PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Striving to compete with the best that Colorado has to offer (and doing a pretty good job), the Cliff House is an old yet new facility. Built in 1874, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980, and has hosted such eminent guests as Theodore Roosevelt, Clark Gable, and Thomas Edison. A major fire forced the Cliff House to close in 1982, and it remained closed until a massive reconstruction in 1997. The project incorporated several pieces of the hotel's original decor, including ornate woodwork and a tile fireplace, and what the fire destroyed was replicated with an emphasis on attention to detail. Once again a grand and luxurious hotel, the Cliff House reopened in 1999.

Today, the lovely, uniquely decorated accommodations vary in size and personality, although the overall decor is Queen Anne-Victorian. Units range from average-size, relatively simple studios to large, luxurious celebrity suites named for former guests. Some units have gas fireplaces, two-person spas, steam showers, and terrific views of the mountains. All have live flowering plants, robes, heated toilet seats, working desks, and high-speed Internet access. We wouldn't turn down any room at the Cliff House, but our favorite is definitely the Clark Gable Suite ($475 double in summer), which is decorated in subdued Hollywood style -- if you can call leopard-print wallpaper subdued -- and contains a shower for two, a jetted tub, a wet bar and refrigerator, two TVs, a gas fireplace, and photos of Clark, who stayed at the hotel in the early 1940s.

There's a fine dining restaurant, and the entire property is nonsmoking.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Denver, Boulder & Colorado Springs, 9th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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