Inside America's Most Famous Ski Hotel

ASPEN, Colo. (MainStreet) -- Warm and sunny weather isn't exactly what a ski destination wants come December and early January, but in Aspen that's exactly what they got with an unusually late snow season. You wouldn't know that mid-February, though, with recent snowstorms putting a coat of white on Aspen's four ski mountains and a smile on the face of a chauffeur from The Little Nell -- what many consider America's ultimate ski hotel.

The 10-minute drive from Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is arranged in advance for guests of The Little Nell, free of charge and in nothing less than a Cadillac Escalade. Driving through town one sees the benefits of investment before the real estate crash, which brought several hotel properties to Aspen and nearby Snowmass, glossy names such as St. Regis, Grand Hyatt(H) and Viceroy(VICEROY) have joined the marquee of fashionable hotels sought out by visitors, but The Little Nell manages to stay atop the competition even with room prices that are also higher than the others'.

A weekend at The Little Nell in Aspen is unlike any hotel experience in the U.S.

More modest guests of The Little Nell will insist it's the ski-in/ski-out location next to the Silver Queen Gondola at Aspen Mountain that makes it Aspen's "it" hotel. Opened in 1989 and built on land once used as a railway stop, pasture and favored watering hole called Little Nell's, the hotel is a crown jewel for Aspen Skiing, a company privately owned by the Crown family. Aspen Skiing also operates the ski areas at Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass, as well as dining and nightlife properties throughout the area.