Hotel at a Glance: The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, Autograph Collection

Every bit of the guest experience centers on luxury at this 4-star hotel in downtown Denver. Afternoon tea brings housemade scones served on fine china, and Sunday champagne brunch finds diners raising toasts over eggs Benedict. A sophisticated bar pours nearly two dozen single-malt scotches.

• Classic and signature rooms have city views and high ceilings set off by crown moulding.
• Upscale dining: Palace Arms crafts seasonal menus with locally sourced produce and Colorado meats; reservations required by contacting the property.
• Deep relaxation comes with spa treatments such as a sea-salt body scrub or deep-tissue massage; reservations required by contacting the property.

Denver, Colorado: Mile High City in the Rocky Mountains

If you can tear your eyes away from Denver's spectacular Rocky Mountains scenery, there's a lot to see in the city. In the trendy Lower Downtown Historic District—LoDo to natives—you can stroll through the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver or mingle with the fashion-forward crowd filling the restaurants, boutiques, and nightclubs of Larimer Square. Downtown, the pedestrian-friendly 16th Street Mall has sidewalk cafés, skyscrapers, and plazas filled with street performers.

For an outdoor adventure inside city limits, make your way to City Park, which houses the Denver Zoo as well as the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The museum’s long-standing wildlife hall features more than 90 dioramas and taxidermal animals from around the world.