Denver
- A 150-room Springhill Suites by Marriott (303.705.7300; www.marriott.com), situated in downtown Denver within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center, will open on the campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSUD) in August with 7,500 square feet of meeting space. Roughly 80 percent of the staff working at the hotel will be students from MSUD’s hospitality program. This will be one of only 10 college student-operated hotels in the nation.
- A 230-room Marriott Renaissance (800.228.9290; www.marriott.com) is scheduled to open in December in the 1915 building formerly occupied by the Colorado National Bank. The hotel will feature banquet/meeting rooms in the basement (including one inside the bank’s vault), a ground-floor restaurant and retail space, and a lounge in the mezzanine overlooking the lobby.
- Denver’s Regional Transportation District recently approved plans for redeveloping Denver’s historic Union Station to include a 130-room hotel run by Sage Hospitality (303.595.7200; www.sagehospitality.com). The hotel, projected to open in spring 2014, will be affiliated with the historic, 80-room Oxford Hotel, which is located across the street and run by Sage Hospitality. In addition to the new hotel, the project will feature retail and restaurants developed by the same group that runs Denver’s Larimer Square, home to some of the city’s top eateries and boutiques. The station already serves as a downtown stop for light rail lines heading south to the Denver Tech Center and Littleton. A new light rail line will open west to Golden in 2013, and in 2015, there will be direct rail service from Union Station east to Denver International Airport.
- Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Denver (303.296.1717; www.monaco-denver.com) unveiled its completely renovated lobby and meeting space in March. In 2011, the hotel’s 189 guest rooms were redesigned, and in 2010, the hotel’s award-winning restaurant, Panzano, was completely remodeled.
Colorado Springs
- The Broadmoor (719.577.5777; www.broadmoor.com) recently announced a $60 million renovation. The multiphase project includes the expansion and redesign of guest rooms and suites, and extensive updates to food and beverage outlets and meetings, events and activity facilities. In May, the first phase of renovations was completed, including the reopening of the Southlake building guest rooms and suites, and a new look for Cheyenne Lodge, one of The Broadmoor’s premier meeting and event facilities.
- The Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel (719.323.2011; www.wyndham.com) opened in May with 57 guest rooms, 3,000 square feet of meeting space and an on-site restaurant, Springs Orleans. The entire property will open in late July with a total of 117 guest rooms and 9,000 square feet of meeting space.