The Little Nell Aspen Review and VR Tour: Aspen’s Living Room on the Mountain

The Little Nell Aspen Review and VR Tour:Aspen’s Living Room on the Mountain

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Why Book the little nell with Aspen Travel Advisors

Booking The Little Nell through Aspen Travel Advisors on BeVvip.com secures you the highest VIP status available, outclassing all other loyalty programs.

Benefits include:

• FIRST PRIORITY room upgrades (subject to availability)

• $100 resort credit per stay (use for spa, dining, or curated experiences)

• Daily breakfast for two, anywhere on the island

• VIP welcome amenities, unique to Aspen Travel Advisors guests

• Flexible check-in/out (when available)

• Insider access to prime rooms, signature experiences, and last-minute table reservations through our direct relationship with the island’s management

At a Glance

• Location: Base of Aspen Mountain, next to the Silver Queen Gondola, true ski-in, ski-out.
• Vibe: Intimate, polished, a locals-and-luminaries living room.
• Rooms: Fireplaces standard, many with balconies, contemporary alpine design refreshed by Champalimaud.
• Dining: Element 47 for Colorado contemporary and wine, Ajax Tavern for truffle fries, burgers, and patio people-watching.
• Bars: The Wine Bar for winter vinyl sets, sommelier-led tastings, and rare bottles.
• Signature Strength: A world-class wine program with deep cellar, serious sommeliers, and consistent top awards.
• Wellness: Outdoor pool and hot tub, compact gym, spa, and access to off-road tours, fly fishing, and mountain experiences through concierge.
• Access: Five-Star, Five-Diamond, the only hotel with ski-in, ski-out access on Aspen Mountain.
• Good For: Couples, gastronomes, serious skiers and riders, anyone who loves service that anticipates needs.
• Booking Tip: Shoulder-season rates can open value windows, pair with BeVvip for upgrade priority.

Aspen, Arrival, and the Art of First Impressions

Aspen wakes up in layers. A low hum from the gondola, a boot scrape on stone, a gloved hand that opens the door before you reach for it. The Little Nell sits in the seam where mountain meets town. It is the first room you step into when the journey ends and the skiing begins. The lobby speaks a quiet dialect of confidence. Wood that feels hand rubbed. Art that has no need to shout. A fireplace that warms without asking for attention. Someone relieves you of your skis and remembers your name by the second sentence. You feel known before you even sit down.

The hotel’s magic is not ceremony. It is choreography. A house car appears just as the temperature drops. A sommelier finds you at the table you did not yet pick. The concierge knows that the snowcat tour will suit your appetite tonight and that first tracks will suit your soul tomorrow. There is service with a smile, then there is service with memory. This house prefers the second.

Rooms and Suites: A Living Lesson in Comfortable Luxury

Mountain hotels must admit weather into the design. The Little Nell does this with style. The palette is winter light and alpine dusk. Blue, slate, cream, and the handsome tones of natural wood. Rooms and junior suites were refreshed by Champalimaud Design, a studio that understands warmth and line, while the six signature luxury suites were redesigned by Holly Hunt with an Aspen Modern language that feels as residential as it does tailored. You can read, nap, and dry gloves by the fire without feeling like you are sitting in a showroom. The room understands that you came to ski, to eat, to sleep well, and to feel spoiled at the margins.

Beds are a study in rest. Linens that invite a second morning. Balconies in many rooms look to the slopes or to town. Storage swallows gear without letting your luggage take over the living area. Lighting flatters faces and photographs with equal generosity. Bathrooms are honest about Colorado. Heated floors. Water pressure that erases effort. A tub that turns into a ritual.

If you book through BeVvip, we aim you at view categories that tend to upgrade well. We time arrival for the best odds of early room readiness, then we set Element 47 for the night you will be most awake for a tasting menu, not the first night when adrenaline fights jet lag. The small design decisions are yours. The hidden yield management is ours.

Element 47: The Dining Room that Speaks Wine

Element 47 does not perform. It converses. The name remembers Aspen’s silver mining past. The menu tracks Colorado wagyu, seasonal produce, and house made pastas that keep perfect company with a deep cellar. The room is sleek but never chilly. There is a lounge that turns into a foyer for pleasure. The chef’s hand is precise without feeling precious. The result is the kind of dinner that leaves you satisfied and a little curious, which is the best way to leave a dining room because it guarantees a return.

The wine list is where The Little Nell goes from excellent to singular. Wine Spectator Grand Award since the late nineties. James Beard recognition for the wine program. A cellar that has trained a remarkable roster of Master Sommeliers over time. Ask for a look at the book and you will receive a hundred pages of temptation. Ask for a flight and your sommelier will turn the evening into geography, history, and pleasure. This is not a trophy list. It is a living organism that makes a Wednesday night in winter feel like a milestone celebration.

How to play it

Begin with a glass of something alpine and mineral. Move to a Colorado wagyu course with a red that has freshness, not just brawn. Ask for a curveball pour. You will likely get something from Jura, Alto Piemonte, or an underdog vintage that shines at the table. Great wine service is an act of translation. Here, they speak your language within five minutes.

Ajax Tavern: Truffle Fries, Wagyu, Sun on Your Face

Walk outside and you are already on the patio at Ajax Tavern. The social weather collects here at lunch and après. There are moments when the whole town seems to pass this terrace in an hour. The menu is casual without being careless. The truffle fries are as good as their reputation. The wagyu double cheeseburger is a vacation from moderation, exactly what a ski day requests. The gondola glides past, and you realize the best seat in Aspen might be the one that lets you watch everyone head out to play.

Order a martini and stay for the second round. The light here does nice things to glassware and faces in late afternoon. If you plan a VR capture, the patio at golden hour with the gondola drifting overhead will give you footage that looks like Aspen’s heartbeat.

The Wine Bar: Vinyl, Conversation, and a Winter Habit

In winter, The Wine Bar is Aspen’s coziest living room. It is where a record spins and the conversation takes on that winter cadence of low voices and warm laughter. Seasonality matters here. The venue opens for the winter season and, when not in regular operation, it becomes a clever private event space for tastings, celebrations, and talks. That versatility is a secret advantage if you are traveling with friends or planning something special.

Ask a sommelier to set up a theme. Old World mountain reds one night. Champagne growers the next. Give the team a budget and a mood and watch them compose something personal rather than predictable.

Ski Concierge and Mountain Flow

Luxury in a ski town lives in logistics. The Ski Concierge is steps from the Silver Queen Gondola. Boots arrive warm. Skis are tuned. Tickets appear as if by sleight of hand. Lessons, guides, and instructor pairings are set before breakfast lands. The rhythm moves from coffee to first chair in minutes and you never once feel hurried. If you are traveling with family, the time savings compounds into happiness. If you are filming for VR, the morning pattern here gives you smooth choreography for a dynamic plaza shot.

Summer, Fall, and the Full Aspen Arc

Aspen laughs at the idea of an off season. Wildflowers open up hiking and biking. Rivers turn trouty and clear. Evenings slow down for patio dinners and impromptu wine tastings. The Little Nell concierge can set up fly fishing on Gold Medal waters and off road tours that deliver 360 degree views from the top of the mountain without asking you to lace a boot. The town’s cultural calendar hums with art and music. When the sun tips low behind Red Mountain, the courtyard at the hotel becomes one of those Colorado moments that feel like a scene from a memory.

Deep Dive: Untold History

A hotel can be new money or old soul. The Little Nell is both. The doors opened over Thanksgiving in 1989, a line in Aspen’s story where local ease met world class polish. The name itself recalls a mining claim that once sat just uphill. The hotel quickly found an international clientele and the bar crowd became a reliable mix of skiers who also collect art and people who appreciate a room that behaves like a home. Over the years, The Little Nell captured both AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star designations while evolving its design without losing its personality. The suites were reimagined by Holly Hunt. Guest rooms and junior suites were refreshed by Champalimaud in a short, surgical closure that yielded a lighter, fresher alpine feel and reused most furnishings. This is a property that updates its clothing without changing its character.

Wine became a pillar here thanks in part to an early decision to build a serious cellar and to hire people who could make that cellar sing. Over time the wine team at The Little Nell has produced a notable cohort of Master Sommeliers, a point of pride that explains the unusual depth of service at the table. It is rare for a mountain hotel to become a finishing school for sommeliers. It happened here.

Deep Dive: Hidden Corners and Quiet Luxuries

Private Cellar Experiences

Element 47 can arrange a tasting or dinner inside the cellar. This turns an evening into a story and lets the sommelier team guide you through the collection with a playful hand. It suits celebrations, but it also suits a Tuesday in January when you feel like tasting widely.

The Wine Bar as a Private Venue
Summer weddings and milestone birthdays have found a home inside The Wine Bar when it is not in winter service. It is elegant, well equipped, and emotionally right for a night that needs memory.

Residences Rooftop
If you are staying at Residences at The Little Nell, make a ritual of sunset in the rooftop pool and hot tubs. The 360 degree views collect town glitter and mountain silhouette in one glance. On holidays, fireworks become part of the water. This is one of those amenities that steals time in the best possible way.

People, Service, and the House Style

Great hotels develop a house style. At The Little Nell it feels like this. A doorman who knows exactly when to intervene and when to disappear. A bartender who remembers the rye you liked last night and points you toward a new bottle tonight. A ski concierge who learns your boot fit in one try. A sommelier who listens before recommending. Service lands light, then strong, then invisible again. It is not simply well trained. It is well practiced.

Our favorite test is the mid stay request. Do something slightly odd and see how the team responds. Order a late night cheese plate with a glass of something oxidative and ask for the aromatics to be emphasized. Ask for fishing at dawn, a bike by nine, and a table at Element 47 by eight. The answer is yes, with details and a smile. That is house style.

Sustainability, Decarbonization, and What You Can Feel as a Guest

The best sustainability is invisible in daily use, visible in outcomes. The property moved all lighting to LED and replaced boilers in a way that cuts a significant amount of CO₂ each year. Charging stations are on site. The house fleet includes Audi e-tron EVs that guests can ride in or test drive, a perk that turns a green policy into a bit of fun. Aspen’s wider hospitality culture has been a national leader in climate projects for decades, and you feel that ethic here. You will not hear speeches at check in. You will feel the results in the quiet of the rooms and the way transportation simply works.

For Wine Lovers, A True Pilgrimage

This is one of those hotels that wine people build trips around. The Grand Award streak, the Beard attention, the training ground reputation. In winter, the Wine Bar adds a cozy axis to the evening. In summer, private tastings can be arranged in the cellar or within Element 47. Tell the team what moves you. Old Rioja. Grower fizz. California classics with stories. They have the list and the talent to run with it.

Who Will Love It, Who Should Consider Alternatives

You will love The Little Nell if the idea of stepping from your room to your skis makes your shoulders drop. If dinner means conversation and wine rather than a scene that shouts. If you like rooms that behave like comfortable apartments rather than sets. If you travel for service and come home with names to remember.

Consider other options if a sprawling spa is your number one priority, or if you want a more overtly social lobby scene, or if you prefer a design language that is more historical. Aspen has excellent neighbors. We compare them below.

How To Book With BeVvip For Best Value

Tell us dates, view priorities, and your dining style. We align categories with likely First Priority upgrade outcomes and schedule Element 47 or Wine Bar experiences to your energy curve. All booking flows through https://BeVvip.com with the option for a dedicated advisor. Remember our house line. BeVvip delivers VIP perks and First Priority upgrades at direct rates with no membership fees. Bespoke planning is always available.

Practicalities

Location and access
675 East Durant Avenue. Steps from the Silver Queen Gondola. Ski in, ski out on Aspen Mountain. A quick walk to Aspen Art Museum, boutiques, and bars. Winter roads require attention to weather. The house car or a private transfer removes the pressure.

Seasonality
The Wine Bar operates in winter and shifts to private events when out of season. Element 47 and Ajax Tavern adjust hours throughout the year. Check dates well ahead.

Families and groups
Residences at The Little Nell create space for multi generational trips and friend groups, with a rooftop pool and hot tubs that become a nightly ritual.

Ski Concierge
Boot warming, storage, tuning, tickets, lessons, and guides handled on site. Steps from the gondola.

Final Comparison

Property	Why Pick It	Tradeoffs
The Little Nell	True ski-in, ski-out on Aspen Mountain, Five-Star, Five-Diamond service, elite wine culture, intimate scale.	Spa is compact, scene is refined rather than clubby.
St. Regis Aspen Resort	Larger spa and pool complex, signature rituals, social lobby, strong brand familiarity.	Not ski-in, ski-out on Aspen Mountain, bigger resort feel.
Hotel Jerome, Auberge	Historic grande dame, iconic lobby bar, strong sense of place and design.	Not at the gondola, vibe runs more social than slope-driven.
W Aspen	Rooftop scene, youthful energy, design-forward rooms.	Smaller rooms in some categories, not ski-in, ski-out.
Residences at The Little Nell	Condo-style space with Five-Star service, rooftop pool and hot tubs, perfect for groups or long stays.	Book well in advance, inventory is limited and in-demand.

For slope purists and wine lovers, The Little Nell stays the bull’s-eye. If you want spa days with grand scale, St. Regis leans your way. If history and a lively social heart draw you, Hotel Jerome calls. If you want apartment-style living with the same service DNA, pivot to Residences at The Little Nell and plan sunsets on the rooftop. 

Verdict

There are hotels that host Aspen. There are hotels that express Aspen. The Little Nell does the second. It is an address that puts you on the mountain without fuss, then brings you back to a room that behaves like a private apartment. The dining room speaks in the language of wine and the bar plays music on vinyl rather than chasing a trend. The concierge understands that joy lives in frictionless mornings. The sustainability work sits quietly under the hood. It does not posture. It performs. Book it when you want ease, intimacy, and a place that remembers your preferences as if they were its own.

Little Nell FAQ

Is The Little Nell the only ski in, ski out hotel on Aspen Mountain
Yes. The Little Nell is the only hotel with direct ski in, ski out access on Aspen Mountain beside the Silver Queen Gondola.

Is Element 47 recognized by leading guides
Yes. Element 47 is recommended by top guides in Colorado and is known for precise Colorado contemporary cuisine and a deep cellar.

What are the signature dishes at Ajax Tavern
The truffle fries and the Ajax wagyu double cheeseburger are beloved signatures.

How strong is the wine program
The hotel has held top wine awards for decades and the team has produced a notable group of Master Sommeliers over the years.

Is the Residences rooftop worth it
Yes. The rooftop pool and hot tubs deliver 360 degree views that feel like a private observatory for sunset and holiday fireworks.

What sustainability practices will I notice
All LED lighting, more efficient boilers with significant CO₂ reduction, EV charging, and Audi e-tron house cars with guest test drives.

Best Ways to Watch This 360° VR Experience

📌 VR Headset (Best Experience!) – For full immersion, watch using an Oculus Quest 3, Quest 2, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, or PICO headset and feel like you’re really there.
📌 Mobile (360° Mode) – Use your smartphone and tilt or swipe to explore every angle of the scene.
📌 Desktop (Click & Drag) – Click and drag on your screen to navigate the scene in YouTube 360° or VR-supported platforms.
📌 Smart TV (Curved or Large Screens) – Even without VR, experience the breathtaking visuals on a 4K/8K display for a cinematic adventure.