#2 in Top 18 Aspen for a Family Holiday · ★★★★★
The Residences at The Little Nell
26 two-, three- and four-bedroom ski-in/ski-out residences beside The Little Nell at the base of Aspen Mountain.
26 two-, three- and four-bedroom ski-in/ski-out residences beside The Little Nell at the base of Aspen Mountain.
The Residences at The Little Nell are 26 two-, three- and four-bedroom ski-in/ski-out condominiums at the foot of Aspen Mountain, sharing the Forbes Five-Star Little Nell's service. For families they trade a hotel room for a full apartment with kitchen and laundry, steps from the Silver Queen Gondola.
Our editors score every property from 1 to 10 across six criteria, Romance, Service, Value, Design, Food and Location, then weight them by how the hotel is used. For a family ski week we weight Location, Design and Service most heavily. The Residences take an aggregate 9.8. See our full methodology.
The Residences are the answer for a family that wants slopeside space at the base of Aspen Mountain without folding several people into hotel rooms. They stand beside The Little Nell, Aspen's only Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond ski-in/ski-out hotel, and share its service while offering full two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments with private kitchens, laundry and multiple living areas. The location is the prize: the Silver Queen Gondola up Aspen Mountain, known locally as Ajax, is right outside, so ski days begin at the door and end with a run back to it. Guests draw on The Little Nell's ski concierge and children's programming, and the hotel's restaurants sit next door. The honest trade-off is that these are large, full-residence units that book by the week in the high season and carry Little Nell prices, so they suit groups and multi-generational trips far more than a short couple's stay.
Ownership matters to the experience. The Residences are run by The Little Nell itself rather than by a rental agency, so the housekeeping, front-desk and ski-valet standards are the hotel's, not a patchwork of individual owners. That single point is what separates this from the many privately let condos in Aspen: you get apartment space with hotel discipline behind it.
Expect genuine apartments, not oversized hotel suites. The 26 residences run in two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts, with a two-bedroom around 2,000 square feet and a four-bedroom averaging roughly 3,525 square feet. Every residence has a full kitchen, an in-unit washer and dryer, a separate living and dining area, and a fireplace, the combination that makes a week with children manageable when breakfast, laundry and downtime all happen without leaving the building. The whole collection was refreshed for the 2023 to 2024 ski season by Rottet Studio, whose scheme leans into warm woods, stone and a restrained mountain-modern palette rather than chalet cliche.
For the largest groups, a four-bedroom gives each couple or pair of children real separation plus a shared living core, and the top units add private terraces. A two-bedroom suits a single family of four or five who still want a kitchen and a sitting room. Whichever layout you take, the practical wins are the same: a fridge you can stock, a dishwasher, and space to spread ski gear out to dry overnight.
Lean on The Little Nell's ski concierge and Adventure Center programming next door, both open to residence guests, and let the ski valet store and warm your boots each morning. Stock the kitchen on arrival at Clark's Market in town so the first breakfast with children does not depend on a restaurant table.
Because the Residences share The Little Nell's campus, families are never far from full-service dining even though each unit has its own kitchen. Element 47, the hotel's flagship, is the sit-down dinner with one of the deepest wine cellars in the American mountains, while Ajax Tavern at the base of the gondola is the reliable apres-ski and family lunch, known for its truffle fries and slopeside deck. In-residence dining and grocery pre-stocking can be arranged through the concierge, which is the move for the nights nobody wants to change out of ski clothes. The hotel's pool, hot tubs, fitness center and spa are all available, and the ski concierge handles rentals, lift tickets and lessons so parents are not queuing at the mountain each morning.
For non-ski days, the concierge books snowmobiling, sleigh dinners, ice-skating and the Aspen Recreation Center, and in summer the same base becomes a hub for hiking, the Maroon Bells and the town's festivals. Aspen is a walkable resort town, so the pedestrian core, its restaurants and the ski-company children's activities are all a short stroll from the door.
The Residences occupy the single best-connected corner of Aspen for a ski family: the base of Aspen Mountain on East Dean Street, at the foot of the Silver Queen Gondola and one block from the pedestrian core. That means the morning commute to the lift is measured in steps, and the afternoon walk to dinner, the Wheeler Opera House or the ice rink is equally short. Aspen itself is a compact, walkable grid, so a family rarely needs a car once they arrive, and the free town shuttle and the ski company's buses reach Snowmass, Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands for the days you want a change of mountain. Buttermilk, home to the gentle beginner terrain and the ski school many families use, is a short ride away, which makes this base workable even when the group spans expert skiers and first-timers. In summer the same location puts the Maroon Bells, the Rio Grande Trail and the town's music and food festivals within easy reach, though the ski-in/ski-out advantage that defines the winter case is naturally dormant.
Against the rest of our Aspen family list, the Residences win on space and self-catering and give up a little of the full-hotel buzz. The table sets them beside the three closest alternatives.
| Property | Best for | Style | From (winter) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residences at The Little Nell | Groups and families wanting apartment space | Ski-in/ski-out condominiums with Little Nell service | $2,200 |
| The Little Nell | Couples and families wanting a full five-star hotel | Forbes Five-Star ski-in/ski-out hotel | $1,600 |
| St. Regis Aspen Resort | Families wanting a grand hotel and spa | Landmark resort two blocks from the gondola | $1,100 |
| Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection | History and town-center character | 1889 landmark hotel in the heart of town | $1,200 |
The reading is straightforward: choose the Residences when you need multiple bedrooms and a kitchen under one roof, choose The Little Nell hotel when a family of three or four wants the full concierge-and-restaurant experience without an apartment, and look at the St. Regis or Hotel Jerome when the priority is a spa, a scene or a walk into town rather than skiing back to your own front door.
Across recent verified reviews, three themes recur. First, the space and the ski-in/ski-out position draw near-universal praise from families and groups, who single out the kitchen and laundry as what made a week workable. Second, service is rated at hotel level rather than condo level, with the ski valet and concierge repeatedly called out by name. Third, the recurring reservation is value: guests love the product but note that once you add a residence rate to Aspen dining and lift tickets, a week is a major outlay, and that the condo model means slightly less of the lively, all-in-one-building energy of a full resort. Nobody in the credible reviews mistakes this for a budget option, and that honesty is the point.
No property is right for everyone, and the Residences have clear limits worth naming before you book.
For a peak-season week, reserve four to six months ahead; Christmas, New Year and Presidents' Week fill first and carry the longest minimum stays. If your dates are flexible, early December and April deliver the same ski-in/ski-out access at materially lower rates. Whichever layout you choose, confirm the bedding configuration and the view when you book, because the residences vary, and ask the concierge to pre-stock the kitchen and arrange ski rentals before arrival so the first morning is spent skiing rather than sorting logistics.
Yes. They sit beside The Little Nell at the base of Aspen Mountain, steps from the Silver Queen Gondola, so you can ski back to the door in winter and use the hotel's ski concierge and slopeside ski valet.
There are 26 residences in two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts. A two-bedroom runs to roughly 2,000 square feet and a four-bedroom averages about 3,525 square feet, each with a full kitchen, laundry and multiple living areas.
Yes. Guests share the Forbes Five-Star hotel's ski concierge, Adventure Center programming, restaurants including Element 47 and Ajax Tavern, plus its front-desk and housekeeping teams, while sleeping in a private apartment.
It is one of Aspen's strongest family options because a full multi-bedroom residence with a kitchen and laundry suits a week with children better than connecting hotel rooms, and the slopeside location removes the daily gear haul.
Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is about a 10-minute drive. Denver International (DEN) is roughly a four-hour drive, so most winter guests fly into Aspen directly.
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