MOLLIE Aspen — Hotel in Aspen

Perfect boutique hotel in Aspen. The location is about 11 blocks (but feels like 6 blocks) from the Ajax gondola (and the Little Nell Tavern). 

We booked a Smuggler King room and were upgraded to a Aspen Mountain King, wow, amazing space and a view of the mountain. The staff made us feel like royalty! They were all very attentive and helpful with answers to all our Aspen questions. The hotel is also dog friendly, and there were plenty of dogs, which we loved.

||The valet service was amazing because they were always ready and willing to shuttle us and our skis where we wanted to go, including the Aspen airport, in an electric vehicle! It is one of the big reasons we booked this hotel. The Valet with the mostest was Stephen Hunter, while we were there, Aspen finally had some snow days! Stephen worked double shifts to help with the demand with the snow and the fact that it was a holiday weekend, he was amazing and organized. He should be the manager of the Valet Service!

||The other reasons we chose tis hotel are: 1. It is a new hotel; 2. small hotel; 3. beautiful hotel; 4. sustainably minded; 5. offered a delicious breakfast; 6. rooftop hot tub with the view of the mountain. In addition, the beds are so comfortable and the rooms are well suited to our needs, with a tea kettle, tea bags and instant coffee packs, but I am a tea drinker so I made tea about 3 times a day. ||There is no ski room, but you give your skis to the valet and they store them overnight for you, and everyone walks with their boots on, which we only did when we were being dropped off directly to Ajax, otherwise we packed our boots and stuff in our packs when we went to Highlands and Snowmass. The valet will shuttle you to and from Highlands (sign up for this) and Ajax, but you take a FREE bus to Snowmass. The bus stop is across the street from the hotel, so close! We took the bus to Snowmass and back, it took about 30 - 40 min. But seemed fast. We took the bus back from Highlands, (since we were leaving at different times than the shuttle pick up), which picks you up right outside of the guest services, so convenient. 

||They have a little coffee shop/cafe that serves a wonderful hot cocoa and perfect whip cream. As for dining, we ate at the restaurant every morning for breakfast, which was amazing! And, once for dinner, since we do not really eat dinner, and it was good. We also ate at the J Bar for lunch when we arrived (best sweet potato fries and burger, shout out to Ty our server), Little Nell Tavern right after skiing - we had the grilled cheese and tomato soup, it was very good, we sat at the communal table and had a blast meeting people. 

||For valentines day we didn’t have any reservations, which wasn’t smart, but we stumbled on a restaurant that opened for the first time in Aspen 2 days before valentines day and somehow it too was booked, but the weather was going to close the airport, so we thought we would leave our name on a waitlist, and we got in, for the 3rd day of opening. The restaurant is a block from the hotel called Sant Ambroesus, it has maybe 8 other locations, 6 in New York including coffee shops....

This hotel is PHENOMENAL value for Aspen. TLDR: fresh, extremely modern taste for Aspen. Rooms are A+ (saying this having stayed in a basement room). Staff is trying hard but just needs more time to get all of the pieces right. These owners understand real hospitality, a rarity in 2024. I would pick this hotel any day over the Jerome. ||You might think that this is not a place that has turndown service, or maybe it is questionable at their price point. You would be wrong. They take it very seriously. You may also think that this is a new boutique property that doesn’t take food seriously. You will be shocked. Heymax capital knows how to run a hotel. If you know how to spot details, you will see them. No phones in the room. All text based (but, actually, can you please answer in 5 minutes or less and not take 2 hours to respond :). No distinction between check in and concierge. They all know how to do the job. You might also think that this is questionable whether they have private SUVs at this property like the ultra-premium hotels in Aspen. Again, you would be wrong. They have SUVs. Really nice electric ones from Rivian. They also have a sprinter that is decked out. They will transport you for free to and from the airport.||Rooms are outstanding. Attention to detail is there. Such a unique and modern taste for Aspen. It was desperately needed to bring in some variety. Smart decisions everywhere. Air control works. It’s easy to use. The TV is easy to use. It’s all focused on casting your own devices to a great, large screen. Rooms are bigger than you would think. Storage space is there. Little details like coat hooks at the door for boots. Great looking tile in the entryway area to throw your ski crap everywhere. Bathrooms look funky in the pictures but they are excellent. Glass doors, waterfall shower heads, Toto toilets. Just great construction quality. Little tablets in the room to schedule turndown. Oh, did I mention the best part about the turndown service? These freshly baked cookies every night (that is, if they remember to give you them) will show you the praise that this hotel truly deserves. The food is limited at the hotel overall, but they will get it right with time. ||The hot tub on the roof is great. Check it out. ||Now for the hard stuff:||Don’t stay in the basement unless if you are really on a budget. The people I was traveling with were next to the laundry room and it was loud. I was next to some room being used as a storage closet which was weird. There were carts all over the basement area. Fridges. I felt like I was staying in a storage closet. It’s weird. Get that stuff out of the common areas where guests are staying. Expect that the staff will make errors (ex. They missed a Turndown service or two). They don’t have the timing of the cars right. But, most importantly, they do understand the golden rule of hospitality: the customer is always right. For that reason alone, they get a 5 star review. Again, a true, rare understanding of...

Overall our stay was great, and I wish I could have given 5 stars, but there were a few misses, primarily the very frustrating experience at the end that is still not resolved. There was no lotion in our room when we arrived, so I requested some via the tablet (already annoying to have no lotion, and kind of annoying to have to figure out how to contact them through a tablet..much easier to pick up a phone and press 0, but there's no phone...), Lotion never came, so I called the next morning when I got out of the shower and again realized there was no lotion. It was finally delivered after a few back and forths via text (that is their preferred method of communication), and then out of the blue, we got charged $39 for it after our check-out! I tried calling to dispute the charge, but the person said the manager wasn't there and would call me back. She never did, so I had to call again. She then said we would be refunded (she agreed to $45 to cover the foreign currency charges we incurred), but then sent an updated statement with the -$6 charged back to us again, and in any event, we STILL haven't received the refund a week later!!! Leaves a very sour taste in our mouth. I will have to call AGAIN.

Otherwise, the room was very nice, spacious, and comfortable (aside from some big marks on the wall in the corner that really should have been touch-up painted.) Great bed, towels, and bedding, but they should add much better/brighter light in the powder room area. It was very hard to do my hair and makeup with so little light (and everything is black which doesn't help!) Also frustrating in the shower (which was very large and otherwise very nice) to have that little stick type shower head and mounted so low on the wall, you have to bend over backwards (literally) to rinse off and stay warm (not a fan of the rain shower heads; you can't breathe or see while standing under them plus not practical at all for women if you don't want to get your hair wet, or do and want pressure to rinse your hair.)

Also would have expected an espresso machine in the room rather than instant coffee :( Turndown service with fresh cookies was a nice touch though!

The rooftop was lovely, but there were a bunch of kids left up there playing in and around the hot tup alone, making lots of noise, and they left a bunch of trash all over and stains on the furniture.

It also looks like there's something missing (artwork or a mirror??) behind the bar in the lobby. There's a big stain behind the beer taps. Love sitting at the bar, and their cocktails and food are FAB-U-LOUS. The hotel is so nicely decorated everywhere else...just a not so nice view at the bar.

Would strongly suggest improving the wine by the glass selection though. Not at all in line with the quality of the food and cocktails.

The complimentary bike rentals were great, as was...