Historic Inns

Colorado

Historic Hotels & Inns in Colorado

From Denver’s railroad-era landmarks to the Stanley above Estes Park, the Broadmoor and the old mining towns of the San Juans and Leadville: every historic hotel and inn in Colorado we could verify.

35 historic places to stay in 18 towns · verified October 2026 · by Historic Inns editors

The short answer

Denver has the most, with 10 historic hotels and B&Bs, led by Henry C. Brown’s 1892 Brown Palace and the Oxford, opened a year earlier a block from Union Station. For ghost stories, book the Stanley in Estes Park, F.O. Stanley’s 1909 resort, where Stephen King’s 1974 stay inspired The Shining. In the San Juans, Durango has three historic hotels, led by Henry Strater’s 1887 Strater Hotel on Main Avenue, and Ouray has three more, including the 1886 Beaumont. For a grand resort, book the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (1918), the Hotel Colorado across from the Glenwood Hot Springs pool (1893) or the Hotel Jerome in Aspen (1889).

Our top picks

Best overall

Hotel Colorado

Built 1893 · Glenwood Springs

Silver baron Walter Devereux's 1893 hotel across from the Glenwood Hot Springs pool, Theodore Roosevelt's base for a 1905 bear hunt.

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Best small inn

Beaumont Hotel

Built 1886 · Ouray

Ouray's 1886 Second Empire 'Flagship of the San Juans,' closed from 1967 to 2003; the hotel says the Brown Palace is a…

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Most haunted

The Stanley Hotel

Built 1909 · Estes Park

Steam-car maker F.O. Stanley's 1909 resort above Estes Park, where Stephen King's 1974 stay inspired The Shining; its ghost tours retell the…

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Best resort

The Broadmoor

Built 1918 · Colorado Springs

Spencer Penrose's 1918 Warren & Wetmore resort below Cheyenne Mountain. Many of its 784 rooms are in later buildings; ask for the…

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Best lodge

Colorado Chautauqua

Built 1898 · Boulder

Historic cottages on Boulder's 1898 Chautauqua campus below the Flatirons, a National Historic Landmark whose Dining Hall still serves meals.

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Grand hotel

The Brown Palace

Built 1892 · Denver

Henry C. Brown's 1892 hotel by Frank E. Edbrooke, around an eight-story atrium lobby where the Stock Show's champion steer is paraded…

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Where they are

Where to go

Denver10 historic places to stay · founded 1858Oldest: The Queen Anne (1879–86)See the guide →

Every historic inn in Colorado

InnTownBuiltRoomsTypePriceHaunted
Glen Eyrie CastleColorado Springs1871–190095Inn–Rates
The Cliff House at Pikes PeakManitou Springs187354Boutique hotel–Rates
The Queen AnneDenver1879–8613B&B–Rates
The Crawford HotelDenver1881–1914112Boutique hotel–Rates
Grand Imperial HotelSilverton1883–Grand hotel–Rates
Beaumont HotelOuray188614Boutique hotel–Rates
The Historic Delaware HotelLeadville188636Boutique hotel–YesRates
The Strater HotelDurango188788Grand hotel–Rates
Hotel JeromeAspen1889–Grand hotel–Rates
The Lumber Baron InnDenver18905B&B–Rates
The Oxford HotelDenver189180Boutique hotel–Rates
Patterson InnDenver18919B&B–Rates
Capitol Hill MansionDenver18918B&B–Rates
The Western HotelOuray189116Boutique hotel–Rates
The Brown PalaceDenver1892–Grand hotel–YesRates
The Rochester HotelDurango189215Boutique hotel–Rates
The Creede HotelCreede18924Inn–Rates
Hotel ColoradoGlenwood Springs1893–Grand hotel–YesRates
New Sheridan HotelTelluride1895–Boutique hotel–Rates
Colorado ChautauquaBoulder1898–Lodge–Rates
St. Elmo HotelOuray1898–Inn–Rates
Hotel St. NicholasCripple Creek189814Boutique hotel–YesRates
Victor HotelVictor1899–Boutique hotel–YesRates
The General Palmer HotelDurango190239Boutique hotel–Rates
Redstone InnRedstone1902–Inn–Rates
The Wyman HotelSilverton190215Boutique hotel–Rates
Kimpton Hotel Monaco DenverDenver1909–37189Boutique hotel–Rates
The Stanley HotelEstes Park1909220Resort–YesRates
Hotel BoulderadoBoulder1909160Grand hotel–Rates
Hotel TeatroDenver1911110Boutique hotel–Rates
Magnolia Hotel DenverDenver1911297Boutique hotel–Rates
The Historic Crags LodgeEstes Park1914–Lodge–Rates
The BroadmoorColorado Springs1918784Resort–Rates
The Elk Mountain LodgeCrested Butte1919–Lodge–Rates
The Armstrong HotelFort Collins1923–Boutique hotel–Rates

Price is a typical nightly rate: $ under $200, $$ $200–349, $$$ $350–549, $$$$ $550+. Rates vary by season; check the inn for exact prices.

Elsewhere in Colorado

The Historic Delaware HotelDaniel Schwen / CC BY-SA 4.0

Built 1886 · Victorian commercial · Leadville · Boutique hotel

The Historic Delaware Hotel

Why stay The Callaway brothers' 1886 store-and-hotel block on Harrison Avenue, at 10,152 feet; the hotel names Mary Coffey as its 'resident ghost.'

The ghost story The hotel names its 'resident ghost' as Mary Coffey, and staff say one of the Callaway brothers who built it is also said to hang around.

Good to know Breakfast: none · Parking: street · No elevator · No pets

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Hotel ColoradoLoco Steve / CC BY 3.0

Built 1893 · Italianate · Glenwood Springs · Grand hotel

Hotel Colorado

Why stay Silver baron Walter Devereux's 1893 hotel across from the Glenwood Hot Springs pool, Theodore Roosevelt's base for a 1905 bear hunt.

The ghost story Lore names founder Walter Devereux as the hotel's best-known ghost, with witnesses reporting cigar smoke in the halls and lobby long after smoking was banned. Another legend tells of 'Bobbie', said to have been a WWII Navy nurse killed by a jealous officer, whose gardenia perfume guests report near her favorite dining-room table.

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1898Hotel St. Nicholas

Built 1898 · Mixed (three-story brick) · Cripple Creek · Boutique hotel

Hotel St. Nicholas

Why stay Cripple Creek's 1898 hospital, built by the Sisters of Mercy and restored as a hotel after 1995; ghost lore centers on a boy called 'Petey.'

The ghost story Guests and staff report paranormal experiences, and the hotel says it has a reputation as one of Colorado's most haunted places. The best-known spirit is 'Petey', said to be a boy once cared for by the Sisters, and 'Stinky' is blamed for an unexplained sewage-like smell near the back stairs.

Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free · Pets welcome

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Victor HotelMichael Newberry / CC BY-SA 4.0

Built 1899 · Italianate · Victor · Boutique hotel

Victor Hotel

Why stay The Woods brothers' 1899 brick and stone 'Bank Block,' built after fire swept Victor; lore says its ghost, 'Eddie,' fell down the elevator shaft.

The ghost story Hotel lore says that in winters when the ground was frozen, bodies were carried up the elevator and stored on the fourth floor until spring, and that those residents haunt it today. The most-reported ghost is 'Eddie', a man said to have fallen down the elevator shaft.

Good to know Elevator

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Redstone InnJeffrey Beall / CC BY 3.0

Built 1902 · Swiss Alpine-inspired frame building (NRHP); the inn describes it as Tudor Revival with Arts and Crafts decor · Redstone · Inn

Redstone Inn

Why stay Coal magnate John C. Osgood's 1902 inn for single miners and guests in his Crystal River coking town, under a square clock tower.

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The Stanley HotelHustvedt / CC BY-SA 3.0

Built 1909 · Estes Park · Resort

The Stanley Hotel

Why stay Steam-car maker F.O. Stanley's 1909 resort above Estes Park, where Stephen King's 1974 stay inspired The Shining; its ghost tours retell the lore.

The ghost story The hotel says guests, staff and visitors have long shared stories of unexplained experiences, and it embraces its reputation as a haunted hotel with ghost tours. Lore attributes late-night piano music to Flora Stanley's Steinway and a presence in the Billiards Room to F.O. Stanley, and Room 217, where Stephen King stayed in 1974 before writing The Shining, became the most-requested room.

Good to know Parking: on-site free · No pets

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1919The Elk Mountain Lodge

Built 1919 · Crested Butte · Lodge

The Elk Mountain Lodge

Why stay A 1919 miners' hotel in Crested Butte's historic district, a short walk from Elk Avenue, with free parking and breakfast served daily.

Good to know Breakfast: available · Parking: on-site free

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Ways in

Themes in Colorado

Denver’s railroad-era landmarks

Denver’s historic hotels cluster around Union Station. Union Depot opened in 1881, its Beaux-Arts central hall followed in 1914, and the Crawford has filled the station since 2014. Frank E. Edbrooke designed both the Oxford (1891), a block away, and the Brown Palace (1892) on 17th Street, once called the ‘Wall Street of the West.’ Office buildings became hotels later: the 1911 First National Bank Building (the Magnolia), the 1911 Tramway Building (Hotel Teatro) and the Railway Exchange buildings of 1909 and 1937 (the Kimpton Monaco). Four B&Bs fill houses from 1879 to 1891 on Capitol Hill, in Highland and at the edge of Five Points.

Mining towns: the San Juans, Leadville and Cripple Creek

In Leadville, at 10,152 feet, the Callaway brothers’ Delaware Block has taken in travelers since 1886. Ouray’s mining boom produced the Beaumont, the ‘Flagship of the San Juans,’ in 1886, then the Western and the St. Elmo. The Grand Imperial was finished in Silverton in 1883, a year after the first train arrived from Durango, where Henry Strater built his hotel in 1887. Telluride’s New Sheridan was rebuilt in brick in 1895, and the Creede Hotel began as Zang’s Hotel in the 1892 silver rush. In Cripple Creek, the Hotel St. Nicholas fills the Sisters of Mercy’s 1898 hospital, and in Victor, the Victor Hotel fills the 1899 Bank Block. Leadville, Silverton, Telluride and Cripple Creek are all National Historic Landmark districts.

Grand hotels and resorts

Silver baron Walter Devereux opened the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs in 1893, across from the hot springs pool and modeled on Rome’s Villa de Medici; Theodore Roosevelt made it his base for a 1905 bear hunt. In Aspen, mining investor Jerome B. Wheeler finished the Hotel Jerome in 1889 at the height of the silver boom. Spencer Penrose opened the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in 1918, designed by Warren & Wetmore with a Donald Ross golf course. In Boulder, the Hotel Boulderado opened on New Year’s Day 1909, and the Colorado Chautauqua has housed visitors in cottages below the Flatirons since 1898.

Haunted stays

The Stanley in Estes Park embraces its reputation as a haunted hotel and runs ghost tours. The hotel says guests, staff and visitors have long shared stories of unexplained experiences, and lore attributes late-night piano music to Flora Stanley’s Steinway and a presence in the Billiards Room to F.O. Stanley. Historic Hotels of America’s 2025 most-haunted list included the Brown Palace in Denver and the Hotel Colorado, where witnesses report founder Walter Devereux’s cigar smoke. The Hotel St. Nicholas in Cripple Creek, the Victor Hotel and the Historic Delaware in Leadville tell ghost stories of their own. We report these as stories guests and staff tell, not fact.

Road trip

Denver to Durango, inn to inn

Denver

Start with two nights downtown at the Brown Palace or the Oxford, or inside Union Station at the Crawford. Pick a hotel from our Denver guide.

Leadville

Spend a night at 10,152 feet in the Historic Delaware Hotel, the Callaway brothers’ 1886 block on Harrison Avenue. There is no elevator: every room is up the grand staircase.

Ouray

Stay on Main Street at the 1886 Beaumont or the St. Elmo, built by Kittie Heit for miners, or at the Western on Seventh Avenue, restored from 2020 to 2023 with 16 suites.

Durango

On the way south, stop in Silverton at the 1883 Grand Imperial. Finish in Durango at the Strater, Henry Strater’s 1887 hotel with the Diamond Belle Saloon, or at the General Palmer near the train depot, with a light breakfast included.

Beyond the inns

Signature tours in Colorado

Tours from GetYourGuide

Tours are sold by GetYourGuide and run by local operators. If you book one through these links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Ratings and prices are GetYourGuide’s.

Context

History and architecture

Colorado’s historic hotels follow its booms. Gold found near Cherry Creek in July 1858 started the rush that founded Denver, and Colorado became the 38th state on August 1, 1876. Leadville’s Delaware Block and Ouray’s Beaumont date from 1886, Aspen’s silver-boom Hotel Jerome from 1889, and silver baron Walter Devereux’s Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs from 1893, the year of the silver crash that soon bankrupted Durango’s Henry Strater. In Denver, Frank E. Edbrooke designed the Oxford (1891) by Union Station and the Brown Palace (1892), and coal magnate John C. Osgood built the Redstone Inn for his miners in 1902. Tourism came next: F.O. Stanley opened his Estes Park hotel in 1909, Rocky Mountain National Park was created in 1915, Spencer Penrose opened the Broadmoor in 1918, and the Armstrong went up in Fort Collins in 1923 for travelers arriving by car.

Questions travelers ask

What is the oldest hotel in Colorado?

Of the inns we list, the earliest start as lodging belongs to the Cliff House at Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, which began in 1873 as a boarding house, though a 1982 fire closed it until 1999. Silverton’s Grand Imperial opened as the Grand Hotel in 1883, and the Historic Delaware in Leadville has taken in travelers since 1886. The earliest date on our list is Glen Eyrie’s: Gen. William Jackson Palmer founded the Colorado Springs estate as his home in 1871. In Denver, the oldest hotel is the Oxford, opened in 1891.

Is the Stanley Hotel haunted?

That is its reputation, and the hotel embraces it with ghost tours. The hotel says guests, staff and visitors have long shared stories of unexplained experiences, and lore attributes late-night piano music to Flora Stanley’s Steinway and a presence in the Billiards Room to F.O. Stanley. Stephen King stayed in Room 217 in 1974, as the main building was closing for the season, and the visit inspired The Shining; the room became the hotel’s most requested. You can still book Room 217, sold as the 217 Spirited Grand King; the hotel’s 217 Wine Bar is a separate space in the former music room. These are stories, not documented fact.

What is the most haunted hotel in Colorado?

There is no official ranking. The Stanley in Estes Park, where Stephen King’s 1974 stay inspired The Shining, runs ghost tours. Historic Hotels of America’s 2025 most-haunted list included the Brown Palace in Denver and the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, and the Hotel St. Nicholas in Cripple Creek says it has a reputation as one of Colorado’s most haunted places. The Historic Delaware in Leadville and the Victor Hotel tell ghost stories too. These are reported lore, not documented fact.

What are the historic hotels in Durango?

We list three, all on or a block off Main Avenue: the Strater, Henry Strater’s 1887 red-brick hotel and a Historic Hotels of America member, where Louis L’Amour wrote above the Diamond Belle Saloon; the General Palmer, near the train depot, with a light breakfast included; and the Rochester, an 1892 hotel and boarding house renovated in 2022 into 15 rooms.

Are there historic hotels in Denver?

Yes, 10 that we list. Downtown and in LoDo, the Brown Palace (1892), the Oxford (1891), the Crawford in Union Station, the Magnolia, Hotel Teatro and the Kimpton Monaco are all individually listed on the National Register. On Capitol Hill, in Highland and at the edge of Five Points, four B&Bs fill houses from 1879 to 1891.

How we chose these inns

Every place on this page is at least 50 years old, holds a credential we can check (National Register listing, a listed historic district, landmark status, or Historic Hotels of America membership), and takes bookings today. We verify each one against primary sources before it goes on the list, and last checked this list in October 2026. Read our criteria.

Sources (91)

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