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This handsome and modern lodge offers guests a difficult choice: Do you want a room looking out on the lake or one with a view of the mountains? Although most rooms in the area have some kind of view, not many offer such a choice. For a standard room, we think the best views are in the third-floor rooms facing the lake, but, if you can afford them, the third-floor corner suites offer views of both the lake and the mountains. Of course, we expect nice interiors, too, and the Lake Shore Lodge comes through in that category as well. Decorated in Western Victorian style, with oak furnishings and rich colors of burgundy and forest green, the rooms are slightly larger than average, and third-floor units with vaulted ceilings feel especially spacious. All units have either two queen-size beds or a king and sofa sleeper. Second- and third-floor units have decks. The six suites have fireplaces, and two also have whirlpool tubs. All rooms are nonsmoking.

Owing to its role as a conference center, the lodge has an abundance of public areas, from outdoor decks to inside seating areas with comfortable couches, fireplaces, and, of course, great views out large windows. There's a small indoor swimming pool, and a game room with video games and a pool table. The adjacent Lake Estes Marina offers boat rentals, and fishing is available from a boat or the lakeshore. The lodge's Silverado restaurant boasts wonderful views and dinner entrees prepared just the way we like them -- top-quality meat and fish, with only limited use of sauces.

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