Colorado's New Aviation-Themed Hotel Is A Winner For Travel Lovers

Forbes

26-04-2025

There is only one hotel in the world where you can climb into the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon ... More simulator.
The Washington Post travel section just ran a feature on the upgrading of airport hotels and the rise of aviation themes. But they left out what is likely the very best aviation-themed hotel in the country, the new Polaris—probably because it is not at an airport, but rather in a popular tourism destination where people would actually choose to go for fun.
Colorado Springs is having a moment in terms of travel, and so is its home state of Colorado: both have seen recent record-breaking tourism year after year (I recently did a feature on 5 Notable New Colorado Hotels here at Forbes). Colorado Springs anchors what is known as the Pikes Peak Region, named for one of its most famous attractions, 'America's Mountain,' and the concise area saw nearly 25 million visitors in 2023, after a record 2022. 2024 numbers have not been finalized but by all accounts, including record hotel stays, it was another best-ever year. In fact, visitation to downtown Colorado Springs has doubled just in the past five years, which is stunning.
Garden of the Gods park is a premier tourist attraction in Colorado Springs.
The traditional reasons to visit Colorado Springs are a handful of major attractions including Pikes Peak with its famous 1891 cog railway and scenic auto road, the quirky town of Manitou Springs, filled with boutiques and galleries, the stunning red rock nature of the 1,400-acre Garden of the Gods park, a National Natural Monument, and the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), a sprawling campus filled with attractions and outdoor recreation.
That is a lot, especially for a long-weekend, but there have been several recent additions of note—with more coming soon. The 8,000-seat Ford Amphitheater just opened last year and has quickly attracted major acts, while the state-of-the-art United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum opened in 2020. The curvaceous and architecturally significant $91 million museum is reminiscent of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, and is on the site of the existing headquarters of training for U.S. Olympic teams. It has received rave reviews.
The new Hotel Polaris overlooks the United States Air Force Academy and the Rocky Mountains.
Next up is the all new interactive $41 million Hosmer Visitor Center at the Academy, named for retired Lt. General Bradley C. Hosmer, not only a USAFA alum (1959), but the very first graduate in Academy history. Hosmer received the Distinguished Flyng Cross in combat missions in Vietnam, and went on to the Joint Staff, Air Force Inspector General and Superintendent of the Academy. It is scheduled to open by the end of this year (late 2025) and until then, the existing Barry Goldwater Visitor Center is still in service. Throughout the Academy there are historic planes and exhibits in the open air, as well as plethora of public hiking and biking trails, which connect directly to the new Polaris Hotel. The other major attraction of the Academy, the famous Cadet Chapel, another architectural triumph, is currently closed for renovations and expected to reopen in 2027.
All of this makes the grand opening of the Hotel Polaris last fall big news and good timing. For a popular tourism destination that has been exploding in popularity (many people arrive via nearby Denver but the city's airport has also seen a boom and recently added its first ever international flight), Colorado Springs has been behind on top hotels. There is famously the Forbes 5-Star Broadmoor, and the Garden of the Gods Resort, as well as the new Mining Exchange Hotel, but the Polaris is the first and only property located at the desirable USAFA, immediately adjacent to the North Entrance, and is a great choice for anyone who does not want to pay the lavish 5-Star rates at the Broadmoor. It also has one signature feature you will find at no other hotel in the world, a hands-on flight simulator lounge.
The Hotel Polaris is dog friendly and features a design homage to the famous triangular arches of ... More the Air Force Academy Chapel.
I visited the Polaris shortly after it opened, and while many new hotels struggle with food and service until hitting their stride, I was very impressed. Staff was over-the-top friendly, the food was surprisingly impressive across the board, and despite its considerable size (375 rooms and suites) it feels smaller and more intimate and once you check in, everyone remembers you. It is also dog friendly, a nice plus.
One of the most impressive features of the Polaris is the building itself, which pays keen attention to details and design, and celebrates its historical connection to the Academy seriously (the ownership has been structured so that when the construction bonds are paid off the hotel becomes the property of the Academy's alumni association) and this is reflected from top to bottom in the architecture and décor, to the point where if you had attended the Academy walking down the hallways to the spacious guest rooms would give you a feeling of déjà vu. But while many of these touches may be lost on non-graduates, the attention to detail still creates a beautiful and noticeable design aesthetic, and you are constantly taking in the artwork and structural shapes.
The Polaris may be the most reasonably priced hotel in the nation with a Club Floor and Club Lounge.
The Academy itself is known for its mid-century modern architecture, and the interior of the Polaris, with its high lobby ceilings and exposed structural components mirrors the famed triangular arches of the Academy Chapel. Everything from the elaborate woodwork to the carpeting expresses considerable design detail, and you cannot help but notice and appreciate these—even if you don't understand the nuanced meaning behind them. There is a lot of glass, taking advantage of the region's 300-plus sunny days annually, and the entire hotel is positioned to showcase sweeping views over the Academy and to the Rocky Mountains beyond, with the famous sunsets on display nightly. The glass lobby curves around this view and outside is a huge pool deck with bar and lost of open-air seating. A footbridge connects the hotel directly to the new Visitors Center opening later this year.
The aviation theme continues with lots of photos and paintings throughout, and each venue within the hotel was named for something related to the mission. The rooftop Aviator Bar honors the great 1964 class, which produced astronauts, Rhodes scholars and 4-Star generals, while the lobby Thunderbird bar is named for the Cadet Squadron-27 Thunderbirds. There is also the hotel's main restaurant, Pamela's, named for the wife of a USAFA grad and one of the biggest donors to the project, a 50's Americana-themed diner that is family friendly with games, and a lobby coffee shop a with grab and go.
Even the 50's-style classic diner has an aviation theme.
The cuisine is a good mix of global classics and regional Rocky Mountain with touches like Colorado bison, and in a nod to the Academy history, an upscale take on the famous 'Eisenhower steak,' which the former General and President liked to cook directly on hot coals, creating a signature grilling style. The executive chef came here from the Four Seasons Vail in Colorado and has done a great job.
The rooftop bar is extremely popular, one of just a few in Colorado Springs, and the real testament to the quality of the venues and food is that the Polaris has quickly become a popular night out spot for locals, who in most cities avoid hotel restaurants.
The Aviator has immediately become the most popular rooftop bar in Colorado Springs.
Guest rooms are large and well appointed, continuing the aviation theme, and all the corner suites have large outdoor balconies. But the most impressive element is the Club Floor on the ninth floor with a lounge featuring complimentary snacks, breakfast, coffee and adult beverages. The Club Floor concept is very popular in Asia, but these are sadly rare in the United States, and much rarer outside a handful of 5-Star hotels. I can't easily think of any other property at this reasonable price point in the nation that offers such a nice Club Lounge option.
But for many visitors the highlight—and reason alone to make the trip—is the C.B. 'Sully' Sullenberger Simulator Lounge, named for the USAFA graduate who famously made the Miracle on the Hudson landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, saving the lives of all on board and inspiring a major movie in which he was played by Tom Hanks.
Not only is the Polaris the nation's only hotel with flight simulators, but it is also one of the only public venues period to experience these, period. The Lounge is home to three simulators, all of which are built from parts salvaged from real airplanes, from the pilot chairs to yokes. Options include two F-16 Fighting Falcon cockpits, which are networked, so you can stage dogfights with a friend or partner if you would like. You can also fly these solo on a variety of missions, including mid-air refueling. They are very realistic, down to the pilot chairs that slide into the fuselage, and you can pilot them with or without virtual reality (VR) headsets. The experience is so immersive and hyper-realistic some 'pilots' get nauseous.
The signature flight simulator is a full-sized 737-MAX cockpit.
You can live out your Top Gun and Maverick fantasies here, but for aviation fans the main event is the full-sized Boeing 737-MAX cockpit, where you can experience what it is like to take off and land a jumbo jet at global airports of your choice. I did it, and this is shockingly tricky, to the point where you would not want to be on a flight captained by me. From ten miles out on approach the time goes incredibly quickly, and in a procedure based on no sudden moves, getting the descent, speed and touchdown right seems almost impossible. I fly a lot, and it gave me a new appreciation for the pilot skills—next time there is a hard bump or firm brake on landing I won't think twice about it. It's more shocking when there is not.
If you have some experience you can really dig deep and choose take offs and landings at pretty much any airports on earth, including standouts such as Sydney, Australia. Given the hotel's location, 'flying' from Denver DIA to London Heathrow has proven most popular. You can adjust weather conditions, visual or instrument flying and hundreds of variables to simulate just about any aviation experience. The experience is very professional and each session includes instruction and supervision by a great staff who are all former Air Force pilots or air traffic controllers. My teacher was excellent and tried her best in the 737-co-pilot seat, but she could not account for my repeated operator error. Simulator sessions run $70-$100 per 30 minutes and are often combined into hotel packages since it is such a big attraction.
Otherwise, the Polaris is very well amenitized, with its multiple bars and restaurants, a gym with brand new high-end TechnoGym gear and popular Peloton bikes, the large outdoor pool patio with food and drink service framing the Rocky Mountain views, and a small spa with half a dozen treatment rooms. The spa focus is on treatments, not locker rooms, and instead the hotel offers an array of guided outdoor experiences, including daily guided walks and hikes into the Academy trail network, loaner bikes, outdoor yoga classes and more.