There are hotels that have a history, and then there is Hotel Colorado, which has a whole personality.
Tucked into downtown Glenwood Springs with the Rockies stacked up behind it and steam drifting off the hot springs across the street, Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs has been collecting stories since 1893. Presidents have run the country from its rooms. A Titanic survivor was a regular. There is a teddy bear origin myth that the hotel itself will cheerfully admit might not be entirely true. And somewhere in all of that, it quietly became one of the most romantic places in Colorado to disappear with someone you love for a long weekend.
If you are hunting for a getaway that feels like more than a nice room and a decent view, this one comes with a plot.
A Grande Dame Built to Impress
Let us set the scene. In 1891, a silver baron named Walter Devereux decided that a scrappy Colorado mining town needed a taste of Europe. He spent $850,000 building it, which lands somewhere north of $23 million in today’s money, and modeled the whole thing on the Villa de Medici in Rome. Italian Renaissance bones, honey-colored brickwork, Peach Blow sandstone trim, corner towers. Very subtle. Very restrained. (It was not.)
The original amenities read like a fever dream: tennis courts, a Victorian garden, a bird sanctuary and an indoor waterfall. There was even a private railroad spur so wealthy guests could park their personal train cars during their stay, which is honestly the most 1890s flex imaginable.
When the hotel opened in June 1893, it did so with fireworks, an orchestra in the main ballroom and a midnight dinner for 300 couples. Three hundred couples. At midnight. The place has been romantic since literally day one, and it did not take long for it to earn the nickname locals still use: the Grande Dame.
The Presidents, the Socialites and One Very Famous Bear
Theodore Roosevelt loved this place. He came out for the hunting and the hot springs and ended up doing enough actual governing from the property that it picked up the nickname “the Little White House of the West.” He addressed the town from the second-floor balcony in 1905, a balcony you can now access from the Roosevelt Suite, which is a very fun thing to know while you are standing on it in a robe.
And then there is the teddy bear.
The story goes that Roosevelt came back from a bear hunt empty-handed and thoroughly grumpy, so the hotel’s housekeeping staff stitched together a little bear from fabric scraps to cheer him up. His daughter Alice took one look at it and named it Teddy. That, the legend says, is how the world’s most beloved stuffed animal got its name.
Now, full disclosure, because the hotel is refreshingly honest about this: Mississippi also claims the teddy bear, tied to a 1902 hunting trip and a political cartoon. Historians tend to side with Mississippi. Hotel Colorado’s official position is essentially “the truth is fuzzy and we are happy to share the credit,” which might be the most charming thing a hotel has ever said about its own mythology.
Either way, there is a wall of teddy bears in the lobby, and yes, one of them is dressed as Theodore Roosevelt. Go say hi.
Roosevelt was not the only notable guest. Molly Brown, of unsinkable Titanic fame, was a frequent visitor and now has a signature suite named after her. And during World War II, the hotel served as a U.S. Naval Convalescent Hospital, caring for more than 6,500 patients between 1943 and 1945. The Melville family bought the property in 2018 and put $10 million into a historic renovation, so the whole thing has been polished up without losing an ounce of its character.
Book the Suite. Seriously.
Standard rooms here are lovely, but if you are coming for romance, this is a splurge-worthy property and the signature suites are where the magic lives.
The Roosevelt Suite comes with that balcony, the one the president spoke from. The Molly Brown leans into the Victorian drama. The Devereux honors the man who dreamed the whole thing up. And the Premier Balcony Suite gives you the view without the history lesson, if you would rather just look at mountains in your bathrobe.
Whatever you book, spend some real time in the public spaces. The lobby has grand staircases, deep chairs and fireplaces made for slow mornings, and the hallways on every floor are lined with historical exhibits and artwork. Grab a latte from Legends Café, wander the floors, and read the walls. It is a genuinely fun way to spend an hour with someone you like.
Browse the full Hotel Colorado profile for room details and availability.
Bring the Dog
Here is a detail that turns a good getaway into an easy yes: Hotel Colorado welcomes dogs.
If you have ever tried to plan a romantic weekend around a boarding reservation, you know exactly how much that matters. Glenwood Springs is a genuinely dog-friendly town, with a walkable downtown, river trails and plenty of patios where nobody blinks at a leash under the table. Bring your pup, take the long way back from dinner, and let them nap on the bed while you are out soaking.
Check current pet policies and fees when you book, since those can change.
Hot Springs, Vapor Caves and the Art of Doing Absolutely Nothing
Here is the thing about Glenwood Springs. The whole town is built around water that comes out of the ground already warm, and Hotel Colorado sits right in the middle of it.
The Glenwood Hot Springs Pool is directly across the street and is the largest hot springs pool in the world. Fun bit of trivia: Devereux built the pool in 1888, five years before the hotel, and for a stretch in the 1930s and 40s the two were under the same ownership. They have gone their separate ways since, but the two-minute walk between them has not changed.
A little further along you have Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which is a quieter, more grown-up soak with a row of small pools looking out over the Colorado River. This is the one to pick if you want a soak that feels like a date rather than a day at the water park.
And then there are the Yampah Spa and Vapor Caves, which are natural underground steam caves and one of the more unusual things you can do together in Colorado. It is warm, dark, quiet and slightly otherworldly. Pair it with a massage and call it a day well spent.
When You Eventually Leave the Property
You do not have to. But if you want to:
Hanging Lake is the postcard hike, a turquoise lake suspended on a cliff shelf in Glenwood Canyon. Permits are required and the system changes, so check current details before you plan around it.
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is cave tours plus a mountaintop amusement park, which sounds like a strange combination and absolutely is, in the best way. The gondola ride alone is worth it.
Sunlight Mountain Resort is the low-key local ski hill, and Aspen Snowmass is close enough for a day trip if you want something bigger. Winter here is genuinely underrated. Snow on the towers, steam rising off the pool, holiday lights downtown.
Downtown Glenwood Springs is walkable from the hotel’s front door, which means dinner and drinks without ever getting in the car.
Okay, But Is Hotel Colorado Haunted?
You were going to ask eventually.
The hotel has a long-standing reputation for ghost stories, and the WWII hospital years are usually where those tales trace back to, since the basement served as a morgue during that period. Guests have reported everything from elevator oddities to the classic sensation of not being entirely alone in the room.
Is any of it real? Depends entirely on who you ask and how long the hallway feels at 2am. What is true is that a 130-year-old building with towers, long corridors and this much history has atmosphere for days, and atmosphere is half of what makes a stay memorable.
If your idea of a romantic weekend includes a ghost story told over a nightcap at the Coppertop Bar, you have found your hotel.
When to Go
Summer is peak everything. Hiking, rafting, the pool, patio dinners, the courtyard in full bloom.
Fall might be the sweet spot. Golden canyon drives, cool evenings that make a hot soak feel earned, and noticeably fewer people.
Winter is the romantic one. Snow, steam, fireplaces, holiday decor, ski days followed by soaking. If you are planning a minimoon or an anniversary trip, this is the season to consider.
Spring is the quiet shoulder season with the best rates, if you do not mind some weather variability.
Planning Your Stay
Where is Hotel Colorado?Downtown Glenwood Springs, Colorado, roughly two and a half hours west of Denver on I-70 and about 40 minutes from Aspen.
How old is Hotel Colorado? It opened in June 1893, so it has been welcoming guests for well over 130 years. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Is the hot springs pool part of the hotel? Not anymore. The Glenwood Hot Springs Pool is separately owned today, though both were built by Walter Devereux and they sit directly across the street from one another. Ask the front desk about current pool packages.
Is it good for couples? Very. Book a signature suite, plan an evening soak, and let the property do the rest.
Plenty of hotels are pretty. Fewer of them have a story you will still be telling months later.
Hotel Colorado has presidents on the balcony, a contested teddy bear in the lobby, steam rising across the street and 130 years of people falling in love inside its walls. Book the suite, soak until you are useless, and let the Grande Dame remind you why people have been making the trip to Glenwood Springs since before Colorado had paved roads.
