October 27th is mine and my husband’s wedding anniversary. It has been two years since we got married in California so we started a mini tradition (not sure if you can call something a tradition after only two years but anyways…) where we spend our anniversary weekend in the mountains. The end of October is still shoulder season at a lot of the mountain resorts, which means it is a great time of the year to score deals on hotels. The only downside is there is a good chance a lot of things are closed. When we went to Winter Park last year, we had no problem finding yummy restaurants to try. However, Aspen/Snowmass was a different story.
Overall we have an amazing weekend, but if you are planning a trip to Aspen between mid-October through mid-November, just be prepared that there won’t be a lot going on. We stayed in Snowmass, and restaurants that were actually open were far and few between. We ended up eating at our hotel the majority of the time except the first night were we ventured to the neighboring hotel’s restaurant. Downtown Aspen (at the time) still had a ton of open restaurants, but be prepared to pay the Aspen prices (we’re talking $14 for a taco) and make reservations as seating fills up quickly.
We stayed at the Viceroy hotel, which can run $600+/night during peak season. It’s a nice place, but I would never spend that much to stay there (or any hotel for that matter). We were able to get a nice room with a fireplace, soaking tub, and kitchenette for $130/night. Paul got us the breakfast package for the weekend, which ended up being mediocre. After a meh breakfast on Saturday morning, I was actually a bit skeptical to eat there for our anniversary dinner later that evening. But thankfully we were both pleasantly surprised with Paul’s steak and my chicken dish.
We mainly spent the weekend sightseeing, walking around and eating. We planned our Saturday around going to the Maroon Bells later that afternoon. Due to COVID and I believe just the influx of visitors over the years, you have to make a reservation to get a parking spot at the base of the trail. Paul booked our reservation a month or so in advanced and thank goodness he did. There were a ton of people who didn’t get reservations but still wanted to go see the Maroon Bells, so they rented bikes or walked. Just a warning, it is a lonnngggg walk/bike ride to get the the base. We saw so many people giving up and tuning around or trying to hitchhike for a ride #strangerdanger.
I also made a vlog of the weekend so be sure to check that out below!
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xoxo Olivia
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