The Oxford Hotel

This 80-room LoDo anchor was Denver’s first hotel, built in 1891—and for the most part, it remains a stately representative of the Gilded Age, marked by marble expanses, carved woods, intricate ironwork, ornate antiques and period oil paintings. But a few exceptions are worth noting. Like the Cruise Room, Denver’s first post-Prohibition cocktail bar and an Art Deco gem. And a spa that does every au courant thing from pumpkin facials to Japanese hair straightening (as well as a “bath butler” to draw private soaks). And the modern farm-to-table steakhouse, Urban Farmer. And cool package partners like acclaimed local distillery Laws Whiskey House. The Oxford may be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but it hardly rests on old-fashioned laurels.