Insider's author discovered champagne in coffee shops and covers for water fountains in Aspen, Colorado.
Aspen, Colorado, is the US' most expensive ski town.
The average home in the resort town costs $11.4 million, and rich and famous people flock to it each year.
I was surprised to see what Aspen looked like.
Aspen is a small ski town with big budgets that is located in Colorado.
The town's center has a view of the Aspen Mountain.
Aspen, Colorado, is a popular destination for the rich and famous.
The most expensive ski town in the US is based on the listing price for prime ski property, according to a report from a global real estate company.
The average home in Aspen sells for $11.4 million.
According to a HomeToGo report cited by Forbes, Aspen competes with other top ski resorts like Dear Valley in Utah, because guests spend a lot of money to stay there.
The celebrities come to the town to show off their ski gear on the snowy slopes.
I visited the town in December before the ski season started and experienced a taste of the lifestyle that comes with living and vacationing in Aspen. I was surprised by several things.
I was surprised to find some unique elements in Aspen, like champagne in coffee shops and water fountain covers. I also found some cheap things.
The author is in Aspen, Colorado.
I learned that luxury is all about the details, like when a hotel room has real plants instead of fake ones, and when a restaurant uses cloth over paper napkins.
I thought those tiny elements cast a surprise on how expensive Aspen's become.
I didn't expect people to be walking around the town in ski boots with skis on their shoulders.
People are walking to a gondola.
I noticed that the hotels advertised as ski-in/ski-out. I've never skied before, so I didn't know how much it meant.
I could walk from my hotel room to the base of Aspen Mountain, where I would have access to the 87 ski trails.
Even if they weren't staying in a ski-in/ski-out accommodation, they still trekked across the town in their ski gear. People were going to the lifts in their ski boots or just off the slopes to get home after a day on the slopes.
Most of the people I serve are able to casually list off all the celebrities they've met.
Execs and celebrities are at a party in Aspen, Colorado.
I was surprised at the willingness of the server to share their celebrity encounters.
One waitress at the White House Tavern told me that Leon Bridges was sent to the bar by her and that she had recently eaten at the bar with Dua Lipa.
The waiter at the bar counted off all the A-listers he's seen, including Neil Patrick Harris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Katy Perry.
My waitress at Matsuhisa casually mentioned that in the winter you're going to see celebrities every day.
The coffee shop's fridge was stocked with champagne.
An arrow points to champagne in a coffee shop.
I was surprised to see bottles of champagne next to cans and coconut water in a coffee shop.
Customers could make their own mimosas if they stocked orange juice at the shop.
Aspen took special care with its outdoor amenities. I had never seen water fountains and bicycle stations covered in winter.
An arrow points to the cover of a water fountain.
Aspen protects its water fountains and bicycle stations in the winter.
I'm familiar with NYC's winter, where you can rent a bike year-round, and Central Park's water fountains end up covered in snow.
In Aspen, the bikes are stored away, and plastic covers are placed on the docking stations.
The water fountains are the same. The water stations in Aspen had snug covers on them to protect them from the cold.
The brick sidewalks were protected by the town.
A sign encourages bikers to dismount.
In the town's main square, over 300,000 bricks were laid in 1976.
The efforts to preserve those bricks can be seen on signs all over the town. Everyone I saw followed the rules of the signs, even though they told people not to bike over the bricks.
The small, free libraries in the town felt like an upgrade, with hard-to- find New York Times bestsellers there for the taking.
A small library in Aspen, Colorado.
I'm used to seeing Free Little Libraries, which are like mailboxes filled with free books, across my neighborhood in Denver. I'm not used to them being filled with books that have been on my wish list for months.
"The Vanishing Half" is a book that's topped the New York Times bestseller list.
I was excited to get my hands on the popular book because it would be gone from the free library in Denver in minutes.
There are art galleries all around the town.
An art gallery in Colorado.
They gushed about how much more Aspen has to offer than skiing after talking to a few locals.
They bragged about the Aspen Art Museum's new exhibit on Andy Warhol and listed the small galleries that fill every town block.
I was surprised to discover that Aspen has a strong emphasis on the arts.
I didn't think there would be so much focus on food in Aspen, but my list of restaurant recommendations was long enough to last an entire season.
During my trip, Matsuhisa was recommended to me many times.
Everyone knew every restaurant in Aspen, no matter who I spoke to.
Almost every local I spoke with had a favorite.
Steak House No. 316 served the best steak and I was told to go to Clark's for seafood. I was told that a trip to Aspen wouldn't be complete without eating sushi from Matsuhisa or having a Wagyu burger at Ajax Tavern.
Food was a big part of the experience.
I was surprised to find dog food on a hotel menu, but I was not surprised to see dogs in designer outfits.
Dog food was included on the menu.
I looked at the room-service menu at The Little Nell hotel as my stomach grew large on my first night in Aspen.
A $21 French toast and a $25 salad were expected, but there was also food for your dog. "Canine delights daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m." was advertised on the menu.
The meals included carrots, brown rice, scrambled eggs, and the owner's choice of food. They cost $19.
I found some affordable eats, even though I expected pricey meals.
A $6 slice of pizza.
I waslured into Aspen Pie Shop by a sign that advertised $8 burgers within minutes of walking into the town.
It was a relief to know that Aspen is more than just a place to have $25 Entrees and $20 Cocktails. For the next few days, I was able to find affordable eats like a $9 sub or an $8 shot and beer drink deal.
It seemed that groceries were reasonably priced.
The prices of produce in Aspen's grocery store were the same as in Denver.
On the first night of the trip, my friend and I went to City Market, a part of the Kroger grocery-store chain, to grab a few snacks and breakfast items for the week.
We expected Aspen's groceries to be more expensive than they were in Denver. The prices were very similar.
I realized that the town felt quaint after a day in Aspen. The building was not higher than six stories.
The holiday lights are in Aspen, Colorado.
I was in Aspen for the first time and debated whether the town's charming appeal was due to the snowy slopes or the brick sidewalks.
I realized it was the lack of tall buildings. The majority of the buildings were two or three stories high, and I had a good view of the sky and mountains.
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