Colorado

Colorado is defined by altitude. The Rocky Mountains cut through the state in a landscape of snow-covered peaks, alpine lakes, forests and high desert, while Denver brings an increasingly urban counterpoint to the wilderness beyond. Historic mining towns and ranch buildings sit alongside the grand lodges of America’s early mountain tourism, Mid-Century ski architecture and an emerging generation of contemporary buildings designed around timber, stone, glass and extraordinary views. Places such as Aspen have their own important Modernist legacy, where Bauhaus ideas arrived in the mountains and helped create a culture in which architecture, art and the outdoors became unusually intertwined.

Food and drink have grown considerably beyond steak and après-ski. Colorado’s farms and ranches provide exceptional beef, lamb and seasonal produce, while chefs increasingly look towards the state’s mountain landscape and Southwestern influences for inspiration. Denver has developed one of the Mountain West’s strongest independent restaurant scenes, and smaller destinations such as Boulder and Aspen add everything from serious destination dining to health-conscious cafés and mountain institutions. Colorado’s craft beer culture needs little introduction, while distilleries and a small but increasingly interesting high-altitude wine industry provide alternatives when another IPA feels unnecessary.

Colorado’s most interesting hotels range from historic mountain lodges and reinvented ski hotels to former motels, urban design addresses and remote contemporary retreats. The best use architecture to connect guests with the landscape rather than simply decorating rooms with antlers and plaid. At DNA Hotels, we curate the places where design, food, art and Rocky Mountain wilderness come together—hotels that capture Colorado at its best: outdoorsy and adventurous, but with enough architectural ambition to make staying inside occasionally just as appealing.