The Mountain Chalet, Aspen's oldest owner-built lodge, is being rebuilt into Aspen Mountain Chalet by a partnership between Larry McGuire's MML Hospitality and Zach Kupperman's Kupperman Companies, with the founding Melville family retained as partners. The $100 million-plus renovation trims the room count from 67 to 59, adds two restaurants and a rebuilt spa, and targets a summer 2027 opening.
The essentials
Group
MML Hospitality with Kupperman Companies
Opening
Summer 2027
Rooms & suites
59 rooms
Segment
Luxury
Designer
Lambert McGuire Design (interiors), with Lake Flato and Rybak Architecture (architecture)
On East Durant Avenue at the corner of Mill Street in downtown Aspen, a few blocks from the Silver Queen Gondola and the base of Aspen Mountain.
The concept
Built in 1954 by the Melville family after a trip to Garmisch, Germany, the Mountain Chalet grew from a three-room guesthouse into Aspen's oldest owner-built lodge, run by the same family for nearly seventy years. It sold in 2021 for $68 million to a partnership of Zach Kupperman (Kupperman Companies) and Larry McGuire's MML Hospitality, the team behind Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans, with Tom Moorman, Liz Lambert and Elle Florescu as partners, and Melville family members retaining a stake. The new owners are investing upward of $100 million in a full rebuild (new systems, reworked rooms and balconies, an expanded spa) while trimming the room count from 67 to 59 and keeping the alpine character intact, reopening as Aspen Mountain Chalet.
Dining & wellness
Plans call for two new public restaurants: a traditional alpine dining room replacing the current breakfast room, and a bar occupying the fifth floor, currently used for conference and event space. Specific concepts and operators have not been announced.
