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Loge Downtown updates the Leavenworth look.

With more than 1,200 hotel rooms and a distinctive Bavarian theme, Leavenworth isn't the typical tiny mountain town. Thanks to municipal requirements, every hotel from the Howard Johnson to the Hamptons Inn and Suites has to look like it came out of The Sound of Music. Among the many alpine hideaways and scalloped wood trim, we picked our favorites.

The grandest overnight in Leavenworth is perhaps the hardest to find. Tucked into a dead-end street across from the hospital, the spa hotel is modest on purpose. Modeled on the kind of European luxury self-care spots that dot the Alps, Posthotel is adults-only and dedicated to relaxation. This is the spot for a romantic getaway, to eat lunch in a bathrobe, and zone out in the sauna.

The multi-state Loge collective likes to take existing properties and turn them into funky, fun adventure getaways. Leavenworth boasts two, including a series of waterfront cabins down on the river. This urban building, purchased from the nearby hospital, opens with a coffee shop and a hangout room with a shuffleboard table. Borrow a cruiser bike or just wander to the beer gardens outside. Guests can use the Riverside property as well.

Once owned by Seattle-famous Harriet Bullitt, the resort up Icicle Creek exists for when you don't want an alpine getaway to feel like living as a nutcracker. The woodsy collection of cabins delivers luxury—big spaces, crisp linens—and a sizable soaking pool. Bullitt gave the hotel to her nonprofit Icicle Fund, meaning the hotel supports arts and natural conservation in the area. As locals mix with guests at the coffee shop at the front of the property, it feels like the least touristy tourist part of Leavenworth.

Located right on Highway 2, which cuts through the center of town, the Enzian has the strange kind of authenticity you can only find in Leavenworth. Sure, the cutesy building dates back to just the 1980s, but it was a family endeavor that grew the 100-room hotel and 18-hole putting course outside. One of the family members, clad in lederhosen, plays an alphorn on a balcony daily. The hotel is like a taste of the Old World, but with wifi.

If you could blend a motel with a cuckoo clock, the result would look something like the very central Obertal Inn. The ornately carved wooden railings spruce up an otherwise standard series of hotel room doors, and the views are nothing to write home about. But the family-run hotel is about as convenient as it gets—you're probably within 20 paces of a bratwurst while in bed—and they serve fresh hot apple strudel every morning. Oh, and it's dog friendly.