Aspen

Aspen turns a Colorado mining town into a cultural capital. Four mountains, contemporary art, restaurants and a long-standing creative community make the destination as compelling in the village as on the slope.

Aspen was founded during the silver boom of the 1880s and nearly emptied after the crash of 1893. Its revival began in the late 1940s, when Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke founded the Aspen Institute and the music festival, and the first chairlift opened on Aspen Mountain. The Victorian centre, with the Wheeler Opera House and the Hotel Jerome, remains its heart.

Aspen Skiing Company operates four mountains: Aspen Mountain, directly above the town; Aspen Highlands, with the steep Highland Bowl; Buttermilk, home of the X Games; and Snowmass, the largest, ten miles away. The town’s galleries, the Aspen Art Museum and a strong dining scene give it a life that is as much urban as alpine.

The ski season runs from late November, around Thanksgiving, to mid-April. Christmas, New Year and Presidents’ Day week in February are the busiest periods; January brings the X Games at Buttermilk and cold, dry Colorado powder. March offers the deepest base and warmer days on the terraces, and the spring weeks close the season with longer days on all four mountains.

Summer is Aspen’s second great season. The Food & Wine Classic takes place in June, the Aspen Ideas Festival at the end of June, and the Aspen Music Festival and School runs from late June to August. Autumn brings golden aspen groves in late September; spring and late autumn are the quiet months.

The Little Nell stands at the base of the Silver Queen gondola on Aspen Mountain, the only ski-in, ski-out hotel in the town itself. Hotel Jerome, built by the silver baron Jerome Wheeler in 1889, remains the historic heart of Main Street, its bar a gathering place since the mining era. The St. Regis Aspen Resort, a few steps from the gondola, adds a large spa and some of the most spacious rooms in the town.

All three lie within a short walk of each other, the restaurants and the galleries of the centre. LVXVRY books The St. Regis through Marriott STARS & Luminous — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay — and advises on and arranges stays at The Little Nell and Hotel Jerome.