The Little Nell in Aspen: what’s it like to experience one of the coolest and most stylish ski hotels in the world
MILLIONAIRES flock to this place to flaunt their wealth. There are private jets everywhere, and member’s only clubs. It’s also home to one of the world’s best hotels.
SKIING. You either can or you can’t. But hey, everyone has to take a chance, especially when you’re staying at one of the best ski hotels on the planet.
Europeans may have St Moritz, Gstaad, Val-d’Ilsere and Courchevel, but the United States has Aspen and The Little Nell.
Around this time of the year Aussies start booking local ski trips, meanwhile others may be starting to plot a northern hemisphere winter ski sojourn for later in the year. And if you are looking for a place that oozes class, money, style and star power, well, here you go.
The Little Nell is Aspen’s only five star, five diamond, ski-in/ski-out hotel. It reeks of luxury, albeit it in a totally understated and chic way.
But the thing about this hotel is it doesn’t actually feel like one. Instead, it feels more like a fabulously cool lodge that is full of like-minded peeps wanting to have a bloody amazing skiing experience.
Whether you are a full-on skier, an observer or a bona fide ski bunny, this hotel knows what you want, when you want it. It’s like they have some kind of snow field sixth sense.
While not an inn to blow its own trumpet — it’s too chic for that — awards are the norm at The Nell. It’s won the Forbes Five-Star Award for 2015; it’s ranked number 1 as “Best Hotel in Colorado”; ranked as the ‘World’s Best Ski Resort’ by The Australian’s Wish magazine; tagged ‘Best Overseas Ski Property” in Australian Luxury Travel’s 2015 Gold List Awards and has received, for 21 consecutive years, the prestigious American Automobile Association’s (AAA) Five Diamond Award, which ‘‘recognises properties renowned for uncompromising standards of excellence in all aspects of the operation’’.
And that’s just a few.
Just metres from the famous Silver Queen Gondola at the base of Aspen mountain, hotel staff are so in tune with service that the ski concierge even has your ski boots heated, ready for you to put on.
Oh, that’s while they set your skis and poles up and offer a lift, in a complimentary Audi A8 or SUV if you choose, to ski at a another mountain on the Aspen Snowmass range.
While Aspen Snowmass has four amazing mountains — Highlands, Aspen, and Buttermilk (great for the not-very-confident skiers, like me) and Snowmass — there are a heap of talented pros who instruct you in a way that helps build confidence and understand ski terrain.
Or, you could just hang out at the hotel.
At The Little Nell, you can do as little or as much as you want. Try these for some adventures:
Every morning the hotel’s private ski concierge makes sure all ski gear is waiting for me downstairs, where I am whooshed away in a car to Buttermilk mountain for the first of a series of ski lessons (you see, I hadn’t done this skiing thing for awhile ... )
We went powder skiing as the The Little Nell powdercat (of which I pretty much stayed in while the serious powder players played) travelled to the backside of Aspen Mountain. This is a seriously rare treat and every week it’s hosted by the hotel’s dynamic MD, Simon Chen. The experts in our group did around 10 untracked runs on a blank canvas of powder snow, followed by lunch at a wood-stove heated cabin followed by a chair massage. Instagram heaven!
The Ajax Tavern is seriously the ultimate après-ski setting with a sun-drenched mountainside deck perched right next to the gondola so you can see everyone finish their runs, most looking cool and calm, some looking totally whacked.
We ventured to the Caribou Club — Aspen’s exclusive, members-only dinner, bar, lounge and nightclub that opened in 1989. It’s elite city, but that said, the coolest guests aren’t those dressed top-to-toe designer but much more relaxed and subdued.
Walking around Aspen, money certainly talks and walks. Designer store after designer store pepper the quaint and very cool place, and judging by the number of private jets at the airport, it’s rich-town stuff. That said, there are pure Aspen-ites, who live and breathe their beloved town and in the process work bloody hard to keep it in tiptop shape.
In a way, The Little Nell has that same understated charm. Yes, it’s luxurious but it isn’t indulgent, the room’s decor is reminiscent of a cool New York penthouse.
Perhaps the hotel’s culinary piece de resistance is the restaurant Element 47, with an extraordinary wine cellar containing more than 20,000 of the world’s best wines and a menu that says class.
Our dinner was made even more fun with a visit from Nina from the Aspen Historical Society. Nina gave us a highly entertaining 20-minute routine (in character and in costume) of Aspen’s history. (By the way, it’s called Element 47 because it pays tribute to silver, the precious metal that first put Aspen on the map, and to the finest silver service cuisine.)
Another amazing adventure organised by the hotel was a dinner at the Pine Creek Cookhouse, where we could either cross-country ski, ride or get a horse-drawn to the cookhouse, 17 kms out of Aspen. Built in 1971 and destroyed by fire in April 2003, the Cookhouse — re-created as an authentic log cabin of native Colorado logs — is a must-do. And a few drinks at dinner will make sure you are warm enough to take the ride of your choice back to the hotel.
.
Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro is an absolute must do. The former Highlands Ski Patrol hut is a mid-mountain hot spot for on-mountain dining — and dancing. Bottles and bottles of champagne are ordered (usually the snow peeps’ favoured Veuve Clicquot drop) and most of it is shaken and sprayed all over fellow lunch guest as the DJ kicks into dance music gear and everyone is up on the tables. Ski boots and all.
But there’s a catch: everyone has to ski in and ski out. No wonder the champagne is better off sprayed than savoured.
The Aspen Mountain Club too, is a hidden gem with unmatched views of the Elk Mountain Range from every room. Designed by New York’s David Anthony Easton, the 4,400 square foot private club is invitation only and features antique Austrian tables and handwoven rugs. Yup, it’s all very old-school Aspen, but boy, it rocks.
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THE LITTLE NELL:
•Great service, food, atmosphere and a killer spa is stock standard here — 24/7.
•It’s compact: just 92 rooms has it feeling like a boutique hotel so the staff really get to know you without being pushy
•Any hotel that sends up some comfort soup when you’re wanting a ‘down day’ is simply genius!
•Location, location, location: the hotel is perched right at the bottom of Ajax (better known as Aspen Mountain) and next to the gondola that takes you up the mountain. Superb.
•The rooms are very large by hotel standards, with gas fireplaces, well-stocked minibars, biiiig bathrooms with walk-in showers, tubs and yes, heated marble floors.
•It’s cool.
Yep. I would be back there in a flash.
Save up your bucks for a holiday experience you will never, ever forget and that is a promise.
•Room rates start at US$425 in Spring and US$980 in high season while a 3-course meal at Element 47 in Spring is priced from around US$80 (plus wines); round trip flight from Los Angeles to Aspen Pitkin Country airport from US$452
Melissa Hoyer went on a vacation to The Little Nell, loved it so much ... she stayed for a few extras days, courtesy of The Little Nell.
Dire future for Aussie ski seasons
Even if damage is reined in, one of Australia’s key tourism drivers faces a bleak future, new research finds.
Detail that totally transformed family trip
A relaxing holiday with a child under five is a rare find – but this destination has managed to work out the magic formula.
Resort eliminates most hated part of skiing
There is an obvious reason this American ski resort is a favourite among the rich and famous – and it wants Aussies to visit next season.