Deepak Chopra – the name evokes so much spiritual bliss, it may lead some people to spend $200,000 for a tiny studio apartment in Westminster.
That’s part of the $40 million project at the Westin Westminster, where a three-bedroom penthouse over a new Chopra spa will eclipse seven figures.
Chopra is a renowned guru, lauded by world leaders including ex-President Clinton. For mer Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev once called Chopra “one of the most lucid and inspired philosophers of our time.”
Chopra used to be an endocrinologist and chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center. But one can never be too successful. So Chopra became “poet-prophet of alternative medicine,” according to Time magazine in 1999.
Chopra is the author of 35 books and 100 audiotapes and videos. He melds Western medicine with quantum physics and the timeless wisdom of ancient cultures.
But I think his central message is this: Take a deep breath, buy my books, visit my spas and, now that I have you completely hypnotized, let me show you some really expensive real estate.
I had hoped to interview Chopra, seeking the fine line between spiritual guru and huckster. But I was told Chopra was on his way to the Quill Awards in New York City after being nominated for his latest book, “Peace Is the Way: Bringing War and Violence to an End.” Apparently, the song “Give Peace a Chance” failed to achieve this mission.
Westin spokeswoman Susan Stiff tried to get Chopra to call me, but she held out little hope: “He sleeps for an hour, then he meditates for an hour, then he sleeps for an hour … .” You get the drill.
I once had a massage at a place Chopra ran in La Jolla, Calif. I just wanted the kinks worked out of my back after a bumpy flight. But I also got a noseful of exotic odors, an eyeful of spiritual platitudes written on scores of books and posters, and an earful of that wavy, windy, seagull-chirping, whale-crying music.
Sometimes, rich freaks with more money than ideas may feel lost. That’s where Chopra comes in.
“Every aspect of the design of the Rocky Mountain Chopra Center and Spa will encourage you to explore your true nature, which is infinite, miraculous and whole,” Chopra wrote in some marketing materials. “I invite you to … experience the ocean of peace, harmony and love that lies deep within your being.”
Hey, the only ocean deep within my being is frequently released in a lavatory.
Still, Chopra may be the best thing to happen to the Westminster Westin since the hotel opened in April 2000. Near the peak of the Nasdaq, surrounding tech companies were loading the rooms with visiting executives.
“This hotel could not raise its rates high enough,” general manager Scott Weber told me. Some room rates eclipsed $200 a night. “Level 3 and Sun (Microsystems) would say, ‘OK, we’ll pay it.”‘
Then came the tech wreck. And then 9/11. Average room rates fell sharply and have inched back to $119.
“I am fortunate to have a very understanding owner,” Weber told me.
The owner is developer Tim O’Byrne, who has been holding on to a rabbit-infested, 6-acre site next to the hotel. His plan is to build retail shops and 60 luxury “residences” above the new, 17,000-square-foot Chopra center.
Local companies may buy these for their visiting employees and consultants. Or people may buy them as residences or investments. The development is called Ananda Inspired Living, ananda being a Sanskrit word for “joyful bliss.”
The hotel will manage these units of joyful bliss if owners choose to lease them. It’s an arrangement much like the condo hotels at ski resorts, except there is nowhere to ski.
“We’ve been told that Deepak Chopra has 100,000 people on his mailing list,” said Weber. People in Chopra’s organization “feel they are going to be able to sell condos right off the bat.”
“Visitors will come from all over the world,” O’Byrne said in a news release.
He predicts the center “will bring a whole new tourism element to Colorado’s Front Range.”
Yeah, people who will visit a landlocked state in search of an ocean.
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to Al at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-820-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
