Susan Redstone, Time Out Writer Jul 26, 2018
During the winter I was invited to have drinks at the new Marble Bar in Aspen which opened in January at the Hyatt Residence Club Grand Aspen. If you’ve been in, you’ll know it’s a sumptuous mountain-modern refit of the hotel bar operated by The Marble Distillery Company.
After enjoying a really tasty Moscow mule with infused everything, one of the distillery’s specialties, I was chatting to the crew gathered and we somehow got completely off topic. I’d just declined a second cocktail, explaining that I’d shown up with the dog, a golden retriever (who is better behaved than a 10-year-old), to find that dogs are not allowed inside the Hyatt, something I had not known.
Poor old Porkchop gave me the “stink eye,” or the guilt trip, whichever term resonates, when he’d been relegated to his bed in the car. Anyone with a pooch knows that sad face. Tug on the heart strings, oh doggy dear.
Anyhow, that’s how the conversation turned to dog-friendly establishments, not just for imbibing, but for room reservations too.
First we counted The Nell and The Limelight and the areas within each hotel where dogs are allowed. And it soon turned into a game of “can you or can’t you?” – bring the dog, that is. Everyone chimed in as we mentally checked off the list from Aspen to Snowmass.
“What about downvalley?” said someone, and that’s when the bartender piped up.
“You need to come stay with us at the Marble Distillery and the Distillery Inn in Carbondale,” He said. “They’re welcome there. Have a drink and see the rooms for the next time friends or family need a place, with or without dogs.”
So there I went the next time I was driving downvalley, and I brought along Porkchop to check it out.
It’s pretty cool that this place is the first and only inn in the world to be housed within an operational distillery, and it’s abundantly clear that this place is a cut above, currently the the only luxury hospitality inventory between Vail and Snowmass. Props where they’re due: They’ve won an award as a zero-waste craft spirits distillery, too.
Pulling up right out front on Main Street on a sleepy midweek afternoon, the heat seemed to be rising from the pavement. Unusually hot. It was a relief to stand under the distillery’s entry portico and enter the many-degrees-cooler inner courtyard. I entered the bar, which is contemporary, with an industrial edge. It had some late-afternoon patrons, and the space felt roomy in a lofty, high-ceilinged, modern, cast-in-concrete way.
Next, a quick peek in the Barrel Room, an adjacent space filled with high-top tables, where Barrel Club members and patrons who’ve bought personal 11-liter oak casks filled with whiskey or bourbon keep an eye on their aging stash through glass-fronted display shelves. Behind this is the actual workings of the distillery.
Porkchop seemed to know where to go before I did, as we took a quick tour upstairs. He bounded up in front of us to see the five luxury suites that are available for nightly rental. He trotted in and out of each of the rooms, inspecting the sophisticated contemporary spaces, making himself completely at home.
There’s high style via the route of barnwood siding and spa-like glass bathroom fixtures. Large rooms, free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs and iPod docks, as well as fireplaces, Nespresso machines and balconies or a patio make them pretty comfortable. The amenities are refined. Smelly stuff in the bathroom and sips in the bedroom: This place won 2017 Colorado Liqueur Distillery of the Year, and there are free craft liquor samples. Nice touch.
After touring around back, seeing the impressive towering stills and staff hard at work, I muttered, “So you really do sleep with the stills.”
“What’s not to like?” I asked Porkchop as he returned from the doggie inspection, grinning happily, definitely approving.
Free parking is a breath of fresh air, and you can get all the fresh air you like riding the free loaner bikes, as long as you dial back to Bonedale speed. There’s a terrific rooftop patio available, too.
Suddenly, I got all sorts of ideas about taking a staycation. There’s the Carbondale Mountain Fair, first Fridays and the proximity for getting to the Avalanche Hot Springs, which feels really close just down Highway 133.
Go check it out. Dogs welcome.
