Toast the Day
39 DEGREES
First Impression: Fresh from the slopes, everyone from snow bunnies to toddlers ends up circulating around the low couches of this mod lounge on the first floor of hipster favorite Sky Hotel. Lasting Impression: A dozen college kids, clearly not staying at the Sky, cannonball into the pool while the patio waitress serves a "Pimptini" to a Los Angelena who just finished taking a hit fom the oxygen bar.
Chill
THE DOUBLE DOG PUB
First Impression: The attitude-free zone: A dark downstairs pub where bartenders know how to pour a proper Guinness. Lasting Impression: Locals talk quietly at tables against the burgundy walls. A lonely-looking guy in navy-blue V-neck asks if he can hang a pic of his Lab alongside the many photos of local dogs. Bartender says, "Sure."
Dig for Gold
CARIBOU CLUB
First Impression: Part sugar-daddy magnet, part cougar den, and all cognac, dark wood, and blackjack (for charity). Lifetime memberships start at $15,000; one week starts at $500. Lasting Impression: The manager didn't reply to my request (the day before) for a complimentary pass, so my girlfriend and I snuck in. Three separate gray-hairs hit on her by the oversize vase of orchids in the time it took me to order two $10 vodka tonics from the well.
Recruit
ERIC'S BAR
First Impression: The surefire conversation starter: An apology for bumping shoulders. By midnight, generations X and Y are on the prowl in this large, packed lounge with pillows, candles, and backlit yellow glass. Lasting Impression: Local twenty-somethings, wearing napkin-size tops and spaghetti-strap dresses, appraise the crowd from a high-top table until two guys in baggy jeans pull them off to the pool tables upstairs.
Experience the Aspen Night-life with one of the many 5 Star destinations, centrally located luxury vacation rentals.
This Aspen Luxury Retreat is located just a few minutes from downtown Aspen. A charming home that features a mountain log design and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. Outside, the spacious redwood deck houses an inviting hot tub, gas grille and the outdoor sound system is a nice compliment to the scenery of small ponds and mature landscaping. Inside, radiant heat floors provide warmth throughout the entire living space and in the garage.
The Aspen Preserve Estate is one of 5 Star Destinations' favorite Aspen Vacation Rental, and see why!
Why pick the Cascade as your next Aspen vacation rental? This beautiful victorian style rental is located in the Brand Building, in the heart of Aspen. Featured in Architectural Digest, this Aspen luxury rental features a master bedroom with a queen bed and a 32 inch LCD flat screen TV. The bathroom enjoys double vanity sinks and granite surfaces. This Aspen rental includes gas fireplace, skylights, additional 42" LCD flat screen TV in living room, high ceilings and a pullout sofabed.
Are you interested in an Aspen Home Rental?
Look at the Charming Yellow Aspen Victorian furnished with lovely antiques and charming decor throughout the home and amazing views of Aspen Mountain can be seen through the large picture windows.
The Charming Yellow Aspen Victorian
For a more contemporary Aspen home rental, you might want to consider the West End Contemporary. This residence captures the essence of warm mountain contemporary style and is perfect for the Aspen Music Festival as it is only 3 blocks walk to the music tent!
The West End Contemporary With 5 Destinations, see more Aspen rental properties.
“There’s a whole lot of magic when you’re in Paris,” goes the Stephen Stills song, “Midnight in Paris,” a celebration of a man in an endless dance with a beautiful woman somewhere in the city.
Paris likes to pretend it is a city of the night. Certainly, it shimmers when the sun goes down and the lights go on. But finding magic after midnight can be a challenge. City Hall turns off the lights of most public structures, including the Eiffel Tower, at about 1 a.m. Most bars close an hour later.
There are all-night clubs, of course, many of them globalized spaces that may make you wait in line and may even welcome 16-year-olds if their party dresses are cool enough. A safe — but predictable, crowded and overpriced — tourist destination is the Publicis Drugstore at the head of the Champs-Élysées, a one-stop, late-night spot to eat, drink and buy newspapers and groceries.
But for after-midnight perfection, dine late and well near Les Halles — Chez Denise (5, rue des Prouvaires; 33-1-42-36-21-82) for leeks vinaigrette and calf’s liver with frites, or the less-pricey Le Tambour (41, rue Montmartre; 33-1-42-33-06-90) for reliable old-fashioned onion soup and homemade foie gras.
Then, if you’re feeling adventurous, head to the Cercle Clichy Montmartre (84, rue de Clichy; 33-1-48-78-32-85; open until 5:45 a.m) near the edgy Place de Clichy for a game of pool. A gentleman gamblers’ haunt in the 19th century, renovated as a working-class restaurant in 1901, the Cercle was used by the Nazis as a horse stable and military barracks during World War II. Reopened in 1947, it dazzles with 30-foot ceilings, carved moldings and grand mirrors. Worn bent-wood chairs and bar stools, patched tile floors and tawny, nicotine-stained walls give it just enough Zolaesque grit.
A stained-glass window that spans much of the ceiling with its cherubs and blue-and-gold Florentine touches is, truth be told, made of Plexiglas. Several years ago, the panes of the glass ceiling started to fall. The Plexiglas was a safe and cost-efficient way to replace it, said Luc Richard, the Cercle’s owner, who inherited the business from his father-in-law three decades ago.
The dress code (nice slacks and “city shoes” for men) is rarely enforced, although a decades-old sign that announces it still hangs. American pool, French pocketless billiards, even British snooker can be played here.
The only disincentive is the 30-euro fee for an annual membership (required by law this year since there are games of chance including poker and a bizarre French form of roulette called multicolore in the back).
Ask for Mr. Richard, a small man wearing an oversize suit and speaking Maurice Chevalier English. He goes home around the corner every evening for dinner at 8 but is back at 11. He’s trying to devise a system to reimburse pool players for the membership fee. For the moment, he’ll offer the newcomer a drink — a gin fizz, perhaps, or a brandy — and deliver it with a delightful story.
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