Hotel Jerome

A historic, mountain hotel with alluring updates

by Patrick Janelle

Aspen has long been on the radar of New Yorkers as a luxury vacation spot, but the tiny town (its year-round population is roughly 7,000 people) had a blue-collar life long before it ever became a ski destination. This fact, combined with its location far from any major freeways, keeps the place dynamic and the slopes quiet (ski resort towns like Crested Butte and Telluride are similar for this reason).

When I make the trip, I always stay at the historic Hotel Jerome, a property that has been a respite and watering hole for the community since the late 1800s, when Aspen functioned primarily as a mining town. Legend has it that the Hotel Jerome was built by a co-owner of Macy's, Jerome Wheeler, and was one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi to have electric lighting. In more recent years, the hotel was acquired by the luxury hospitality group Auberge Resorts, and the hotel has grown to include a modern set of residences and penthouses, as well as a brand new, subterranean cocktail bar named Bad Harriet, which is housed below the former local newspaper office. Since the property's renovation a couple years prior to my visit, the hotel's Living Room has also become one of the coziest places for an aprés ski, which I confirmed with a few evenings spent there sipping cocktails by the fire.