Summer hunting ground of the Ute Indians. Miners’ retreat. Railroad stop and depot. Grazing pasture for the Aspen Dairy. Ski lift. Skiers’ watering hole. In 1989, history was made again as Aspen’s only Five-Star, Five-Diamond hotel rose to prominence on the site. Named after a mining claim originally located not far uphill from where the hotel sits today, it wasn’t long before the hotel began attracting a diverse international clientele, including celebrities, dignitaries, Fortune 500 magnates and political leaders. Aspen today is a product of its past – a little bit silver, a little bit soul. It is a crossroads of wild mountain and electric city, a gathering place for a community that comes from all over the world. Walter Paepcke’s brainchild of culture and commerce is flourishing in this unique microclimate, up here on the great Continental Divide. The Little Nell hotel opened its doors in 1989. It was built on the site of a funky ski-bum bar dating from 1947 by the same name, at the foot of the slope where the original mine shaft had been dug – the one named after that lady of the night. It was the only ski-in, ski-out access to Aspen Mountain (and it still is). In 1991, we earned Five Diamonds from the American Automobile Association, and in 1996, earned Five Stars from Forbes Travel Guide (we have earned them again every year since). Today the Aspen experience is a heady cocktail of invigorating mountain air and mental stimulation.