We’re always looking for towns to ‘vacation’ to that aren’t too far from Denver but still have tons to offer. We were thrilled to spend a girls’ weekend in Fort Collins for those reasons! We had so much fun walking around town, looking at street art, eating our way through the city, and staying in a super cute boutique hotel!

STAY

Remington Flats

We were so lucky to have found Remington Flats, a Boutique Studio Hotel that was perfect for our weekend trip. It is located in downtown FoCo, but not right in the hustle and bustle, so it definitely has a ‘getaway’ feel. There are 4 unique rooms, each differently themed, with all of the amenities you could need. We stayed in the Hemingway studio and the Autumn studio, both with cozy beds and well-appointed decor. Every room has a full kitchen, which is a huge bonus for longer stays. They also have local touches, from the coffee to the beers in the fridge on your arrival. We loved the extensive welcome book with tons of recommendations for things to do and places to dine from the owners. Just a few reasons we felt so welcomed and right at home! Other amenities we did not take advantage of but fully intend to next trip - Remington Flats offers a dog friendly studio and free cruiser bike rentals with your stay!

Packages

Among the many special touches, Remington Flats also offers packages you can add on to your stay. We added the Old Town Nights Package, which included a bottle of wine or Prosecco, a Victrola Vinyl record player, a charcuterie board, a late checkout, and a coupon for a free cinnamon roll for the Silver Grill. We truly felt like VIPs! Throwing on a record, opening a bottle of wine, and snacking on an elaborate meat & cheese tray was the perfect start to our trip. Other packages include the brewery tour, fireside smores, and a beer and bike tour. You can see all of the options here!

The Gathering Place

Since we traveled right after a snowstorm, we weren’t able to use their outdoor space, but they have a wonderful fire pit, space for lawn games, and a great garden. Other shared space includes the Gathering Place, a fun converted shed, where there are games, a pin ball machine and comfy couches to lounge on. Rest assured, if you are more comfortable maintaining a distance, all of the studios have an outdoor entrance with no need for interaction with other guests during your stay.

Explore

Fort Collins Food Tour

We started out the trip by going on the Old Town Food Tour, which was the perfect way to explore a new city. Tricia, owner and guide, had great insight into the history of the town and the restaurants. The tour begins in a central downtown location and includes 4-5 restaurants where you can sample different menu items. For a bit extra, you can add on alcohol, which then includes 3 drinks. There is also a separate tour option which simply features libations if that’s more your style.

We were unsure what to expect in terms of amount of food, so we debated making a reservation for later that evening for dinner, but that was definitely NOT necessary. At each location we got to try at least 2 different food items and by the end we were definitely content. We even had multiple chefs & owners come out and give us a little breakdown of their restaurant and dishes. It definitely gave us a new appreciation of the Fort Collins food scene and was such a great foodie experience! The tour changes each time, so even if you’ve been before, you’d get a new experience the second time around. We even heard a “dessert tour” is in the works! Here was our lineup:

Stop 1: Slyce Pizza Co - a pizza spot that prides themselves on their unique creations and high quality ingredients

Stop 2: The Still Whiskey Steaks - steakhouse quality in a casual atmosphere with 40+ Colorado whiskies

Steak tips with bourbon cream sauce at Still Whiskey Steaks

Stop 3: Ciao Vino - a wine bar with classic Italian dishes and an owner/chef (Antonio Race) from Naples

Stop 4: Pour Brothers - a fun community tavern with local brews, craft cocktails, and local cuisine

Stop 5: The Emporium - an American Brasserie, offering dishes with the highest-quality regional ingredients in an energetic community space

Brunch at Pour Brothers

We decided to walk to Pour Brothers Community Tavern for brunch since it was just under a mile from our hotel. This spot came highly recommended from the owners of Remington Flats, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stop there on the Old Town Food Tour. If you followed along on our Instagram stories, you probably saw their bloody marys with tons of garnishes, including a grilled cheese! These really were the star of the show, but all of the food was absolutely delicious. We tried their breakfast sandwich aka the “break the fast sammy” on an everything bagel with Buffalo tots (YUM!). We also ordered the special, which was the breakfast tacos, and the honey smoked salmon sammy. We were really impressed at the variety of dishes offered. We also saw they have a carafe of mimosas with a WHOLE bottle of champagne for $14. What a steal! Another fun feature of Pour Brothers is their free photo booth. It was the addition to brunch we didn’t know we needed! We had the opportunity to meet one of the owners, Kristy, and her passion for hospitality really showed. Overall, an A+ experience!

Music Venues

We were shocked to find how musically centric the city is, but it’s definitely apparent as you explore. There are painted pianos across the city with pianists playing throughout the day (we stumbled upon a performance in the parking garage!). They also have some pretty cool music venues.

Magic Rat is a venue inside the Elizabeth Hotel. With a name like that, we felt we had to check it out. The interior is kind of swanky, with velvet seating and a vintage-looking bar. We unfortunately were there prior to the music performance for the evening, which was slated to be a Punk Rock cover band that only covers Disney songs (pretty great, right!?). We were ambitious and thought we might return for the show, but were much too full and tired from the Old Town Food Tour. Next time we visit, we will definitely try and plan around a concert.

The Mishawaka is another well known venue in Fort Collins. A few blocks from Remington Flats, there is a shuttle that takes you to the venue, which would be super convenient. We didn’t personally check this one out, but have heard it’s right on the river and a great place to catch a show.

Biking

Fort Collins is a super bike friendly town and they have several bike/brewery tours as well as biking events during the summer time. Check out Visit Fort Collins for more details, as we haven’t personally attended! We’ re already planning a summer trip and we’ll definitely be partaking in brewery hopping via biking! Fort Collins has so many amazing breweries from the big names like New Belgium and Odell to the smaller (but equally as amazing) options like Horse & Dragon or Funkwerks. As we mentioned previously, Remington Flats includes free cruiser bike rentals with your stay! If you’re not into planning your own route, they also offer a beer/bike tour package where a local guide takes you to 3-4 different breweries and provides a bike/helmet for use.

We had such a great weekend in Fort Collins! We can’t say enough wonderful things about Remington Flats. They were kind enough to offer our followers a discount! Use code MM10 for 10% off your booking. The code is good for any stay between now and December 30, 2022, but you must make your booking by March 24 to receive the discount (*some blackout dates apply)! Have any questions about the trip? Or perhaps a favorite local spot we didn’t mention? Leave a comment below!

Fun in FoCo