I live only about 4 hours away in Boulder, CO. My best girlfriend, whom I had not seen for a few years, came into town, from Annapolis, MD, especially for this weekend.
We stayed one night on Sept. 27, 2008. I booked our room directly with the hotel, after checking rates at various travel booking sites, and got a slightly better deal than anything else I saw, about 5% better. I paid $103 before taxes, in advance, as I was booking it only 2 weeks before arrival.
It had been some time since I had stayed overnight in Snowmass, so I wasn't quite sure where the hotel was located. Stupidly, I'd forgotten the name of the hotel and thought I had booked in to The Snowmass Inn. But after checking at the front desk for my reservation, and being told I wasn't in their system, the front desk clerk there asked if I wanted to check the phone book for some of the other inns in the area and maybe the name would jump out at me. Snowmass Village is pretty small so the list wasn't too long. Almost immediately I saw the name of where we were booked and was told it was right next door, just down the hill about 100 ft.
Time of arrival was about 4:45pm on Saturday. The hotel parking was free, always a bonus, and right across the road from the lobby entrance. We unloaded our small bags, walked across the stone bridge (hence the name of the inn), under the over-hanging canopy, and walked into the 4th floor lobby. The hotel is built on a hill.
The lobby was small, rustic feeling, which is normal for this area, clean and well kept. The front desk staff were very friendly and efficient. I was addressed by my name with a smile. This is so much better treatment than I ever get in most Aspen hotels!
Complaint and Complement #1: The music blaring from the bar/restaurant, right next to the front desk, was way too loud. I mentioned I was having a hard time hearing the clerk, and he motioned with his head to another staffer who immediately called the bartender to turn the music down.
I was given our keys to a room on the 5th floor and informed the bar was open and restaurant food service began at 5 pm. The elevator was just up the ramp a little, on the left, but as our floor was only one flight up, we took the stairs.
Complaint #2: Open entering the 5th floor hall, we were hit with suffocating 80+ temps.
We proceeded to our room and upon checking out the room, we found we couldn't find the over the sink light. I called the front desk clerk who said he'd come up right away to check it out and he did! Compliment 32.
While waiting for him, I checked out the view and found we were right over the lobby overhang, so no view and the smoking area was right under us too. I again called the desk clerk and was told they'd see if they could find something else, but as they were fully booked, it might not be possible.
When the first desk clerk arrived to show us where the light switch for the vanity light was, I was still on the phone about the room location. I said I'd talk to this man and he was sure he could find us something else. Within 10 minutes, he was back at our door with 2 alternatives. The 1st room, one flight up only had 1 bed, and the same view, being it was right above our current room. The 2nd choice was on the 3rd floor with not much view either, but it was on the back side of the hotel and still pretty, and much quieter too. So we took it.
We had wonderful drinks and dinner in the hotel at the Artisian Restaurant and Bar, as were were tired and were planning an early morning check-out. The food was good, portions were generous and the prices reasonable for the area. Breakfast though was only so-so, but it was complimentary, so I couldn't complain. A few cold cereals, yogurts, hard-boiled eggs (which I hate), apples, bananas, coffee, o.j., and I think banana bread.
Complaint #3: Since it was too warm in our room, before going to bed, I opened the window about 3 inches for some fresh air and turned on the quietest ceiling fan. It made no noise at all! I want one of those myself. About midnight, I woke up feeling cold. I closed the window and turned on the heat to 65F. This is where the worst of our stay lies. The heater would make this loud BANG sound every time it kicked on. At first I thought some child in the room next to us had fallen out of bed and was kicking the heater in their room, but after hearing it for 3 hours do the same thing, on and off, and getting no sleep during that time, I figured it might be the heater. So I turned the thermostat off again and it stopped. I only managed to get another 2 hours of sleep after that. So much for getting up early for our check-out.
When I went to check out, I told the desk clerk about the heater bagging and that I hadn't much sleep because of it. He only offered to discount the room another 20%. I would have preferred a larger discount, but I wasn't in any mood to haggle due to my tired state and need to leave, so I let it go. He also said he'd tell maintenance to check it out.
All in all, I was ok with the hotel, but not too sure if I'll stay there again.
