At the same time that Denver streets, public art, theaters and arenas are getting gussied up to host next month’s Democratic National Convention and its roughly 50,000 attendees, several area hotels have also undergone extensive face-lifts.
“They’re all very excited,” Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association president Ilene Kamsler says about the designer looks and special programs being rolled out at Denver hotels — only a fraction of which are mentioned here.
Consumers are the beneficiaries of that excitement. Consider this triple whammy affecting the local lodging business: DNC buildup; increased competition from several new hotels in town like the well-appointed Hyatt Regency Denver at the Convention Center; and the hotel industry’s expectation that finer facilities receive renovations every five to seven years.
The Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau says nearly all the area’s 42,000 rooms are now booked by convention attendees, vendors or press, with some of the top suites in the city going for around $6,000 a night during that last week of August, according to the bureau.
Some hotels wrapped up renovations earlier this year. Others moved up plans slated for later this year and now intend to be finished no later than mid-August.
“Everything is going to look spark ling,” Kamsler says. “No one wants to disappoint anyone coming to Denver.”
That means hotel beds are being made over with high-thread-count sheets, box TVs are being swapped for flat screens, soothing metallics and earthy greens and blues are overtaking dark, dated palettes, in-house restaurants are embracing popular fusion flavors, and guest services are being revamped with an eye toward being kinder to the planet. “Just about every one of the hotels is jumping on the green bandwagon,” Kamsler says.
Some will install news kiosks in lobbies for newspaper pickup and recycling instead of the traditional room-to-room morning delivery. Denver Water has printed brochures asking hotel visitors to reuse towels instead of requesting freshly washed linens every day, and local waste companies hope to leave recycling bins on nearly every hotel floor as visitors are sure to “have a lot of water bottles and paper given to them during the convention,” Kamsle r says.
“We’re hoping that these will be sustainable” green policies, she adds, and “that the industry will recognize the economic benefit of doing this and keep these practices in the future.”
Elana Ashanti Jefferson: 303-954-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com
