The Broadmoor Colorado Springs: What You Can Do Without a Room

The Broadmoor is Colorado Springs’ historic five-star resort, open since 1918 at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain. Here is the question most people actually have: do you need a room? Short answer, no, not to walk the grounds and the lake, but visitor parking is not free either. Yes, you need a room or a Golf Club membership for the pools, the spa, the golf courses, or the Little Theatre. I checked the resort’s own policies page and FAQ on October 2, 2026, to get the guest-only lines and the extra charges straight. That is what this page is built on, not a brochure tour.

My wife and I have walked the Broadmoor grounds for years. I walked around Cheyenne Lake a couple of months ago with my nephew’s family. The lake and the flowers make it a pleasant walk, and parking for that walk is separate and not free. The room, dining, and golf prices below are not a folio from a night this page is based on. They are the hotel’s own published figures, checked the same day as everything else here.

What You Can Actually Do Without a Room

You can drive in, park, and walk. Visitor parking is not free: the FAQ lists $6 per half hour with a $30 daily maximum. If you are staying over, valet is $50 a night and self-park is $35 a night with unlimited in and out, per the policies page. Budget for parking before you go, it is not a rounding error if you stay all afternoon.

The walk itself is the Cheyenne Lake walkway, which the FAQ puts at two-thirds of a mile around. Inside the West Building, past the lobby from the lake entrance and just before PLAY, the FAQ places the Hall of Fame photos there. The guided art and history tour is a different thing: it is for overnight guests only, runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 10:30 a.m. from the Main Concierge Desk, needs a reservation, and takes about an hour.

My Take

Walk the lake if you are already on the south side of town and you are fine paying for visitor parking. Do not drive over expecting a free afternoon at the spa, the pool, or the golf course, that part is locked to overnight guests and Golf Club members. Book a room if you actually want those, and plan on the $45 resort charge, tax, and parking stacking on top of whatever rate you see. Eat without a room only at the places that are not flagged guest-only, and reserve ahead, since a walk-up table is not something I would count on. If the dress code is going to annoy you, go to the Golden Bee, PLAY, or breakfast instead, or just eat somewhere else in town.

The Rooms, If You Book

The resort has 784 rooms total, including over 100 suites, spread across its buildings. Rooms are set up with either a king or two doubles. I am not going to invent square footage or decor details I have not confirmed, so see the accommodations page for the room-by-room breakdown.

What a Room Actually Costs

Check-in is after 4 p.m., checkout is noon, and early check-in is not guaranteed, though bell staff will hold your bags. Per the policies page, your first night’s room and tax get charged at booking. You can cancel or shorten the stay up to 7 days before arrival with no penalty; inside 7 days, you are charged. It is a European plan, meaning no meals are built into the room rate, and the quoted price covers single through quad occupancy on the beds in the room.

Tax runs 10.20%, and on top of that there is a daily resort charge of $45 per room plus tax, added every day and subject to change. The policies page says that charge covers things like internet up to 20MB, local and toll-free calls up to an hour, the fitness center, two daily group classes (Early Bird Aquatics and yoga), two in-room water bottles, the shuttle to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center, The Broadmoor World Arena, and Seven Falls, Little Theatre movies, the art and history tour, a seasonal golf clinic, tennis and pickleball open-play windows, and one hour of seasonal paddle boats. It is not optional and it does not cover a golf green fee or a meal.

A rollaway runs $50 a night, one per room. Smoking in a room triggers a $250 deep-clean fee, since rooms and balconies are smoke-free. Pets on the main campus run $100 per pet per night plus tax, two max, and that includes bedding, bowls, and a treat, per the pet policy page. The wilderness properties do not allow pets outside of service animals.

The hotel is currently running the Winter Spectacular offer, its own posted deal, not a rate I or anyone else here paid: a classic room from $380 a night, double occupancy, October 30, 2026 through March 11, 2027, resort charge shown separately and tax extra, limited and not for groups, with suites at 25% off published rates. It also includes complimentary golf green fees from November 11, 2026 to March 11, 2027 (cart not included, weather permitting) and complimentary outdoor tennis and pickleball court time from November 1, 2026 to March 11, 2027, also weather permitting.

For live nightly rates, go straight to the Broadmoor’s own booking page, which states that the rates it displays include the daily resort charge and exclude taxes. I am not going to hand you a rack rate here, and I am not going to repeat the “from $322” number a travel search engine showed, since that is not the hotel’s own figure. Airport transportation runs on a Gray Line shuttle or private sedan/SUV to the Colorado Springs airport, sedan/SUV only to and from Denver, reservations required, and the FAQ does not post dollar fares for either.

More to Do Nearby

If you are already down on the south side, the Broadmoor pairs well with a wider day. Garden of the Gods and the Pikes Peak Cog Railway are both a short drive, and so is the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. For a meal that does not require a jacket or a room key, see the best places to eat in Colorado Springs.

What Requires a Room or a Golf Club Membership

This is the part most blogs skip, and it is the part that saves you a wasted trip. According to the FAQ, these are overnight guests and Golf Club members only, full stop:

• The three pools and three hot tubs. The Golf Club and Spa pool runs year-round; the Lake Terrace pool, cabanas, and children’s slide pool are seasonal.
• The spa and salon, on the 3rd floor of the Golf Club, southeast corner. Arrive 30 minutes early. Cancel a single service with 24 hours notice or pay 50%; packages need 48 hours; no-shows are billed in full; a same-day change costs $45. The fitness center is 18 and up, or 16-17 with an adult. Third-floor spa amenities are 16 and up.
• Little Theatre movies, which are complimentary with no ticket for guests and members. You can bring your own concessions or buy from Cafe Julie’s.
• Golf. You need to be an overnight guest or the guest of a member, and you check in at the main Golf Club. Shop hours are daily 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., subject to change, phone 719-577-5790. A cart is required before 2 p.m.
• The Grille, for registered overnight guests and members only. Lunch 11 to 4, dinner 5 to 9, bar 11 to 9, hours can change.

Every other dining room on the site is listed for reservations without that guest-only line attached. That does not mean you can walk up and get a table. Reserve ahead, through the dining and activity line at 855-421-4301 or online, and plan around the dress code.

Golf Rates, If You Have a Way to Play

You still need to be an overnight guest or a member’s guest to tee off. Rates below are the posted bands from the golf rates and customs page, checked October 2, 2026, tax not discussed on that page, and these are not a promise for next summer:

• June 1 to September 8: East $361, West $305
• September 9 to October 15: both $285
• October 16 to November 10: both $232
• 9-hole and replay: $191 East / $171 West in the summer band, $146 both from September 9 to November 10
• Twilight after 3 p.m., June 1 to September 9, includes Callaway rental clubs and a sleeve of balls: East $200, West $175
• Juniors 7-11 play free anytime with a paying adult. Ages 12-17 play free after 4 p.m. with a paying adult, otherwise $98. Juniors still pay the cart fee.
• Rental clubs run $91 for 18 holes, $52 for 9, rental shoes $44. The practice facility alone is $16 for day use, $21 with rentals, and that is not the same as playing the course.

The complimentary family golf clinics ran May 21 through August 30 this year, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 3 p.m., at $98 a head including green fee, cart, and rentals. That window is closed for the year, so do not expect it in October. The page also has a notice worth reading before you drive down: the original 18-hole Donald Ross course is open while the upper holes on the East and West courses are under renovation, so do not expect every hole on both courses. East has hosted USGA championships, nine by the page’s count. West is described as having more doglegs, steeper greens, and tighter tree-lined fairways, and it hosted the 1998 PGA Cup Matches. There is no third course and no Nicklaus design here.

Dining Without a Room

The Grille is guest-only, registered overnight guests and members, full stop. The Penrose Room needs a jacket for gentlemen and cocktail attire for ladies; call ahead since the site does not post its hours. The Summit sits in the Event Center across from Broadmoor Main, not up the mountain on a cog car. Reserve any of the other dining rooms through 855-421-4301 or online, hours checked on the dine page October 2, 2026 and subject to change.

Outside food, drink, and wine are not allowed, and neither is outside cake. Expect a 20% service charge on the check, or 10% at Cafe Julie’s and Natural Epicurean.

Wilderness Properties, If You Want Something Different

Cloud Camp (9,100 feet), The Ranch at Emerald Valley (8,200 feet), and the Fly Fishing Camp (8,900 feet) are separate overnight stays booked through the resort, not a drop-in lunch spot, and typically run 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the main property. Cloud Camp and the Fly Fishing Camp set a minimum age of 10, the Ranch states none, and none of the three allow pets outside of service animals. Book through reservations at 855-634-7711; the hotel does not post a cabin rate on the pages I checked, so I am not inventing one.

Address, Phones, and the Basics

The Broadmoor sits at 1 Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Main line 844-602-3343, reservations 855-634-7711, dining and activity reservations 855-421-4301, email info@broadmoor.com. It opened June 29, 1918, built by Spencer Penrose and his wife, Julie, and the site calls it the world’s longest-running Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond resort. You are over 6,200 feet up here, and the hotel’s own note is to hydrate and watch the sun even in winter. That is their advice, not mine.

Rates, hours, and policies above are from broadmoor.com, checked October 2, 2026, and the resort can change any of them without notice. See our privacy policy for how the Booking.com and Amazon links above work. Booking and golf, spa, and room reservations themselves go straight through the hotel, those shop links are not how you book any of that.

Author: Dominic