Some 1400 New Hotel Rooms Under Construction in Denver
Denver, CO - 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: July 2014
Denver’s Union Station is undergoing a massive restoration and re-development that will transform it into the center of the city beginning in July 2014. The 1881 Beaux Arts station will become a transportation, dining, shopping and entertainment hub with 112 hotel rooms, four new Colorado chef-owned restaurants, two quick service restaurants, local one-of-a-kind shops and a Colorado beer hall.
The front of the building facing downtown along Wynkoop Street will change from two large, ugly, sprawling parking lots into a beautiful two-block long park filled with fountains and trees.
The rear of the station will become Denver’s main transportation center. There will be eight tracks serving light rail trains to south and west Metro Denver (beginning in 2013) and a commuter rail line to Denver International Airport (beginning in 2016). Union Station will also serve both east and west bound AMTRAK trains.
Free shuttle buses will depart from the station and run up and down the mile-long 16th Street Mall, with buses stopping on every corner.  A new circulator bus is also expected to depart from the station with free service down 18th Street. Regular RTD buses serving metro Denver will operate from an underground station. The current RTD bus station at Market Street will close.
New Hotel, Restaurants and Beer Hall
The interior of Union Station will be transformed into a three-floor hotel, restaurant, shopping and entertainment complex.
As you enter the station from Wynkoop Street, you will come into the historic 12,000 square foot waiting room – the “Great Hall.” This spectacular public common area will be accessible 24-7 and will share the ground floor with 22,000 square feet of retail and dining space that will house 10 independent shops and restaurants, including a new beer hall, which will serve a wide variety of Colorado brews.  An additional 40,000 square feet of outdoor plaza space will provide for outdoor dining.
All the restaurants will be developed by Larimer Associates, the people who have successfully run Denver’s hippest block – Larimer Square – since 1969, as well as developing other unique spaces around Denver including Hangar 2 in Lowry.  Larimer Associates will also oversee the retail development in the station, which will include unique or only-in-Colorado shops and boutiques.  
The 112-room hotel will be developed by Sage Hospitality, one of the largest privately held hotel management and ownership companies in the nation. The hotel will have a separate name and identity from the 80-room Oxford Hotel (located a half block away), but will share meeting space, spa facilities, health club and other services with the Oxford.
The hotel will be built on three levels in the historic station with 25 percent of the large rooms offering double-doubles. The hotel will have three distinct types of rooms: The Pullman Rooms (inspired by Pullman Railroad Cars) will look out onto the rail tracks and have 18-foot high ceilings and historic windows. The second floor rooms will convert historic offices in the station into upscale rooms with 16-foot high ceilings. The third level in the wings of the station will use exposed brick walls, historic windows and huge timbered pitched ceilings to create a gorgeous loft feeling.
All the rooms will have double pane glass and the hallways will be soundproofed to provide state-of-the-art quiet from public areas. Through the association with the Oxford, the new hotel will be able to offer a total of 200 rooms with a spa/fitness center and 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
There are currently nine high rise skyscrapers under construction within a short walk of Union Station adding a million square feet of office space and up to 3,000 new apartment units, making this area of downtown Denver one of the fastest growing metropolitan sections of any city in the nation. 
Marriott Renaissance in the Colorado National Bank Building. 
Open date: December 2013
A historic Denver icon, known locally as the Colorado National Bank Building, is being transformed into a new 230-room Renaissance Denver Downtown – City Center, set to open in December 2013.
Located on 17th Street (often called “The Wall Street of the West”), the bank was originally constructed in 1916 in Greek revival architecture with towering white marble columns that came from the Colorado Yule Marble Company – the same quarry that provided marble for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, VA.  
Upon walking past gigantic bronze monogrammed doors and entering the refurbished hotel lobby, guests will be greeted by a series of 16 massive, oil-on-canvas murals by renowned Colorado artist Allen Tupper True.  Collectively titled Indian Memories, these triptychs and a large arched panel titled Happy Hunting Ground were first incorporated into the bank’s décor in 1920 and depict the life of the American Indians on the Plains. Two of True’s murals also grace the lobby of the Brown Palace Hotel, located five blocks away.
Three of the bank’s beautiful and elaborate vaults will be transformed into unique board rooms.  The hotel will have a total of 5,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, as well as a signature restaurant and lobby bar. It is just a four block walk from the hotel to the Colorado Convention Center.  Within a 10 minute walk are a slew of new downtown restaurants creating national buzz, including The Kitchen, Cholon, Squeaky Bean, Southern Hospitality and the Viewhouse.  It is also an easy 10-15 minute walk to Larimer Square, the new Union Station development, the Denver Art Museum, Colorado State Capitol, Coors Field, the U.S. Mint or more than 10 local Denver brewpubs and microbreweries.  
The project is being developed by Stonebridge Companies, which has developed more than 60 hotels and currently operates 40 hotels with more than 6,000 guest rooms in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. 

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. 

Event Planning & Destination Management Services at Denver Marriott City Center 
The Denver Marriott City Center and Colorado’s leading destination management company, Convention Designs LLC, joined forces to offer guests and clients seamless event planning and destination management services that will enhance meeting productivity and reduce stress, while saving clients time and money. The team provides a wide array of event planning and destination management services that reflect Marriott’s traditional high levels of service as well as Convention Designs’ 27 years of experience marked by long‐standing vendor partnerships and repeat customers.

Westin Denver Downtown Refreshments nearly 34,000 Square-Feet of Meeting Space
A $5M refreshment of all meeting space soft goods including furniture, wall covering and carpet has begun at The Westin Denver Downtown. The project, scheduled for completion February 20, 2013 entails renovation of the mezzanine level Continental Ballroom, to be renamed the Confluence Ballroom, as well as the ballroom foyer and all breakout rooms. The lobby level Augusta Room and the Horace Tabor-Molly Brown rooms will also enjoy a complete facelift.  In addition, the hotel’s pool deck will receive a $1.2 M transformation.  

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. 

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About Denver International Airport (DIA) 
Denver International Airport is the 11th-busiest airport in the world and the fifth-busiest airport in the United States. With more than 50 million passengers traveling through the airport each year, DIA is one of the busiest airline hubs in the world’s largest aviation market. DIA is the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado, generating more than $22 billion for the region annually. For more information, visit flydenver.com. Check out the Airport's YouTube channel by visiting youtube.com/DenversAirport and become our fan on facebook.com/denverinternationalairport.

About VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau
Celebrating more than 100 years of promoting the Mile High City, VISIT DENVER is a nonprofit trade association that contracts with the City of Denver to market Denver as a convention and leisure destination, increasing economic development in the city, creating jobs and generating taxes. Tourism is the second largest industry in Denver, generating $3.3 billion in annual spending in 2011, while supporting nearly 50,000 jobs. Learn more about Denver on the VISITDENVER website and at TOURISMPAYSDENVER, on Twitter @iknowdenver and the VISIT DENVER Facebook page, or by phone at 800 2 DENVER. 

With press or photo inquiries, please contact:
Rich Grant: (303) 571-9450 or rgrant@visitdenver.com
Debbie Park: (303) 571-9451 or dpark@visitdenver.com 
Katie Converse: (303) 571-9418 or kconverse@visitdenver.com