Aspen - An Honest Review
My wife and I visited Aspen this winter and had a great time. We went for 4 nights. Below is an unbiased opinion from a tourist for prospecting tourists coming from two people who travel all over.
Skiing/Activities: Elite. The skiing is second to none and this was on an off year. Enough said. We snowmobiled at T-Lazy Ranch and had a blast. The guides and staff were knowledgeable and pleasant. The Snow League put on by Shaun White was there that weekend and they put on a great event. Well organized, high energy, and the base level ticket allowed you to walk alongside the half pipe, too. Awesome experience. (10/10)
Nightlife/Apres: Elite. One of the highlights of Aspen for out of towners in my opinion. St Regis on Saturdays outdoors is a lot of fun and great vibes. Celebrities were hanging around if you’re into that and good music. The sound system at the Regis is very good. The Jade Room was really interesting to say the least. On mountain apres is great too. Can’t go wrong here. We walked by Belly Up and that sounded like it was popping with a bunch of people there too. Caveat for some, prices on everything is sky high. (9/10)
Shopping: Very good. Mostly the same flagship stores you’ll see anywhere. Gucci, Louis, Prada, Rolex, Hermes, etc. which is whatever. BUT, there are some really nice boutiques like Wylde for woman, Kemo Sabe was a fun experience the staff there is top tier, REVOLVE & FWD the wife liked a lot some cool pieces in there, and then the art from the outside looks very good too. The Boutique Ogier is ultra luxury and had really nice stuff. (8/10)
The People/Demographic: The people that live in Aspen, retail workers, servers, bartenders… these people are amazing. It’s the people that come to Aspen for vacation that ruined it for us. Walking on the street passing others while they endlessly look you up and down to see what you’re all about. Waiting for your table at a restaurant is the same. Full of people that think they’re way more important than they actually are. Great example was on an almost 70 degree day we passed this woman wearing a full fur coat top to bottom, fur head scarf, designer everything else, and of course a birkin… so insanely out of place for the weather and over the top. People all over just doing way too much. This really annoyed us the entire time because truly it was endless. (5/10)
Food: Pretty good for a Colorado ski town but nothing to hype about if you know good food. It is nothing close when ranking against NYC, Mexico City, Tokyo, majority of Europe, etc. The mindset we had going in was that the food here was going to up to that level based on what we heard, price, and exclusivity for reservations. Our favorite meals were actually the lunches we had at White House Tavern and Clark’s Oyster Bar (our favorite). For dinner, Wayan is overrated compared to what social media tells you but very cool ambiance. Matsuhisa was average compared to their other flagship sister restaurants they own. The other spots weren’t memorable enough to mention. (7/10)
Budget/Value: I would be prepared to spend. You can easily hit 15-20k if you’re not budget conscientious all things considered. Flights, Hotel/Airbnb, Ubers, 1k for lift tickets (2 days 2 people), go to top restaurants, core lunch spots, if you like fine wine/champagne, extra activities, etc. My wife and I vacation 3-5 times a year. For what we got from what we spent, we’ve gotten better for less elsewhere outside the skiing. (7/10)
Overall, we agreed we would go back if it was for a guys or girls trip. You cannot go wrong for something like that. As for other spots in the Midwest, we’ve been to Breck, Telluride, all of Utah, and Jackson Hole. We enjoyed Jackson Hole, Park City and its surrounding mountains much more and would recommend that instead.
EDIT 1: I was ignorant to the fact that Aspen and the other locations are not in the Midwest and stand corrected.
EDIT 2: If you’re a traveler looking for an honest review, this is one that I wish I had seen from someone before visiting. Make sure you read all the comments before you leave, they’re hilarious. Reddit is amazing.