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A Rocky Mountain ‘Staycation:’ A destination in our own backyard

A Rocky Mountain ‘Staycation:’ A destination in our own backyard

Who needs Europe or Mexico when a relaxing and tranquil vacation awaits Denverites at a quarter of the cost right in our own backyard?

The Mountain Sage Inn is one such spot for a “staycation” – a vacation away from home that won’t break the bank and indulges in the nearby destinations.

“We’ve had people coming back year after year,” said Bootsie Brodzinski, who owns the property with her business partner Lyn Thomson.

Estes Park is roughly an hour and 30minute drive from Denver, and is the portal to Rocky Mountain National Park – home to some of the most majestic mountain ranges in Colorado.

Brodzinski purchased the quaint 20-unit Mountain Sage Inn nine years ago, offering guests a little piece of mountain heaven with live animals, including herds of elk and bears that graze on the property lawn.

Despite the impressive wildlife, the lodge’s resident dogs – Wookie and Harry Pupper – are often a bigger attraction, Brodzinski said.

“Visitors now send them treats in the mail at Christmas,” she said.

Unlike some of the more commercial hotels in the area, the Mountain Sage Inn was a house built in the 1940s, and in the ’70s, a motel was built over it.

Originally it was called Trappers Motor Inn, but when Brodzinski bought it, she had to make some important changes.

“It was too masculine of a name, so we changed it to Mountain Sage Inn,” Brodzinski said.

Now, the small property has a hot tub for guests to enjoy and has been deemed one of the cleanest places to stay in the area.

“It’s unbelievably clean, and it’s one of the less expensive places in town,” said Teresa Thaxton, an Estes Park resident who thoroughly enjoys mountain life with her partner of 25 years.

Thaxton and Ann Morris send holiday visitors to Mountain Sage Inn when they run out of room for guests at their own home. It’s also their top pick to stay when they have work done on their home and need a retreat for a few nights.

“It’s close to downtown, so you can walk everywhere,” Thaxton said. “Some of my best memories are being there in the winter time in the hot tub with the snow falling.”

Being part of the LGBT community in Estes Park hasn’t presented a problem to Thaxton and her partner.

“They don’t seem to hold grudges against it,” Thaxton said. “I’ve never gotten any backlash for being a lesbian.”

The Mountain Sage Inn gives anyone who booked reservations through Purple Roof – an LGBT travel website that highlights gay- and lesbian-friendly vacations – a 10 percent discount, Brodzinski said.

“We have marriage equality stickers. We have one on our front door with a little rainbow,” she said, highlighting that they are also happy to make money off of Republicans. “Once, we had a whole bunch of golfers and a whole bunch of gay people staying here [at the same time].”

The property is across the street from the Elk Horse Lodge, where guests can make arrangements for horseback riding. In the winter, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are also very popular.

It’s very affordable to take guided hikes or rent snowshoes and cross-country skis, Brodizinski said.

Some places rent snowshoes for $2.50 to $5 a day, she said, highlighting that the Mountain Sage Inn and the local visitors bureau offer tons of information on the best places to rent equipment.

The Rocky Mountain National Park Rangers also offer free snowshoeing tours in the fall and winter, according to the Estes Park Visitors website.

Estes Park visitors can also take the ghost tours at the Stanley Hotel, which became famous for being linked to the 1980 horror movie The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson.

The Mountain Sage Inn is a much cheaper option than the famous Stanley Hotel, offering guests rooms as low as $75 for a king bed. It costs roughly $259 a night to stay at the Stanley, according to the hotel’s website.

The average daily room rate for Estes Park lodging in September was $155.42, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodge Report distributed by the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association.

“September is our busiest month, because there are festivals. Thanksgiving is really big up here, too. All the restaurants have huge buffets,” Brodzinski said.

The Mountain Sage Inn property is very quiet and located in a semi-residential area, which offers guest the true tranquility of Estes Park, she said.

Mt. Sage Inn is located at 553 West Elkhorn Ave., Estes Park, CO 80517. On the web at http://mountainsageinn.com

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