Four Seasons Denver

It’s a fine line the Four Seasons walks. On the one hand, luxury guests expect meticulous service and a laundry list of upscale amenities. But if the experience is too consistent, it risks lapsing into sameness. The Four Seasons challenge has been maintaining its high standards while still managing to tailor the experience to the locality. The Four Seasons Denver is a case in point: from this spire-topped skyscraper, with its far-ranging views of the Rockies and the plains, it would be quite a feat if you managed to forget where you were.

Inside, stacked stone and earth tones are everywhere, but they’ve been given a loving polish. Rather than overdoing some old-West or mountain-lodge theme, the hotel has commissioned local artists to provide over 1,000 original sculptures and paintings 10 accent every room. This is bold, contemporary stuff: weighty bronze sculptures, oil abstractions, metalwork, not homespun sunset kitsch. The 239 rooms and suites refuse to be dwarfed by the distant peaks. They’re spacious, wide open, and even the plasma screens are bigger than normal. Corner rooms make the most of the plentiful Colorado sunshine, and the suites verge on the residential.

The fact that there’s only one restaurant — Edge, an American steakhouse — feels more like a vote of confidence than a limitation (and anyway, Denver’s restaurant district begins just outside the front door). The bar offers tapas and local microbrews, with service that extends to the third-floor rooftop pool — which, incidentally, is open for a larger proportion of the year than you’d think, thanks to Denver’s surprisingly moderate climate.