402 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO 80829 | (800) 398-7949 | (719) 685-3899 | Contact / Map |

ABOUT BLUE SKIES INN

A Bed & Breakfast With a History

Twenty years ago, we discovered an overgrown 2 ½ acre property that held the Buffalo Bill Wax Museum as well as an historic 1871 carriage house that was part of the estate of one of the city’s founders. The shady streamside and gently sloping hillside were a perfect place to build a small Gothic village that houses ten whimsical bed and breakfast suites.

We designed our inn and built it, snugging it under hundred year old oaks on our hillside by the historic structure. We planted woodland gardens and constructed garden paths to surround the inn. There are spaces amongst the trees and waterfalls for enjoying breakfast, strolling, afternoon reading and family time.

With ten spacious suites, many with extra beds, we are able to host events - family reunions are fun at the inn. We enjoy seeing how our guests use the inn to build memories of their stay. Describe your vacation vision, and we will make it happen!

Wedding Garden Waterfall at Blue Skies Inn

Gardens at Blue Skies Inn

The property at Blue Skies Inn starts at a little mountain stream and gently runs uphill. Ancient hundred -foot willows and lovely oaks create the quiet setting for our inn. Meandering paths and beds of flowers are nestled among our gardens.

Enjoy breakfast with our passing wildlife or sit to read a book in the shade. Our gardens have been graced with happy family reunions and visits with old friends.

Our garden experience includes breakfast, which is served in a picnic basket so or guests can, weather permitting, enjoy dining al fresco in a variety of outdoor settings.

The Historic Carriage House

Our guest common area is a building with a fascinating history and is probably the oldest standing structure in Manitou Springs. The innkeepers have made the carriage house into their home.
The 1871 Carriage House may be used for weddings, family reunions, and other joyful events.

Enjoy the Outdoors

Blue Skies Inn offers many outdoor activities from the year round opened gazebo to a walk along the creek.

Blue Skies Inn is designed to make our guests' stay both enjoyable and a welcome break from the cookie-cutter sameness of motels, hotels and "residence inns".

Reunions & Gatherings

Family reunions are a wonderful adventure at Blue Skies Inn. You'll take home memories of meeting cousins, aunts and uncles and spending hours visiting about old times. Family photos will be shared and new connections will be made.

We have room for a pretty big family. Our ten spacious suites can accommodate up to 33 adults, and we welcome children of any age. We gladly provide youth beds and portacribs for your little ones. If we don't have space for all of you, we'll enlist our nearby fellow innkeepers for extra suites.

The Seasons

Colorado weather can change drastically over a day, and you can see all weather conditions throughout the year. It's not uncommon to have wide temperature swings from one day to the next (40 degrees F!) or even in a summer day (a thunderstorm can drop the temperature 30 degrees in 15 minutes). Colorado is a high desert, and typically sees less moisture as a result. Also, it's a little known secret that Colorado has more sunny days per year than Florida.

Each season in Colorado has its own charm, from the green leaves coming out in spring to the autumn colors of the changing aspens in the fall. And the beautiful snow covered mountain next Manitou Springs opens up a very different vacation option for our guests. No matter the season, Blue Skies Inn always have attractions for our guests.

Our Wildlife

When you visit Blue Skies Inn, you also experience the Colorado wildlife up close and personal. The Tranquility of our 2.5 acres gardens seems to fit our wildlife perfectly.

We often have deers visiting and if you are lucky, you may even see black bears that are very curious of what goes on. We often have hummingbirds coming, which are our guests favorites.

Our Personal History

Sally's conception of Blue Skies Inn has much to do with her own personal history. In 1873, the same year our Carriage House was built, Sally's great-grandmother, Frances Sarah Howard, crossed the plains from Missouri as a child in a covered wagon. It is in her grandmother's honor that Sally proudly displays "Colorado Pioneer" plates on all her vehicles.

The History

Before Europeans arrived in Colorado, the massive red rock formations at the base of Pikes Peak now known as "The Garden of the Gods" were cherished by the Ute tribe as a holy site and as a place where the scattered families of the Ute could congregate. Further up the pass that led around the south side of Pikes Peak were natural springs that the Utes believed had curative powers.

Rather than camp on sacred ground, the mountain people lodged some distance away from the Garden of the Gods downstream from the healing springs. They chose a site just across the ridge line that features the Balanced Rock, amid the streamside cottonwoods and willows with an abundance of deer and other game inhabiting the scrub-oak hillsides.