Park Entrance Lodge

About

Eight bedrooms, five baths, room for twenty, and nobody has to share a bedroom. Park Entrance Lodge sits on Heinz Parkway, about a mile and a half from both downtown and the Park, with mountain views and a hot tub and gas fire pit outside. It is a house built for reunions more than romantic weekends.

The game room is the surprise: billiards, shuffleboard and an indoor basketball court, which settles what the teenagers do on a rainy afternoon. The kitchen is big, with doubled appliances, and cribs and high chairs are on hand for the youngest ones.

The same operator rents Lake Estes Retreat, a timber cabin on the lake, if the group needs a second house. The location and the view are what guests bring up afterward, and with Trail Ridge Road a short drive away, the house works as a base for a big family that wants to be in the Park by breakfast.