Looking for a good location to stay in the Denver area. We will be visiting in late August/early Sept. and will have a car to drive to Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado Springs/Pikes Peak. We would prefer to stay in one hotel for the four day trip. Looking for recommendations for both the area and for specific hotels. The hotel should under $200/night, preferably $150. Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Since you want to go to both Colorado Springs/Pike's Peak which is south of Denver and RMNP which is northwest of Denver, downtown Denver might be your best bet. I just checked Orbitz and the Hyatt Regency at the Denver Convention Center has a $99 rate for your time frame. It's a new hotel which opened just a few months ago and is very nice. Orbitz also had rates for less than $100 in the Denver North/Westminster area (toward RMNP) and in the Denver Tech area (toward Colorado Springs). In truth, if you would stay in Denver Tech it would add 30 min max on your trip to RMNP and same for trip to Colorado Springs if you stayed in Denver North.

Can you tell me what is the difference between downtown and the Cherry Creek area.. Will be staying in Denver one night next week. Have reserved a room at the Fairfield Marriott in Cherry Creek, any other suggestions to stay in Denver area.

I think that 30 minute addition from the Tech Center is based on the best of all possible worlds, not anywhere near a typical rush hour.

Donna, Cherry Creek is a neighborhood just to the southeast of the main core downtown area and is a lovely place to stay. Lots of boutiques and good restaurants and bars, in the vicinity of the city's best known upscale mall (Cherry Creek Mall) No reason to change your reservation - I hope you'll like it!

Donna,
You'll love the Fairfield--it's nicer than some Hyatts or Marriotts that I've seen. Wonderful customer service and newly refurbished rooms.

Mike,
Downtown is really fun--I would suggest staying there. Lots of restaurants and bars with patio seating are located on the pedestrian-only 16th Street mall with hotels in walking distance. We like the Marriott City Center, Hotel Monaco, the new Hyatt (there are two downtown--this is the convention center Hyatt) and the Westin. If you're looking for something cheaper, try the Holiday Inn--it's not bad at all. I've also heard good things about the Magnolia Hotel.

How far is the Fairfield from the main shopping/restaurants? Can you walk?

No, you can't walk to shopping from the Fairfield, unfortunately. Well, you could, but it would be a hike of a couple miles and a great portion of that would be on one of Denver's busiest streets (Colorado Blvd.). Cherry Creek shopping mall and Cherry Creek North shopping area are a couple miles to the north. Park Meadows shopping mall would be 5 or so miles to the south.

If you're in the mood for shoe shopping, however, a DSW shoe store is right across the street from the Fairfield

Thanks, I was looking for something somwhat reasonable within walking distance to the main area... But the price for the Fairfield can't be beatr.

Mike, did you reserve a hotel downtown? I think that would be best for you, as you can easily get on I-25 for your day-trips. And LoDo (lower downtown) is a lot of fun, with lots of restaurants. Tess gave you some good hotels to try. If the new Hyatt Regency still has the $99 rate, I'd go for it.