Grand Junction’s boutique Hotel Maverick is situated right on Colorado Mesa University’s campus and a quick drive to the many picturesque cliffs, buttes, mesas and red-rock formations unique to the state’s western side. Venture here for epic rose-and-tangerine-hued sunsets, a burgeoning farm-to-table dining scene and access to an expansive desert paradise that’s perfect for hiking and biking.
Guests at the Maverick will enjoy private balconies, a rooftop restaurant and lots of Colorado-inspired design. Think wood accents influenced by the Centennial State’s many forests, slate gray tiles that evoke the feel of the mountains and epic floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the campus and the expansive Grand Valley beyond. Your experience will be rounded out with a heated outdoor soaking spa, gourmet coffee shop, entrance to the CMU Recreation Center and a bike wash station for your hotel-borrowed cruiser — or your own.
With regionally inspired menus and locally sourced products, you’ll swoon over the meals at Devil’s Kitchen, the hotel’s rooftop dining room. Inspired by the nearby grandeur of the Colorado National Monument, its design gives you panoramas of the area’s striking buttes. Try the Colorado Paella studded with venison sausage, chicken and shrimp or savor a decadent dessert like the Vegan Bliss Cake made with banana cake and whipped coconut cream and served with a cinnamon-agave rum sauce.
Your stay at the Maverick gives you permission to use CMU’s intricate BMX Pump Track. Trails of rollers and banked turns designed to be ridden while pushing your body to avoid pedaling make this a true workout. As college campuses rarely have these sandy tracks on site, you should 100 percent check it out. Be forewarned, you will probably get gloriously dirty.
The Veranda Suite’s king bed, crowned with a custom variegated wood headboard, will cradle you for the best night’s sleep you’ve ever had. Then have a steaming cup of coffee on the partially covered balcony with views of the ridged Book Cliffs and the sprawling university campus.
“The Hotel Maverick is the only boutique hotel in Grand Junction. Its modern, upscale interiors are only outdone by the incredible views from the rooftop bar and restaurant. The rooms are small but laid out in a way that makes moving around very comfortable. The finishes are high-quality with a ‘schoolhouse’ vibe that includes dark fixtures, beautiful tile and vintage black-and-white photos from the Colorado Mesa University archives. The hotel is located on campus and is surrounded by sports fields, dorms and classroom buildings. It also includes some great amenities like Peloton bikes in the hotel gym and rental cruisers to get around town.” — Robin B., Tripadvisor
Hop on the hotel’s complimentary shuttle to downtown Grand Junction where historic red-brick buildings, tree-lined streets and quaint shops (like The Zesty Moose Gourmet Marketplace, Toasted Pixie and Loki Outdoor Shop) will welcome you. Pop into the Museum of the West, where you can learn about the region’s uranium-mining history and see 19th-century firearms.
Or, head to Colorado National Monument for its incredible vistas of canyons and mind-bending geological formations that will make you feel like you are Indiana Jones discovering new lands. McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area backs up to the monument and has 75,000 acres of Instagramable stone arches, Colorado’s famous residents (the wildlife) and even petroglyph sites.
Photos courtesy of Hotel Maverick
