“Everything but the drugs.”
Guests at the Hotel Monaco can relive the psychedelic decorative excess of the 1960s without having to endure an acid flashback.
The hotel now has a ’60s classic artist suite, where walls are decorated with art by Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood. Bath robes are tie-dyed, a lava lamp oozes and bubbles, bean bag chairs and flower pillows beckon and Janis Joplin’s and Jimi Hendrix’s self-portraits ogle John Lennon’s hand-written lyrics.
The Monaco, a boutique hotel on Champa Street owned by San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, also has a collection of music-themed suites that revolve around jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, Jefferson Airplane vocalist Grace Slick and Lennon.
It isn’t the only hotel to go theme-park modern, said Ilene Kamsler, president of the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association.
At the Curtis Hotel on nearby Curtis Street, guests can get a wake-up call from celebrity impersonators who channel Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Mr. T and others.
In Orlando, Fla., Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn offers a kids’ spa where the younger guests can get manicures, pedicures, hair wraps, and temporary tattoos. There is Studio Nick, a million-dollar, state-of-the-art theater, with live nightly entertainment; a mall, complete with a food court, just in case the little darlings get homesick; and the Nick@Nite Lounge where the folks can knock back a few stiff drinks while trying to forget how much they dropped at Disney World.
“People have always enjoyed going to fantasy vacation spots and this is just one other way of doing that,” Kamsler said.
Themed hotels represent a marketing strategy that has been successful for some, Kamsler said. “Who knows how long you are going to ride that wave. In three or four years it might be something else they look at. The idea is to distinguish yourself from the cookie-cutter model,” she added.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
