Historic Hotels Hold Key to Colorado’s Past

2006-02-27

Fortunes of the West Displayed in Treasured Buildings

DENVER (Feb. 27, 2006) – Unlock the history of Colorado during your next vacation in one of the state’s nine “Historic Hotels of America,” as designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Featuring original Victorian architecture and interior décor ranging from oak furnishings to chandeliers, along with expansive Rocky Mountain views, Colorado’s historic hotels reflect the opulence from both the 19th and 20th centuries.

Whether for business or leisure travel, Colorado’s landmark hotels offer the perfect getaway and entertainment for history buffs and nostalgia-seekers.

In Northwest Colorado near Aspen, millionaire coal baron John Osgood first discovered land sheltered by a massive series of red cliffs in Redstone Colorado and set up Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, the largest fuel company in the West. For his coal mine employees, he built the Redstone Inn, with rooms for the bachelors, along with a collection of 84 cottages for the married miners. The Cleveholm Manor, known today as Redstone Castle, was home to Osgood and each of his three consecutive wives. Completed in 1902 and costing nearly $5 million dollars, The New York Times called Redstone the “Ruby of the Rockies.” Today, the inn's 35 guestrooms are surrounded by 22 pristine acres of national forestland and located in proximity to year-round outdoor activities. The Inn also showcases the American Arts and Crafts movement, including more than 60 pieces of authentic Gustav Stickley furniture, handcrafted wrought-iron light fixtures and hand-cut stone detailing from local quarries. The Redstone Castle, located one-half mile upstream, is open for tours during the summer.

In Durango, the four-story red brick Strater Hotel was built in 1887 by Cleveland pharmacist, Henry Strater, who came seeking gold and silver and saw the need for a grand hotel to serve the bustling town. The Strater’s exterior displays American Victorian architecture with original white stone cornices and ornamental brickwork. Inside, the Strater is adorned with crystal chandeliers, ornate woodwork, coffered ceilings and carved columns. Western author Louis L'Amour always asked for Room 222 directly above the Diamond Belle Saloon. Today, this prominent downtown landmark features 93 rooms each with furnishings from one of the world’s largest antique collections of American Victorian walnut furniture.

In 1874, The Cliff House at Pikes Peak first started as The Inn, a 20-room boarding house, catering to trappers, hunters and miners along one of the most famous stagecoach runs in the American West (between Colorado Springs and Leadville). Located at the foot of America’s most well-known 14,000-foot peak in Manitou Springs, The Inn was sold in 1886, renamed The Cliff House and marketed as a sophisticated resort hotel that capitalized on the sparkling waters and mineral springs in the region. The past remains a part of the inn’s atmosphere and rooms are decorated to reflect the style of the 1800’s. A $10 million dollar restoration resulted in 55 guestrooms, many of which include gas fireplaces, two-person spa tubs and steam showers. Seventeen celebrity-themed suites are named after some of the famous guests that have rested their heads here over the last 130 years, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, the teepee-style Wild West Bill Cody Suite and the Old Hollywood glamour of the Clark Gable Suite.

One of the few remaining 19th century hotels in Denver, The Oxford, the city’s oldest grand hotel, was built at the crest of the silver bonanza in 1891. Located in the lower downtown area (“LoDo”), near Union Station, the hotel was truly a “city within a city,” with its own dining rooms, barber shop, library, pharmacy, a Western Union office, stables and a saloon. Through the years, the hotel survived the ensuing “Silver Panic” and the Great Depression and was re-modeled in grand Art Deco style in the 1930s. The Cruise Room, modeled after a lounge on the luxurious Queen Mary, was where locals gathered to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. In the 1980s, during a restoration overhaul, the hotel’s original blueprints drawings were found, enabling designers to duplicate exact details of the hotel’s earlier architecture and layout, and the famous Cruise Room was returned to its original art deco zenith. Today, the hotel’s 80 rooms are decorated with European antiques and a complimentary Cadillac car service transports guests to downtown locations.

To be designated a Historic Hotel of America, each of Colorado’s nine hotels were identified for their historic integrity, architecture and ambience: The Hotel Jerome, Aspen; The Hotel Boulderado, Boulder; The Cliff House at Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs; The Brown Palace and The Oxford Hotel Denver; The Strater Hotel, Durango; The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park; The Redstone Inn, Redstone and The New Sheridan Hotel in Telluride.

For complete information on planning your vacation to Colorado, including lodging, attractions, and activities, logon to www.colorado.com or call
800-COLORADO for a free official state vacation guide.

For more information, contact Greg Morton at 303-689-0704 or Stefanie Dalgar at 303-892-3885.

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