What's New - 2013 All the latest info on The Mile High City
MAJOR NEW ATTRACTIONS
1. Clyfford Still Museum
Opened: November 2011
Description & Background: Clyfford Still is considered to be one of America’s most influential modern artists, and yet not many people are familiar with his works. Four of his paintings recently sold at auction for $114 million, including one that went for $61 million, the fifth highest price ever paid at auction for a contemporary work. Born in 1904, Still was a leading figure in the development of Abstract Expressionism, a post-World War II artistic movement that many consider to be the United States’ greatest contribution to the art world. His peers included Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning and Mark Rothko – all rule-breaking artists who were interested in abstract forms, monumental scale and intensely expressive brushwork. Still’s bold, angular paintings juxtapose colors and shapes in eye-opening and highly emotional ways. Still lived in New York for extended stays in the late 1940s and 1950s, however, over time, he became critical of the art world and eventually severed ties with commercial galleries. After the artist's death in 1980, the Clyfford Still Estate was sealed off from public and scholarly view. Still's will stipulated that his estate be given in its entirety to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum dedicated solely to his work.
In August 2004, the City of Denver, under the leadership of then Mayor John W. Hickenlooper, was selected by Still's wife, Patricia Still, to receive the substantial collection, most of which had never been seen by the public. Almost two dozen cities competed for the honor. In 2005, Patricia Still also bequeathed to the city her own estate, which included select paintings by her husband as well as his complete archives.
The Architecture: Located adjacent to the Denver Art Museum, The Clyfford Still Museum's collection includes almost 2,400 of Still’s paintings, drawings and prints – roughly 94 percent of this influential artist’s total output. The museum also contains the artist’s archives, including personal letters, photographs, journals and sketchbooks. Virtually all of this material has been sealed off from public and scholarly view since 1980. In late 2006, Allied Works Architecture, led by Brad Cloepfil, was selected to create the museum’s look and feel. The resulting design is bold and iconoclastic – a perfect fit for an artist like Still. The building’s dense, cantilevered, two-story structure, is unified through the use of a single building material—a highly textured and resurfaced concrete, designed to modify light on both the exterior and interior of the museum. The 31,500-square-foot museum is generously lit through natural lighting, filtered into the museum through a clerestory on the second floor. The textured concrete walls diffuse, refract and capture natural light in the museum galleries so that the paintings look different at different times of the day and in different seasons. Visitors approach the museum through a landscaped forecourt, which provides a transition from the city to the experience of viewing the phenomenal art inside. Built also with meetings and events in mind, the museum can do receptions for 250 or sit-down dinners for 60.
2. History Colorado Center
Opened: April 28, 2012
Description: This entirely new $110 million experiential museum makes Colorado history fun. Visitors enter by walking on a gigantic map of Colorado, where they push a “Jules Verne-like” time machine that tells the history of various towns in the state as the machine is placed over “hot spots” on the floor. The time machine will use video, historic photos and sound to tell the stories. Other experiences include: traveling across the plains in a Motel T Ford; donning a headlamp and descending into a hard rock mine; soaring off one of the world’s first ski jump in Steamboat Springs; arriving at a 19th Century train station; a trading mission at Bent’s Old Fort with Chief Yellow Wolf and Kit Carson, and much more. Colorado’s colorful history, from 10,000 years ago to the present comes to life in this fully interactive museum. Don't miss Denver A to Z, an irreverent retelling of The Mile High City's history through its most interesting characters.
3. Mile into the Wild walkway at the Wild Animal Sanctuary
Opened: Spring, 2012
Description & Background: The 720-acre Wild Animal Sanctuary is the largest carnivore sanctuary in the Western Hemisphere with more than 290 lions, tigers, bears and wolves, including 70 tigers and some 30 lions that were recently rescued from circuses in Bolivia. All of the carnivores have been rescued or confiscated from illegal or abusive situations. The Sanctuary is located on high, rolling plains, 30 miles northeast of Denver, near the town of Keenesburg. The Sanctuary is the oldest in the nation, having been in operation since 1980. The Sanctuary is unique in that it provides large acreage natural habitats for its animals to live freely in large social groupings. The facility is open daily to the public for educational purposes and has a system of observation decks and walkways that allows visitors to see the animals in natural habitats. In one direction, people look down on a field filled with grizzly bears, while from another vantage they see a field of tigers.
New in 2012: The Wild Animal Sanctuary has recently opened the Mile into the Wild Walkway, a mile-long path 20 feet above the ground that provides visitors with unprecedented views of more than 290 lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other large carnivores.
• The walkway was built using more than 90 sections in multiple phases
• It is more than 5,000 feet in length and connects the Sanctuary’s southern facilities with current and future facilities to the north.
• The walkway gives visitors access to the Sanctuary’s 21 large acreage habitats
• The walkway connects visitors to a 4,000-square-foot observation deck inside the state-of-the-art Bolivian Lion House
• The sanctuary recently acquired 400 acres - allowing continued expansion of the walkway on the new property as more habitats are developed
4. Toyota Elephant Passage at the Denver Zoo
Opened: June 1, 2012
Description: The Denver Zoo’s new $50 million Toyota Elephant Passage (formerly Asian Tropics), is a landmark exhibit that occupies 10 acres on the southern edge of the zoo, making it the largest new exhibit in the zoo’s 100 year history. The exhibit includes the largest bull elephant habitat in the U.S., capable of housing up to 12 male pachyderms. The five new habitats are seven times larger than the zoo’s current pachyderm exhibit, and provide new homes for Asian elephants, Indian rhinos and Malaysian tapirs.
Animals rotate among the different habitats throughout the day. Sometimes elephants will walk over visitors on a special elephant bridge. At other times, visitors have to stop while elephants walk by them at eye-level at special “elephant crossings.” Observation platforms make it possible to look down on the vast complex, while water features will make it possible to be just a few feet from the pachyderms, separated just by water. Mud wallows, sand pits and scratching trees encourage physical and psychological health for the elephants. Every day at Toyota Elephant Passage will be different for both animals and zoo guests alike. The 18,000-square-foot “Elephant Barn” accommodates 8-12 elephants and include private “bedrooms” as well as a communal “parlor” for public viewing.
Toyota Elephant Passage is being designed following the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) system. The zoo is currently testing an innovative “gasification” system that will convert elephant poop and other zoo waste into the energy needed to heat and light the Toyota Elephant Passage.
5. American Western Museum of Art
Opened: Mid-May 2012
Fresh on the heels of the opening of the Clyfford Still Museum (which opened in Nov. 2011) comes the American Museum of Western Art, scheduled to open in mid-May, 2012. Housed in the historic Navarre building, the museum showcases the extraordinary Anschutz Collection – more than 650 paintings and drawings by more than 180 artists spanning 200 years of American history. Selections from the collection have appear in shows from London to the People’s Republic of China before finding a permanent home in downtown Denver.
MAJOR 2013 EXHIBITS
1. Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam and the Land at the Denver Art Museum
Opening: February 10–April 28
Featuring some of Georgia O’Keeffe’s most rarely seen works, this exhibit at the Denver Art Museum includes numerous drawings, watercolors and paintings of katsina tithu (carved and painted representations of Hopi spirit beings).
2. Mammoths & Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
February 15, 2013 – May 27, 2013
Return to the Ice Age. In Mammoths & Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age, you will encounter some of Earth's most awe-inspiring mammals, roam among saber-toothed cats and giant bears, and wonder over some of the oldest human artifacts in existence. Life-size models, fossil tusks and skulls, touchable teeth, spear points, cave paintings, interactive displays, and monumental video installations bring the Ice Age back to life.
You'll also enjoy a point of pride for Coloradans as you relive the story of the Snowmastodon Project, the exceptional Ice Age fossil site unearthed near Snowmass Village in 2010. You'll see artifacts from the site and hear about the science that is emerging from this historic discovery.
3. Nick Cave: Soundsuits at the Denver Art Museum
June 9, - September 22, 2013
Renowned contemporary artist Nick Cave will debut a new body of work at the Denver Art Museum in the summer of 2013. The exhibition features a combination of multimedia elements and performances along with a selection of figurative sculptures the artist dubbed “Soundsuits.”
4. MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
October 11, 2013 – January 5, 2014
MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition will show you how to uncover the truth behind some of science’s popular myths. Will running in the rain keep you drier than walking? Can an airplane really take off from a conveyer belt moving in the opposite direction? Think you can hang off a ledge like an action hero? In addition to hands-on experiments, you can explore props and gadgets from the show—and participate in a live demonstration. Just like the dynamic TV series, this exhibition mixes scientific method with gleeful curiosity and old-fashioned ingenuity to create a hands-on, interactive experience for guests of all ages.
5. Passport to Paris at the Denver Art Museum
October 27, 2013 - February 9, 2014
Passport to Paris brings together works from the rock stars of the art world—Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and more. This exhibition's trio of shows focuses on French art from the late 1600s to early 1900s and explores changes in art and society during three important centuries in art history.
DOWNTOWN DENVER DEVELOPMENT
1. 14th Street Development
Downtown Denver’s 14th Street has emerged as a vibrant pedestrian-oriented thoroughfare, thanks to a $14 million streetscaping project to be completed in early 2012. Through this public-private initiative, sidewalks were expanded, encouraging outdoor restaurants and ground floor shopping that will bolster the experience one has when walking down the street. Key elements include the addition of 200 trees, new flower planters, better "wayfinding" signage, improved pedestrian lighting, decorative street corner monuments, bike racks and enhanced maintenance. A dedicated bicycle lane was added in the street and on-street parking was retained. 14th Street is becoming known as the "Ambassador Street" due to the diversity of visitor-oriented uses found along this corridor, including the Colorado Convention Center, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Hyatt Regency at Colorado Convention Center, and four other new or recently-constructed hotels. Altogether, $1.5 billion in public and private investments have been made along the corridor since 2002. The district covers the entire the 12-block length between Market Street and Colfax Avenue and extends approximately one-half block on either side of 14th Street.
2. 16th Street Mall Restoration
Denver’s mile-long pedestrian promenade, the 16th Street Mall, is about to undergo a major restoration. Designed 20 years ago by famed architect I.M. Pei, the Mall features colorful granite pavers in a pattern that, from above, resembles a diamondback rattlesnake. The mile-long pedestrian mall is lined with 28 outdoor cafes, 200 trees, and, with the restoration, will be completely refurbished to bring it back to its original condition. Free energy-efficient buses leave either end of the Mall as often as every 90 seconds, stopping on every corner and making all of downtown Denver easily accessible. After 6 p.m., more than two dozen horse-drawn carriages clatter up and down the pedestrian zone.
3. Civic Center Park Restoration
A $9.5 million dollar restoration of the historic structures in the park was completed in late 2011, along with restoration of the Denver City & County Building tower. The park creates a wonderful oasis in the heart of the city with flower gardens, fountains and historic Old West statues, all with the skyline of Denver as a backdrop. The restoration has included refurbishing the statues, adding new seating and shade trees, and other improvements. The park forms a bridge between downtown Denver and the Golden Triangle Arts District, which includes the Denver Art Museum, Clyfford Still Museum, Denver Public Library and Byers-Evans House. The new improvements will include better crosswalks from the park to the Denver Art Museum. Civic Center Park hosts Denver’s largest “Food Truck Roundup” with more than two dozen food trucks at lunchtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays, June-Sept. It also hosts major events including the nation’s largest Cinco de Mayo festival, July 4th eve fireworks, and the U.S.A. Pro Cycling Challenge.
TRANSPORTATION NEWS
1. FasTracks Project Will Connect Downtown Denver to Denver International Airport and Golden by 2016
Description: FasTracks is a multi-billion dollar comprehensive transit expansion plan to build 122 miles of new commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit, 21,000 new parking spaces at light rail and bus stations, and enhance bus service for easy, convenient bus/rail connections across the eight-county district. Denver’s downtown Union Station will become a hub for rail lines that will branch out to all parts of the city.
• The East Rail Line: A 22.8-mile commuter rail transit corridor between Denver Union Station and DIA. Planners estimate the trip will take approximately 35 minutes. The line has five intermediate stations between Union Station and DIA, located at 38th/Blake, Colorado Boulevard, Central Park Boulevard, Peoria Street, and 40th/Airport Boulevard. Scheduled for completion in 2016.
• The West Rail Line: A 12.1-mile light rail transit corridor between Denver Union Station and Golden. The West Rail Line travels through a series of parks in Denver on the east end of the alignment, through residential neighborhoods along 13th Avenue in Lakewood, through the Lakewood Industrial Park, onto the Federal Center site, and along 6th Avenue to the Jefferson County Government Center on the western end of the project. Planners estimate the trip from Downtown to Golden will take approximately 30 minutes. The West Rail LIne opened on April 26, 2013.
• Union Station Redevelopment: As a result of FasTracks, Denver’s historic Union Station will become the “Grand Central Station” of Colorado, integrating light rail, commuter rail, and intercity rail (Amtrak), as well as regional, express, and local bus service, the 16th Street Mall shuttle, Downtown Circulator, and intercity buses, taxis, shuttles, vans, limousines, bicycles and pedestrians. Further redevelopment plans include a 130-room boutique hotel affiliated with the Oxford Hotel on the second and third floors of the building, as well as restaurant and retail uses on the first floor.
2. Denver International Airport plans retail developments
The commercial team at Denver International Airport is rolling out an aggressive plan for a retail regeneration, meant to position it as a cutting-edge airport with global aspirations. Airport passengers can expect to see in the near future some iconic Denver and Colorado brands such as Tattered Cover Book Store, Elway's, Udi's and Root Down. Airport officials are also working with ExpresSpa — a spa retail concept that is recognized internationally.
Denver International Airport Fast Facts
Denver International Airport ranks as the fifth-busiest airport in the United States and the 10th-busiest airport. Denver International Airport set a record in 2012 with 53,156,278 passengers, up .06 percent from 2011. It was the fifth straight year that DIA had handled 50 million passengers or more.
The following airlines offer nonstop service to more than 160 destinations worldwide: Aeromexico, Air Canada, AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Great Lakes Aviation, Icelandair (May, 2012), JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.
Annual Passenger Capacity:
Airlines: 14 commercial airlines, not including charter and regional carriers, offer nonstop service to more than 160 destinations worldwide
Average Daily Passengers: 142,425 (2010); 53 percent originate in Denver, 47 percent connect through Denver
International traffic at DEN accounts for approximately two million passengers annually – approximately four percent of the airport’s total passenger traffic.
Average Daily Flights: 1,741 (2010)
Average Daily Cargo: 700 tons per day (2010)
Annual Economic Impact: Denver International Airport is the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado and generates US – $22.3 billion in economic impact (Colorado Department of Transportation, 2008)
Located near the geographic center of the United States, Denver International Airport is the only major hub airport within a 500-mile radius.
Denver International Airport leads the way in terms of land utilization for solar photovoltaic energy following the opening of two different farms across the airport site. The completion date for the third solar installation is expected to be the summer of 2011. Denver’s solar project is in fact one of the largest solar installations in North America. In mid 2008, Denver International Airport inaugurated a $13 million solar farm situated on 7.5 acres directly south of Jeppesen Terminal between Peña Boulevard’s inbound and outbound lanes. The solar farm consists of more than 9,200 solar panels that follow the sun to maximize efficient energy production and generate more than 3.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
3. United Airlines will begin nonstop flights between Denver International Airport (DEN) and Narita International Airport (NRT) in Tokyo, Japan beginning in May, 2013. The 5,788-mile, 11-12 hour flight will be on 219-passenger Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.
With its joint venture partner All Nippon Airways, United’s passengers will benefit from connecting service in Narita to 20 other destinations in Asia. DEN already has nonstop flights to London on British Airways and to Frankfurt on Lufthansa, as well as many nonstop flights to cities in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic (beginning in June).
“This is a major step forward in Denver positioning itself as a destination for international conventions,” said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau. Scharf said that Denver’s central location in North America makes it ideal for international meetings. “Denver’s Mountain Time Zone is the only one that allows phone calls to both London and Tokyo in the same business day, making it perfect for international meetings, teleconferences, trade shows and major news events,” Scharf said.
The new, daily nonstop flight is scheduled to depart Denver at 11:55 a.m. and arrive in Tokyo at 3 p.m. the next day, with the return trip departing Tokyo at 4:40 p.m., arriving in Denver at 12:30 p.m. the same day.
Jeff Smisek, president and CEO of United Airlines was in the Mile High City, both to make the announcement and to celebrate United’s 75-year history of serving Denver. The announcement of the Tokyo flight came on the exact 75th anniversary of United’s first flight from Denver. Smisek said: “I want to recognize the efforts of Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, Kim Day, Manager of Aviation, and her team at Denver International Airport, and the business and civic leaders in Denver who have worked together to bring this great new international destination to our customers in Denver. Our customers will enjoy the nonstop service on our new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft, which will provide a spectacular flying experience.”
The nonstop flight is expected to add $130 million annually to Colorado’s economy and bring 30,000 new visitors every year.
4. Denver Launches “B-cycle” Bike Sharing Program: 700+ Bikes Available for Short Hops Around the City
In April 2010, Denver launched the nation’s first major city bicycle sharing program, B-cycle. In 2013, the fleet will increase from 500, shiny red Trek bicycles to more than 700, at 83 stations around the Mile High City. Each of the sturdy, three-speed bikes comes with a wire basket, built-in pedal-powered light and lock.
Denver visitors can purchase an $8, 24-hour membership with a credit card at any B-cycle station. After becoming a member, riders can pick up a B-cycle from any station and drop it off at any other station. All rides of 30 minutes or less are free and rides up to one hour are only a dollar, with prices going up from there. Denver B-cycle bikes are equipped with RFID chips and computers to track mileage, calories burned and carbon offsets. Riders can monitor their personal fitness and see their contributions to the City’s greening efforts to lower carbon emissions.
Popularized in Europe and Asia where there are more than 50 cities with public bike-sharing systems. Bikes stations are located in convenient spots downtown near hotels, on the 16th Street Mall, by museums, at the Colorado Convention Center, in parks and at shopping centers. Other stations are located in nearby trendy neighborhoods like LoHi, LoDo, Highlands, Cherry Creek North, the Golden Triangle Museum District, and Old South Pearl Street. Kaiser Permanente is the presenting sponsor of Denver B-cycle with contributions from other key community partners.
HOTEL NEWS
More than 1400 new hotel rooms are planned or under construction in The Mile High City, including a new 500-room Westin at Denver International Airport and a 230-room Marriott Renaissance in one of downtown Denver’s most historic and beautiful buildings.
Denver currently has 8,500 hotel rooms downtown within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center and 43,000 rooms metro-wide.
New hotel projects:
Union Station Hotel, Oxford Hotel
Open date: Spring 2014
This new, 130-room hotel will be built as part of the redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station and will be affiliated with the existing 80-room Oxford Hotel, located across the street and run by Sage Hospitality. In addition to the new hotel, the redeveloped station 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 including Bistro Vendome, Capitol Grille, Osteria Marco, Ocean Prime, Rioja and TAG, as well as some of the city’s one-of-a-kind boutiques.
Denver’s historic Union Station was built in 1881 and is undergoing a major restoration as it moves towards becoming the city’s main transportation hub. 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 March 2013, and in 2016, there will be direct rail service from Union Station east to Denver International Airport. Union Station is also the northern terminus for the free, electric shuttle buses that run up and down Denver’s mile-long 16th Street Mall and is the station for AMTRAK’s California Zephyr, with two trains daily heading east and west.
The new hotel will add to the accommodations available in Denver’s hip historic district, known locally as “LoDo.” This 26-square block area is home to more than 90 brewpubs, restaurants, rooftop cafes and music clubs. It contains one of the largest collections of Victorian and turn-of-the-century brick warehouses in the nation, as well as being home to Coors Field, the 50,000-seat stadium for the Colorado Rockies.
The new hotel will also have easy pedestrian and biking access to LoHi, or Lower Highlands, a booming area of downtown Denver that is filling with chef-owned restaurants, breweries, one-of-a-kind galleries, rooftop view bars and boutiques. The neighborhood is accessible to Union Station by a series of pedestrian bridges and bike paths.
Marriott Renaissance in the Colorado National Bank Building.
Open date: 2014
This full-service, four-star, 230-room hotel is scheduled to open in 2013. The hotel will feature banquet and meeting rooms, including one inside the former bank’s vault, a ground-floor restaurant and retail space, and a lounge in the mezzanine overlooking the lobby. Built in 1915, the Colorado National Bank building is one of the most historic and beautiful in downtown Denver. The lobby space is surrounded by huge, wall-size murals painted by local artist Allen Tupper True. Considered one of Colorado's premier native-born artists, True focused his work on Western subjects. The murals in the bank building depict the lives of American Indians on the Plains before white people arrived.
Aloft Hotel Denver, Downtown
Open date: 2014
A new 150 room Aloft Hotel Denver at 15th and Stout, within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center and 16th Street Mall is expected to open in 2014. Additional details are not yet available.
Westin Hotel, Denver International Airport
Open date: 2016
A new 500-room Westin Hotel is under construction at Denver International Airport as part of the South Terminal Redevelopment project. The new hotel is projected to open in 2015. The hotel will have its own station on the electric commuter rail line that will run from the airport to downtown Denver, opening in 2016. The 22.8 mile rail line will run trains as often as every 15 minutes, taking just 30 minutes to get from the airport and Westin Hotel to Union Station in downtown Denver.
“When the rail line is completed, Denver will be the easiest, most convenient and most central meeting location in the nation,” said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The city is just 340 miles from the exact center of the Continental U.S., closer to the exact center than any city our size. We are served by the fifth busiest airport – 11th busiest in the world – and we will have easy and fast rail service directly from the airport to our walkable downtown. Once downtown, meeting delegates will find 9,000 hotel rooms, 300 restaurants, great shopping, nightlife and a wide variety of cultural attractions and museums, all in a safe, pedestrian-friendly environment just a few minutes walk from the state-of-the-art Colorado Convention Center,” Scharf said.
The new South Terminal Redevelopment Program at Denver International Airport will complete the original vision of the facility. In addition to the new hotel and Public Transit Center, the Program will build an open-air plaza, complete with new concessions and leasable space, which connects the development to the existing Jeppesen Terminal. Denver household names such as the Tattered Cover Bookstore, Elway’s restaurant and the farm-to-table restaurant Root Down will be moving into the airport shortly, and dozens of new shopping and dining experiences are expected to be added over the next few years.
The new hotel comes on the heels of announcements that DIA will begin daily non-stop service to Tokyo in March 2013, and recently added direct flights to Mexico City and Reykjavik, Iceland with connecting service to 26 cities in Europe.
Hampton Inn / Homewood Suites from Stonebridge
Open date: Second Quarter 2013
Hotel developer Stonebridge Cos. has paid $9.4 million for the building at 550 15th St. in downtown Denver, formerly occupied by Xcel Energy. Stonebridge plans to develop the site as a 400-room Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites. Additional details are not yet available.
Other hotel news:
Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center to Undergo a $5M Renovation
Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, the only Four Diamond hotel in the Denver Tech Center, is to undergo a $5 million hotel renovation. The renovation will include a new restaurant concept, upgraded lobby and public spaces, and is expected to debut in early Spring, 2013. The hotel is architecturally stunning, featuring a 12-story atrium lobby with 451 sleek modern guestrooms, including 12 suites and 30,000 square feet of function/meeting space. The 12th floor Centennial Room, with 180-degree panoramic Front Range views is a stunning and desirable venue. The hotel is a short distance from both downtown and Denver International Airport.
The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa Joins Autograph Collection
The Brown Palace hotel and Spa, Denver’s most iconic luxury hotel has joined the Autograph Collection, an exclusive portfolio of independently owned and operated properties. Originally opened in 1892, this Denver icon joins the company of some of the world’s most exceptional properties. Autograph Collection, an exclusive collection of upper upscale and luxury hotels within Marriott International’s global portfolio, is comprised of independent hotels with distinct personalities in major cities and desired destinations worldwide. A natural fit for The Brown Palace, Autograph Collection celebrates innovative hotels that offer a variety of one-of-a-kind, authentic experiences.
Springhill Suites by Marriott at Metropolitan State University
Open date: August, 2012
A new 150-room Springhill Suites by Marriott recently opened on the campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver. Some 80% of the staff working the hotel are students, part of the 650 students in the University’s hospitality program. This is one of only 10 college student operated hotels in the nation (14 in the world) and is the only one in an urban setting. The hotel is in downtown Denver, within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center. The hotel has 7,500 sq. ft. of meeting space and access to 30,000 sq. ft. of academic space, classrooms and breakout rooms.
Ritz-Carlton Denver receives third AAA Five-Diamond Award
Description: For the third year in a row, the city’s 202-room Ritz Carlton received the AAA Five-Diamond Award in November 2012. The first hotel in Denver’s history to get the prestigious designation, only three other hotels have earned the five-diamond title in Colorado: The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the Little Nell in Aspen, and the Ritz in Bachelor Gulch at Beaver Creek. The Ritz-Carlton Denver opened in 2008 and features the equally award-winning restaurant, Elway’s, owned by local hero and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, John Elway.
Name Changes
The Red Lion Denver Central will be changing its name to DoubleTree by Hilton Denver – Stapleton North.
The Doubletree by Hilton Denver – Stapleton is dropping “Stapleton” and changing its name to Doubletree by Hilton Denver.
DINING NEWS
New season of Top Chef: Season 10 features two Denver chefs
Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Hugh Acheson and Gail Simmons will return as judges along with world-famous chefs Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck for the 10th season, which filmed in Seattle and featured chefs of all stripes from across the country. The show chose two Denver-based chefs for Season 10, including: Jorel Pierce of Euclid Hall; and Tyler Wiard of Elway’s Restaurant Group.
New Restaurants
Denver’s dining scene is exploding with more than 300 new restaurants opening in 2011 alone. Downtown Denver has seen some of the biggest growth with a slew of new chef-owned bistros, brew-houses, gastro-pubs, and farm-to-table fine dining, including The Kitchen, ChoLon, Rioja, Tamayo, TAG, Bistro Vendome, Euclid Hall, Linger, Amato’s Ale House, Coohills and Ambria. Denver now boasts the largest Restaurant Week in America with 343 restaurants participating in 2011. There are 28 outdoor cafes on the 16th Street Mall alone, and 90 restaurants in LoDo, downtown’s hip historic district.
From New York Times to Travel + Leisure, Denver is Recognized as America’s Beer Capital City
In 2011, the readers of Travel + Leisure selected Denver as the No. 1 Microbrew Beer city in the nation…an opinion shared by the New York Times in March 2012 article, www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/us/craft-brewing-finds-a-welcoming-atmosphere.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Denver has 18 breweries and with nearby Golden and Boulder, more than 200 different beers are brewed in the metro area every day. Some other Denver beer stats:
• Denver brews more beer than any other city.
• Denver is home to the largest single brewing site in the world – Coors Brewery
• Denver is home to the Great American Beer Festival, the largest beer festival on the planet (Guinness World Records) with more than 2,400 beers available for tastings.
• Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper is the only former brewer elected state governor since Sam Adams.
• There are more than five dozen breweries in the Denver Beer Triangle between Denver – Boulder and Fort Collins – the Napa Valley of Beer.
• VISIT DENVER hosts the Denver Beer Fest every year which offers more than 200 beer-centric events. www.DenverBeerFest.com