Hospitality wars: Many of Denver’s 47,000 hotel rooms are getting million-dollar makeovers as competition heats up

May 16, 2018 Posted In

Written by Joe Rubino, The Denver Post

An observant visitor to the recently updated Hotel Monaco in downtown Denver might spot a number of subtle touches in its halls and rooms meant as homages to Colorado’s rich natural resources. In the absence of such a keen eye, though, a guided tour sure helps.

On a recent afternoon, the Monaco‘s general manager, Sandy Burkett, pointed out several of those touches: a color pallet and carpet and wallpaper patterns that reference the various minerals found beneath the Colorado soil and hallway lighting fixtures modeled after miners’ lamps.

The details were added as part of a $6 million renovation competed at the hotel in March. All 189 rooms in the former railway exchange building-turned-hotel at 1717 Champa St. were overhauled.

“We gutted it. New carpet, new pad, new furniture,” Burkett said.

The Denver metro area is home to more hotel options than ever. Many of them, like the dazzling ART Hotel on Broadway and chic new Ramble Hotel in nearby RiNo compete for the type of experience-driven traveler the nearly 20-year-old Monaco seeks to attract.

Click to read full article.