Manitou Springs is the kind of town that stops you in your tracks, a walkable, weird, wonderfully preserved pocket of Colorado that most people zip past on their way to Garden of the Gods. Newly opened, The Outrider Hotel is a good reason to stop. For Denverites, it’s technically a staycation but feels just exotic enough to count as a true getaway.
Jordan Malara and Connor Gatlin, cofounders of the Outrider, describe themselves as hospitality entrepreneurs, a fitting title for the way they approached the property. Earlier this year, they opened on the east end of town, transforming a neglected former Super 8 that locals knew, and not fondly, into something the area had been missing. “If you talk to anyone around here,” Jordan says, “they’d seen people buy it and not run it any differently.” So they did.
Cold-rolled steel bed frames. Real wood. Earth tones pulled from the surrounding landscape. The branding, developed by Cognoscenti Creative, the Denver firm that worked on the Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, gave the team the coyote and the North Star, symbols of play and direction that show up throughout the property without ever tipping into kitsch.
The 39-room stay sits within walking distance of downtown and a short stroll from Garden of the Gods, but the Outrider is really designed as a basecamp rather than a crash pad. “People don’t want to sit in their rooms,” Jordan says. “They want to drink their coffee on the patio in the morning, sit out by the fire at night. They truly want to just be outside.”
A hot tub and sauna anchor a contrast- therapy setup that’s proven surprisingly popular, plus a pool and putting green are on the way. After a climb up The Incline or a day wandering downtown, it feels less like an amenity and more like a reward. Rooms are keyless, robes are included, and there’s a caretaker living on site. Dogs are welcome too, a must for Colorado travelers who consider a weekend away incomplete without their four-legged adventure buddy.
The staff are trained to point guests away from the obvious: skip the Garden of the Gods loop, go hike North Cheyenne Cañon Park instead. “We want everyone here to be a local expert,” Jordan explains. That philosophy extends to the small stuff. The hotel partnered with The Loft, a café down the road, so guests wake up to a complimentary bagel. When a lodger’s car battery died in the first weeks of business, the general manager handed over her personal battery pack and sent them on their way. “Sometimes people don’t need a luxury experience,” Jordan says. “They just want to feel heard.”
Bring the dog, pack the hiking shoes, and stay open to wherever the weekend takes you. Manitou is calling, and the Outrider makes answering easy.
Eat + Drink
Manitou Avenue has no shortage of reasons to stroll. The Loft is a favorite morning stop, a café hawking made-in-house bagels that tend to sell out before noon. Outrider guests get one included with their stay, which is a fine reason to start the day there and plan the rest of the morning over coffee. Try the Chicago-style bagel, a savory standout topped with toasted mustard seed, dill seed, dill, black poppy, and extra-coarse sea salt. For an afternoon pint, Manitou Brewing Co. keeps things unpretentious with a solid tap list and a come-as-you-are crowd. And when the evening slows down, Swirl Wine Bar keeps a well-curated list of wines by the glass in a cozy, no-fuss setting, the kind of place that’s easy to walk into, hard to leave.
Explore
For the ambitious, the Manitou Incline is the classic test: 2,768 steps straight up and worth every one for the view at the top. For something gentler, spend time downtown, where the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade keeps kids and nostalgia-seeking adults busy with vintage games, old-school amusements, and reliable rainy-day energy. SALUS is another easy stop, offering small-batch bath, body, and home goods that make a better souvenir than a T-shirt. The Outrider team recommends finding Manitou’s mineral springs, exploring nearby Red Rock Canyon Open Space, or hidden gems with a local guide who knows the town’s quieter corners.
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