By 
We arrived in Denver on a sunny morning, the first stop on our way into Steamboat Springs for a long ski weekend with friends. Per a solid recommendation, we opted for a train ride into the city for a short break before our ride to the mountains as ee were told Denver had a very nice train station, which I will admit, I was quite skeptical about. But given the train was so clean and timely, my hopes increased. And when I walked into this expecting nothing more than an updated vending machine my mind was absolutely blown.
Our friends were not wrong. This must be the most glamorous train station I have ventured into, particularly given the mezzanine level lounge I immediately fell madly in love with.
With stunning high ceilings, detailed molding along large windows with bright white light flooding in, The Cooper Lounge space does not disappoint. Unfortunately, the bar wasn’t open for service until 4pm but I was perfectly happy spending a bit of time soaking in all the upscale design elements as the morning light trickled in.
After a little time relaxing up top, we searched around for a spot to grab a snack before our drive into Steamboat. I was not at all surprised when I found this cozy corner spot, given how much this train station had already delivered in terms of public amenities! Unfortunately my 50 mm lens did quite allow me to fully capture the essence of this wonderfully designed bar that I just could not pass up the chance to sit at!
Turns out this chic little bar and restaurant, called Ultreia, is known for its unique gin selection and given that gin used to be my spirit of choice, I was happy to oblige and order one of the many gin and tonic cocktail options. I will admit I was tempted to try the espresso yourself for something warm but I opted for the pine junction to avoid a sugar headache.
So we sat with our drinks and ordered a few tapas to tide us over before our long drive. The crispy eggplant was good, but I loved the pan con tomate and the marinated olives. After our small snack we found something sweet at the perfectly titled Pigtrain Coffee, before making our way into the mountains for the long weekend. It was a short time, but extremely pleasant one nonetheless, and for anyone traveling into Denver, the train and station has my official stamp of approval (for whatever that’s worth!) Xx.
-MGN
Authentically,
