re: Looking for Denver area advice

Downtown Denver has a good amount of homeless - I’d stay out of that area. You can stay in Cherry Creek, which is really clean and nice and walkable. There are a lot of good restaurants and fun breweries in Denver to try out in RiNo and LoHi.

Golden is something of a mountain town 30 mins away from Denver that’s walkable. There aren’t as many good restaurants or anything but you’re more in the mountains and it’s less hustle and bustle than Denver.

Breck is a real mountain town 1.5 hours from Denver. Also very walkable. Breck is pretty crowded with tourists but you’ll be going during ‘shoulder season’ so shouldn’t be too crowded. If you can beat the crowds, Breck and the surrounding area is one of the most beautiful areas in the US, IMHO.

Lodging isn’t horribly expensive in Breck, we have a suite in a hotel booked there for about $300 per night. The same hotel was offering smaller rooms for about $200.

Staying under $2k will likely be more of a challenge if you’re staying in Aspen or Vail. Aspen is definitely a drive - if you’re only here for 3 nights I wouldn’t trek out there, not worth it imo, especially on a budget.