of wine to finish off in my room for free. They offered a bag-drop option where I could store my luggage at the front desk so I could ski after checking out. They saw me drying off my skis one day and someone handed me a towel to help dry them off.

Overall, I'd say this place is firmly in the "okay" section, but it's getting me 5-stars from me because of the staff and the price. It's still expensive relative to the rest of the world, but it's the cheapest place that you'll find in Aspen proper. If you're okay with a slightly-dinky no-frills place to ski all 4 mountains while being "close" to downtown Aspen, then this place fits the bill. But, you'll need to set your expectations appropriately for the rooms. The rooms are a little dinky, but if you're just trying to find a safe warm place to sleep at night, then this...

We booked this room late in the day out of necessity. The room I originally inquired about was (overpriced) at $127 for 2 queen beds. We had to pay $20 extra for a king bed. I've never heard of that before. The available parking for guests is probably less than their room count. We had to park on the street a block away. Then there was no elevator! So for my poor old out-of-shape self, I had to climb stairs getting into the building, stairs getting up to the desk, and 3 more flights of stairs to our room. I thought my heart would explode before getting there.

The night clerk was filling in for someone and had developed a cold herself that day. While she graciously offered us the user of her hand sanitizer after she handled my driver's license, credit card, room keys, etc., I'm just hoping that nothing sneaked it's way onto me. I've sneezed more today than I have all year.

The room itself was very dated (like 60's-70's). The bed was so close to the closet that my husband had to scoot in sideways to get in bed. There was plenty of space in the room, but it just needed major updating. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub but I didn't trust that the jets were clean enough to use it. The bed was like a trampoline - every time my husband rolled over, I bounced around on my side of the bed. The pillows were hard, making restful sleep impossible.

The one really nice, unexpected feature was the balcony. The sun rose over the balcony and it was very comfortable sitting out there having coffee/juice.

When my husband got up this morning, he went to move the car from the street to the parking lot. I took a random video of him looking on the passenger side before he came to to the room. About an hour or so later as we loaded up to leave, there was a giant pile of bear scat that I had to step around to get in the same side of the car that he'd just recently looked at. The desk clerk said she saw it this morning when she came in after it got into the garbage. She picked up the garbage and shortly thereafter she checked and the garbage had been strewn around again. So beware of bears!

Would I stay there again? Only if the price was more in line with the quality...

Great place to stay for the week. Very close to a city bus stop too for snowboarding/skiing. Older building so if you are a sensitive sleeper bring ear plugs. Definitely would stay again!

Note: Each room may vary as they are condos and not a standard hotel.

Protip: If cold enough you can use your porch as a freezer as the refrigerators are on the smaller side.

Rooms: -They are older and have a few minor flaws like no sound proofing and colder bathrooms. -Main rooms are fine and allow you to set the room temperature -Quiet hours are from 10pm - 8am

Included breakfast: -A nice variety of breakfast type foods like yogurt, cereal, muffins, bagels, and waffles on the weekends. -Coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, apple juice, and many different tea types. -Times: 7:30am - 9:30am

Staff: -Very helpful for what is in town -Nice and accommodating for special needs or requests -Knowledgeable about activities to do around Aspen.

Pool/Hot tub: -Pool is heated and is around body temperature. -We were given two robes to use outside -Hot tub is always ready for use -Closes at 10pm

Wine & Cheese: -Free cheese, meats, and fruits are provided twice a week (fairly new so this may change) -Free dry wines to drink for guests -A great time to chill and talk after a hard day...