This is an older, tourist motel located on the main street in Manitou Springs, Manitou Avenue. That street also, by the name Colorado Avenue, connects to former state capital, Old Colorado City with its shops & galleries, and to Colorado Springs and on to Peterson AFB. The hotel is operated by great people who will ensure your stay, whether for tourism or business, makes the most of your time on the front range. The hotel could not be better situated: Pike Peak Cog Railway & Manitou Incline are at the west end of the road, as are the old Manitou Hot Springs and its famous Manitou Water, all of which correctly claim 275 days of sunshine/year. Seven Falls, lit by night and where Helen Hunt Jackson wrote her famous Victorian Novel, Ramona, is just to the west, as is the Boardmore. (A bit further on, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base - home of NORAD, as well as Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - and Ft. Carson, home of 4th I.D.). Upslope to the west are Cave of the Winds and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, the former original to the area's geography and the later brought in to plus up tourist revenue over a century ago. Keep going and, around the back of Pikes Peak, you reach Woodland Park and Cripple Creek and its famous Molly Kathlean gold mine, open for tours w/ gold panning nearby - you will actually find some gold! Immendately to the north of the hotel and the 2nd major geographical highlight after Zebulon Pike's peak is Garden of the Gods, a city park set aside for the people of Colorado Springs 150 years ago. You can spend a day there or an hour. Since it's just 5 minutes from the hotel, you can return, as I did, at various times of day to take extraordinary pictures with different light and shadows. Farther north, and open for do-it-yourself or guided tours is the United States Air Force Academy. The cadets have become a major athletic powerhouse and at the right time of year, for minimal ticket cost, you can watch world class sporting events in hockey (local rivalry between CC and DU), football (front range rivals are UW and CSU) and women's soccer (intense rivalry between the Falcons and CC Tigers, UW Lady Pokes and UNM Lobos), with national rivalry between Air Force and Army Black Knights, Navy Midshipmen, UNLV Runnin' Rebels, San Diego State Aztecs, Connecticut, Arkansas Little Rock, Illinois State, UC Irvine and Loyola) all while maintaining military height and weight. The La Fon is kid friendly, pet friendly and 420 friendly (located immediately 1/2 block east of the famous Maggie's Farm). There is excellent downhill and nordic skiing 90-mins to the west (Monarch Mountain, Ski Cooper, Breckenridge/Dillon/Frisco/Keystone/A-Basin), Royal Gorge (frightening pedestrian bridge and white water rafting), and don't miss Seven Bridges Trail, old Gold Camp Road, St. Mary's Falls as well as Rainbow Falls, U.S. Olympic Training Center, Will Rogers Shrine, Bear Creek Nature Center, San Isabel National Forest, et al. Don't know where all these places are, best times/least touristed times to go, best routes? Not a problem because the helpful folks at the front desk do! Enjoy.…