White Elephant Resorts has officially opened White Elephant Aspen, a 54-room luxury boutique hotel in Aspen’s West End, marking the brand’s first mountain destination and its debut in the American West.
Located at the corner of Main and Garmisch streets, the property blends the hospitality group’s signature residential-style service with a distinctly Colorado aesthetic. The hotel features the acclaimed LoLa 41 restaurant, more than 125 original works of art and a design inspired by Aspen’s cultural heritage and alpine setting.
Boston-based architectural and design firm EMBARC led the hotel’s architecture and interior design, creating a contemporary interpretation of mountain luxury with natural materials, warm tones and locally inspired artwork.
The rooms and suites—some of which have private outdoor patios or balconies for taking in the mountain air—come with Roman clay wall finishes, porcelain tile flooring, natural woods, and such textural elements as horsehair and rustic stone mosaics. Custom furniture is featured throughout, including hand-painted lamp shades, embossed leather headboards, resin coffee tables, and oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures, all set against a palette of Aspen whites and cognac tones. The piece-de-résistance is the 1,660-square-foot Penthouse Suite, with three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and dining space, and a 1,600-square-foot balcony with sweeping views. Families and small groups, meanwhile, will have plenty of room to spread out in the two-bedroom suite, measuring 730 square feet.
Common spaces and guest rooms showcase more than 125 original works, curated by art advisor Emily Santangelo, who has worked with White Elephant since 2017. Designed to slow guests down to meander through what feels like a vivid gallery, the collection will include landscapes by artist Alex Katz and paintings by Robert Peterson, as well as special commissions by Orit Fuchs (whose Pop Art-inspired “Lady of the House” so memorably presides over the lobby of the White Elephant Palm Beach) and young British wunderkind Doodle Boy. A focal point in the lobby is the rotating photography of Maroon Bells by famed shutterbug Bob Tabor.
The opening expands White Elephant Resorts’ portfolio beyond its established East Coast destinations and adds a new luxury lodging option to Aspen’s hospitality landscape. The hotel welcomed its first guests on June 15.
