Where to stay in Denver: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Lower Downtown, LoDo for short, is where Denver began and where it now goes to eat and drink. The Victorian warehouses have filled up with restaurants, bars and shops, and at the centre of it all is Union Station, a Beaux-Arts beauty whose great hall is all leather sofas, cocktail bars and people waiting for nobody in particular. Coors Field is a few blocks away, and the train from the airport pulls in right here.

The Crawford is inside the station itself, so the lobby is the great hall. The Maven is a boutique hotel on the Dairy Block, an old dairy turned micro-district of shops, restaurants and bars. Thompson Denver is a polished newcomer within an easy walk of the station and the ballpark, and the Limelight, close to Union Station and the Museum of Contemporary Art, lays on a daily reception for guests.

South-east of LoDo, Downtown proper is a grid of towers threaded by the pedestrianised 16th Street Mall and its free shuttle bus. The performing arts complex and the convention centre, guarded by a giant blue bear peering through the glass, are at one end; the gold-domed State Capitol and the Denver Art Museum are at the other. Everything is walkable, and LoDo's bars are ten minutes away.

The Brown Palace is the city's great historic hotel, a triangular sandstone landmark with a soaring atrium, a spa and three restaurants. The Four Seasons brings 45 storeys of modern luxury to the Theatre District. For fun, the Kimpton Hotel Monaco is a colourful boutique hotel in the thick of things, and the Curtis themes its floors around pop culture, from Britpop to horror films.

A mile or so north of Union Station, River North was a district of foundries and warehouses until the artists moved in. Now almost every wall is a mural, and the old industrial sheds hold breweries, distilleries, food halls and music venues. It is the best neighbourhood in Denver for an evening that starts with one drink and ends several streets away.

The hotels fit the mood. The Source Hotel is attached to an artisan market hall and has a rooftop with a plunge pool, a hot tub and a beer garden. The Ramble is a handsome brick building whose lobby bar is an outpost of a celebrated New York cocktail bar, and the Catbird is a playful newer arrival with 165 rooms.

Cherry Creek, a few miles south-east of Downtown, is where Denver shops and lunches. Cherry Creek North is sixteen leafy blocks of galleries, independent boutiques, spas and restaurant patios, with a large mall across the road and a cycle path following the creek all the way into the centre. It is calmer and greener than Downtown, and you will want taxis or a car for sightseeing.

Halcyon is the neighbourhood's signature hotel, with an outdoor pool, a lobby fireplace and two restaurants. The Jacquard has a pool and poolside bar of its own, and the Hyatt Place is a good-value option with Rocky Mountain views.

Golden lies west of Denver where the foothills rear up, a former gold-rush capital with a proper Western main street, a creek for tubing and kayaking, and the Coors brewery steaming away at the edge of town. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the open-air venue set between towering slabs of red sandstone, is a short drive south. Stay here for a gig, for hiking, or to be first on the road into the mountains.

The Golden Hotel is the pick in town, with a terrace restaurant beside the creek. Origin Red Rocks is built for concert-goers, and the Residence Inn and the Denver Marriott West, both near the Colorado Mills mall, are comfortable bases with pools and easy access to the amphitheatre.

Denver International Airport sits far out on the plains north-east of the city, its white tented roof echoing the snowy peaks on the far horizon. It is a long way from Downtown, so an airport hotel makes real sense for early departures, and a direct train runs from the terminal to Union Station.

The Westin is attached to the terminal, with an indoor pool for shaking off a long flight. The Gaylord Rockies, a few minutes away in Aurora, is a destination in itself: a huge resort with a spa, a lazy river and waterslides that children will refuse to leave. The Hilton Garden Inn runs a free 24-hour shuttle, and the Benson is a boutique hotel in Aurora, ten miles from Downtown.

South of the city along the I-25, the Denver Tech Center is a district of offices, hotels and shopping spread across Greenwood Village, Englewood and Centennial. It is not sightseeing territory, but rates are lower than Downtown, the light rail runs into the centre and Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre is on the doorstep for summer concerts.

The Hyatt Regency is the area's flagship, and the DoubleTree has balconies facing the Rockies. The Inverness is a golf and spa resort with tennis courts and bikes to borrow, and the Kimpton Claret is the stylish newcomer at Belleview Station.