After checking out of the Marriott Westminster, we headed to Aspen (first time) for our two night stay. I’ll talk about the drive to Aspen and the town itself in a focal point later on, but first up is my stay in Aspen.
The St. Regis Aspen
315 E Dean St, Aspen, CO 81611
SPG Category 7: 30,000 points per night
Introduction:
Since my dad is SPG Platinum, the St. Regis Aspen was the ideal place to stay. On this particular weekend in August, the room rates weren’t terrible for Aspen (the town is extremely overpriced) and I opted to pay ~$300/night for both rooms with AMEX Fine Hotels and Resorts so that we would get a $100 food/beverage credit, free breakfast, SPG points, elite night credits, and third night free benefit.
The property is located just 2 blocks from the town center, and has a charming old English brick house look, which is rare for a property built in the 90s.
Check In:
Check in was an efficient process with our benefits explained, suite upgrade confirmed, and bags unloaded from our car. We were invited to attend the daily champagne sabring event in the lobby area of the hotel, but elected to head to our room to refresh instead.
1 Bedroom Suite:
The one bedroom suite one of the rooms was upgraded to was in of exceptional quality and condition. Perhaps one of the best accommodations I’ve ever seen. The massive double vanity restroom featured Remede toiletries, and one of the largest showers I have ever seen. Just a side note about Remede toiletries: they are nice enough, but seem to always smell similar to VICKS for some reason?
All suites come with Butler service, which is mostly useless. However it was nice that they had free coffee, tea, or hot chocolate service whenever you call in. It’s especially nice for cool nights in Aspen and after a quick ski on the mountain. Wi-Fi was generally fast throughout our stay and free as a Platinum/AMEX FHR guest.
We did order dinner to the room one night to finish off the dining credit, but that ended up being an absolute fiasco. They took over 90 minutes to bring our order and they got it all wrong or didn’t have some of what we had ordered. So much for that service, the hotel didn’t even seem fully occupied.
The Room:
The other room we received was just the bedroom portion of the suite with a slightly smaller spa like bathroom.
The Gym:
The St. Regis Aspen features a fantastic fitness center with a great assortment of equipment. It was also nice that the gym featured towels and water bottles at each equipment set. The gym was generally empty while I was there in the evenings, which is always nice.
My apologies for the images here, my phone’s camera was damaged…..
I’ll admit that I did something stupid the first night I was in Aspen. I decided to head to the gym for a quick run, forgetting that I was at 8,000 feet in elevation. After running a mile or so in a very short time, I felt extremely light headed and felt a little dizzy. Luckily I was sensible enough at that point to stop and take a break to catch my breath and things returned to normal without an oxygen mask. So do be careful about exercising at this altitude, it’s not the same as at or a few hundred feet above sea level.
Breakfast at Chefs Club
Breakfast is served every morning at the Chefs Club Restaurant and FHR as well as SPG Platinum guests get access to the full buffet or items off the menu for $45 or less per person. The buffet was small and food was generally of average quality (the fresh muffins were the best part), but the service isn’t anything to write home about. I didn’t want to overeat so I thought about ordering something from the menu, but there was no one to take any orders. The lady who seated us did not ever come back to ask if we needed anything. So I would very much compare this to a breakfast at a Holiday Inn rather than a St. Regis. In the end, I had the buffet for $35+tax and this was actually the better value anyway.
After breakfast, we pretty much just got up and left. There wasn’t a bill to sign or anything (just the initial room number request). The experience wasn’t really much different from breakfast at a Holiday Inn Express.
Lobby
The lobby of the hotel was always packed so I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of it, but I did enjoy sitting by the fire and reading a book on cold nights.
Other Features of the hotel:
- Free ride anywhere within town in a Lexus LX570 (reserve at front desk)
- Free airport shuttle to Aspen Airport
- Free Coffee/Tea in the Lobby
Bottom Line:
The St. Regis Aspen is a top of the line property in terms of rooms and amenities. The rooms are spacious, modern, and extremely comfortable. But that’s pretty much where the niceties stop. The property is extremely expensive for what you get with rates climbing over a $1000 very frequently (as is everything in Aspen), and the service always felt a little disingenuous. I’m guessing this may have something to do with the crowd of people that stay here who always felt a little stuck up or bratty. I did meet a couple of people who were extremely friendly after they realized that I wasn’t demanding them for stuff like some other guests (ahem). Overall, I can’t complain too much about my stay, but it was nothing like the stay I had at the St. Regis Rome. I would personally never pay $1000 or 30,000 points (~$660) to stay at this property, but what do I know about supply and demand in Aspen? The hotel market is totally geared for the upper class.
Don’t get me wrong here, Aspen is an amazing town and perhaps one of the finest Euro-American towns. I just wish there were better, less pretentious options in town.
Have you stayed at the St. Regis Aspen? What are your thoughts?
Marriott Denver – Westminster
St Regis Aspen
Focal Point: Independence Pass
Focal Point: Aspen Area
Hyatt House Denver Airport
