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

ABOUT BLUE SKIES INN

A Bed & Breakfast With a History

The inn keepers Sally and Mike are committed to make your stay memorable and to make sure that you will get the best possible out of your visit. It was while Sally was scouting out potential studio space for her work as a commercial artist, that she was drawn back repeatedly to an appealing little barn on an overgrown two-acre site along Fountain Creek in the little resort town of Manitou Springs.

But Sally was only the catalyst needed bring about the latest transformation of the land that now hosts Blue Skies Inn. She was by no means the first person to envision this land as a perfect site for accommodations. She wasn't even the first Blue Sky person to perceive that.

With ten suites, we are able to host a family reunion or wedding parties. Our inn was built as a little village with quiet spaces for stays with children. Blue Skies Inn is especially well suited to provide lodging for visiting parents and relatives of Colorado College and UCCS students as well as United States Air Force Academy cadets because many of our spacious suites have two or more beds.

Wedding Garden Waterfall at Blue Skies Inn

Gardens at Blue Skies Inn

Gardens have always been an integral part of the experience here at Blue Skies Inn. More than a century before Sally built the inn, our land was a part of the gardens planted by Ferdinand Schneider on the Briarhurst Estate.

Fellow gardeners can see each other, even across a span of centuries, so when inveterate-gardener Sally arrived on the property, she immediately detected the efforts of Ferdinand. She was so impressed she named one of our suites in his honor.

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

Dr. Bell's Carriage House, which is (we think) the oldest standing structure in Manitou Springs and was sadly neglected for years.

The Carriage House has since been restored to incorporate a Chapel Room for Weddings, Reunions, and Receptions and is now being used year round.

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.