A 64-room IHG Express on the western edge of downtown Glenwood Springs, brand-standard but ten dollars under its Hilton neighbour most nights, with the same walk to the hot springs pool and a seasonal outdoor swimming pool that the family-week traveller will use.
"The IHG choice on the same block as the Hampton, slightly older but consistently priced under it. Outdoor seasonal pool, free breakfast, and the same five-minute walk to Glenwood Hot Springs."
Holiday Inn Express Glenwood Springs sits at 501 West 1st Street, immediately next door to the Hampton Inn and one block off the I-70 westbound exit ramp. The property is a four-storey late-1990s build, refurbished within the last cycle, and inside the IHG playbook of beige carpet, dark wood, and a clean two-storey lobby with the brand's signature self-serve coffee station. The reason to book this over the Hampton is rate, which on most weekday nights runs ten to twenty dollars lower for an equivalent room. The reason to book the Hampton over this is age: this property carries about ten more years of use, and that shows in the bath fittings and the elevator.
The 64 rooms run king and double-queen across the standard categories with two king suite options, around 25 to 33 square metres. Beds use the IHG signature pocket-coil mattress, which sleeps firmer than the Hampton's foam product; ask for high-floor on the river side for the quieter exposure. In-room: 49-inch flat panel, in-room coffee, mini-fridge and microwave standard across every category, which is the meaningful operational difference from the Hampton next door (where microwave is suite-only). For a family week with packed lunches and reheated leftovers, that detail matters.
Amenities run to a seasonal outdoor pool that opens late May and closes mid-September, a small 24-hour fitness centre, a guest laundry on the second floor, and an outdoor patio with a fire pit that runs evening sundowner hours in summer. The Express Start breakfast runs from 6:30 AM with cinnamon rolls, eggs, sausage, oatmeal, the cinnamon-roll-and-bacon habit that defines the IHG breakfast room. WiFi is included and fast enough for video. Self-parking is free. There is no airport shuttle (Aspen-Pitkin is 65 kilometres away on Highway 82), but the property runs a small seasonal shuttle to the Glenwood Springs train depot.
Service is consistent IHG brand-training; the team is friendly and locally informed, with a tear-off map of the hot springs pool, the caverns adventure park, the Hanging Lake trailhead permit system, and the seasonal float operators on the Colorado. Pet rooms are available with a one-time fee. The honest read on this property is that it is the second choice on this block after the Hampton, and the rate gap is exactly the right size: book here when the Hampton is sold out or when you would rather put the saved fifteen dollars per night into an extra Sunlight lift ticket.
For a family week in Glenwood Springs where the budget needs to do real work, the Holiday Inn Express delivers a clean four-person room with a microwave and fridge in the standard category, a seasonal outdoor pool that adds a second swimming option to the hot springs, and a free breakfast that handles the morning meal for the whole party. The walk to the Glenwood Hot Springs ticket window takes under ten minutes; the walk to the riverside path is two.
For a business stop in Glenwood Springs on the Aspen corridor, the Holiday Inn Express is the rate-rational booking after the Hampton. Rooms include a proper workspace, in-room coffee, microwave and fridge for late returns, and 24-hour fitness; the I-70 exit is half a block away, making the drive to Eagle County Airport (50 minutes) or Aspen-Pitkin (75 minutes) uncomplicated.
501 West 1st Street
81601 Glenwood Springs
Colorado, USA
64 rooms and suites across four floors
Rates from USD 110/night
Typical band: USD 110 to USD 240
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Free self-parking; Express Start breakfast 6:30 to 9:30 AM
Outdoor pool, seasonal (late May to mid-September)
24-hour fitness centre
Microfridge in every room (microwave and refrigerator)
Complimentary Express Start breakfast
Outdoor fire-pit patio, summer evenings
Guest laundry
Complimentary high-speed WiFi
Rates from USD 110 per night. Best availability for peak weeks books two to four months in advance.
Check Rates →The newer Hilton on the same block, ten dollars over the IHG most nights, with year-round indoor pool.
The largest property in town, two blocks closer to the historic downtown grid.
The 1893 grand dame facing the hot springs pool, the editorial first pick in town.
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.