The short stretch of South Broadway known as Antique Row is jam-packed with storefronts crammed in turn with bric-a-brac for weekend browsers and serious collectors alike. Occupying its own eye-opening niche is this specialist in German, Austrian, and Swiss antiques. Black Forest woodwork abounds, of course, in the form of cuckoo clocks, mirror frames, chandeliers, walking sticks, and plaques, but there’s plenty more to gawk at. Glass and pewter beer steins line shelves; hand-painted goblets and figurines fill display cases; and World War II memorabilia is arrayed behind glass to tempt the history buff. And still that’s not all: from brass cowbells to felt fedoras made in the Tyrol to old postcards, owner Diana Neisler—herself from Heidelberg—stocks every inch of her shop with fascinating finds.

Luxury’s a given around Cherry Creek. But Vital Spa, located in exclusive health club Pura Vida Fitness, takes it to the max. A single treatment gets you a full-day pass to the club, complete with a complimentary yoga class; buy five treatments, and you get a sixth free, be it a hot stone massage, a customized facial, or a firming body wrap. Acupuncture sessions, manicures and pedicures, and holistic nutrition consultations are also available, and so are “enhancements” like scalp rubs and dry body brushing. Add to all that interior design that combines the elegance of an art gallery with the peacefulness of a nature sanctuary, and you’ve got yourself a blissful urban escape.

The name evokes dusty shelves and cobwebbed corners, but the Tattered Cover Book Store is a sprawling, gleaming, three-location Denver institution—and its owner, Joyce Meskis, a local hero. No mere literary retail outlets, the trio of stores are veritable community centers, boasting in-store coffeehouses and hosting everything from film and lecture program series to book clubs for adults and kids alike to the city’s best readings (think Dave Eggers, rising star Joshua Ferris, and Barack Obama!). Yet another bonus: a mind-boggling magazine selection. But it's Meskis' involvement in the community beyond the bookstores’ walls that really stand out, from making donations to local charities through the Tattered Cover Gives Back program to her participation in the annual citywide literacy promotion event One Book, One Denver.

Housed in two separate storefronts on Old South Pearl, 5 Green Boxes spilleth over with the stuff of great splurging. In the larger home boutique, you’ll encounter the likes of wastepaper baskets shaped like Chinese take-out containers, floral-patterned garden tools, chunky embossed belt buckles, and all kinds of rugs, pillows, place settings, candles, and carryalls made from unexpected and recycled materials and one-a-kind chairs made from the in house design studio. The smaller shop, meanwhile, is fashion-filled, emphasizing colorful knits and tunics in exotic prints along with a wealth of funky accessories, from cool costume jewelry to scarves and tights to crayon-bright eye frames.

Along a stretch of South Broadway where they’d have sounded downright foreign a few short years ago, the adjectives “quirky” and “luxury” are becoming not only apt, but synonymous with the area thanks to finds like Decade. A fixture in the gentrifying Baker district, this funky apparel and accessories boutique is a browser’s (not to mention buyer’s) dream, filled wall to wall with the likes of colorful handknits and Audrey Hepburn–retro wool trenches, cheeky piggy banks and cheekier lingerie, coffee table–worthy cookbooks and sumptuous Shiraleah handbags with all the bells and whistles (or, as the case may be, straps and buckles). In the back room, tot-sized togs and trinkets abound. The collection is as varied as the kudos it receives from local publications, from "Best Paris-Flea-Market-Style Store" to "Top Maternity." As you take it all in, keep your eyes out for Stella the Fella, the feline mascot in the gem-studded collar.