Birthday at the Broadmoor

My good friend Kari celebrated a birthday this past weekend and of course, we all joined in for a wonderful weekend at the Broadmoor. Sometimes you don't have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to experience 5 star hotels and luxurious living. Sometimes it's right in your own backyard. In this case, it's found at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs.

The Broadmoor is one of just a couple five star resorts in the entire state of Colorado. Given its lack of proximity to the ski resorts, it's surprising to have a resort and conference center hidden on the south side of the Springs. But many organizations hold their conferences here as well as weddings and golf tournaments. However, in the downtime after the holidays, good deals can be found. We booked a winter getaway package with standard rooms in the West Tower for $160 which included 10% off discounts at some of the more popular restaurants and a 15% discount at the shops.

The Broadmoor is spread out over many buildings lining the golf course and the lake. The West Tower has its own valet and entrance on the west side of the lake. At first, I was discouraged by this, but it is infinitely more accessible. There is a check in desk on that side as well as a small bar and lounge area. It was just perfect. Our room was spacious and featured mountain views with a large patio. The amenities were what you would expect from a five star resort with the exception of slippers. I really needed those and expected to find them in my room. We had a room with 2 double beds and they were quite small beds but with plenty of down comforters to make up for the size.

After a brief happy hour in the room, we headed over to the Hotel Bar across the lake. This is a wonderful indoor-outdoor bar that offers a huge outdoor fireplace on the patio with plenty of seating overlooking the lake. In the warmer months, the floor to ceiling windows/doors open to make the indoor area more of an outdoor patio. After happy hour, we headed to The Tavern for our birthday dinner reservations. The Tavern is my favorite place at the Broadmoor. It is a restaurant that has 3 different seating areas, each with its own style. Farthest from the door is the garden area with a glass ceiling and plants and flowers surrounding diners. Just inside that is a quieter carpeted area which features my favorite place to eat, the lunch bar, for lack of a better word. Here you can sit quietly watching the chefs prepare the meals and stay warm from the pizza oven before you. The most popular area during the dinner area is the bar area closest to the door where live music is played during dinner.

Included with the live music is a small dancing area and believe me, it gets used.

We sat in this area and were immediately pleased to recognize the server was a friend of our birthday girl. Dinner and drinks were wonderful and Kari was even served a birthday cake complete with the band singing Happy Birthday. Kari was thrilled! :) Not.

After dinner, it was on to the Summit, the highly touted newer restaurant at the Broadmoor. The Summit is located across the street from the main entrance to the hotel and is attached to the conference center. Since we had just had dessert, we settled for after dinner drinks. We tried to finish the night at one of my favorite bars, the Golden Bee, but unfortunately it was closed for renovations. But we hit every bar and restaurant open that night, so felt we had celebrated Kari's birthday properly.

The next day, after sleeping in and reading the two Sunday papers courteously left on our door, it was time for Kari to head to the spa while the rest of us shopped and wandered around. The Broadmoor is a city unto itself and there is plenty to do. James was able to get work done while Kari was pampered and Joanna used her coupon to buy the family presents. Joanna quickly became starving, so we headed back to the Tavern to belly up to the lunch counter for some pre-Super Bowl snacks and beers.

Snow had started falling early that morning and the grounds of the hotel were transformed into a winter wonderland. The Broadmoor offers an all encompassing Sunday brunch for $35 and it includes unlimited champagne and just about every type of food imaginable. We decided against that as it was Super Bowl Sunday. We headed over to the Golf Club and ate at the grill. I had never known the grill was here before and absolutely loved it. There is a dining area with windows overlooking the golf course or a bar area with red leather bar stools and tv's. We chose the bar area. After one last wonderful meal it was time to head out to beat the weather to get to our Super Bowl parties.

We walked the long way past the lake on the west side and wound up entering the West Tower at the far southern end. In doing so, we discovered hallways filled with photos of all of the famous people who had stayed at the Broadmoor. It was fun seeing this part of the Broadmoor's history. Given that the Ice Hall had previously laid claim to famous figure skating events, there were many sports figures representing U.S. championships won. Not to mention all of the famous golfers and celebrities who attended the championships held at the club. I'm glad we took the time to peruse the walls.

Finally, it was time to say our goodbyes and pack up the car. Remembering we had only been at the hotel for one night, a short 24 hour period, I had to take a photo of James with all of his and Kari's luggage. Clearly, he overpacked and wished he didn't have to leave. Who needs a bellman's cart for an overnight stay 45 minutes from home?? :) Either way, we all had a great time and are glad Kari chose this way to celebrate her birthday! On to London for the Big 4-0!!!