This past weekend, the new Westin DIA celebrated its official Grand Opening. The hotel was transformed into a 1920’s speakeasy and casino, featuring delicious food, dancing, entertainment and even a few mobsters lurking about. The Queen City Jazz Band, swing dancers, roaming jugglers, cartoonists and other various buskers were spotted whirling about, infusing the hotel’s sprawling event space with the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. 303 Magazine was on site snapping photos of the flappers, gangsters and glittering guests. Read on to learn more about the new Westin DIA, its impressive views, wild architecture and to get the scoop on that airport public transportation that we’ve all been waiting for… and to enjoy our photos from the gala, of course.

All photos by Danielle Webster.

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303: Tell me about the various amenities the Westin DIA offers that sets it apart from other hotels in the area. How does your hotel appeal to both leisure and business travelers?

Laurie Meza: The first two things that come to mind are convenience and time savings. DIA now has a hotel connected to its terminal allowing unprecedented convenience for passengers flying in and out of the airport who need hotel accommodations. No more long commutes to stay close to the airport or unexpected delays. The hotel boasts a range of world-class amenities. Each of the 519 guest rooms, including 35 suites, offers ultimate comfort, innovative technology and wall to wall windows with sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado’s High Plains. Guests can indulge in multiple dining venues that offer a variety of cuisines. Or they can recharge in the 11th floor indoor swimming pool overlooking the iconic tent roof of the DIA terminal and unwind in the hot tub while taking in views of the landscape, airfields and Front Range hills.

IMG_6454In the next few months, Westin DIA will soon provide Keyless Entry technology for guests checking in and accessing their guest rooms. By the downloading of the SPG app (Starwood’s Preferred Guest program) to their smart phones, guests will have the ability to bypass the front desk and use their personal device as their key.

The 82,000 square-foot open-air plaza was designed as the new urban “hub” between the Jeppesen Terminal and the Westin Denver International Airport hotel. This will create a community connection between the airport and downtown Denver through special event programming (including concerts, farmer’s markets, movies, etc.) by Denver International Airport and the Westin.

303: What features does the Westin DIA offer to its guests to make transportation to and around the city convenient?

Laurie Meza: Beginning April 22, 2016, the 22.8-mile A Line will provide both passengers and employees a new travel option between DIA and Denver Union Station. This new Commuter Rail line will allow passengers to connect to downtown Denver and beyond. Trains will depart every 15 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes during non-peak hours. The trip will take approximately 35 minute between downtown and DIA.

IMG_6561303: The demand for homegrown, organic food dominates the Denver dining scene. Root Down recently opened a restaurant at DIA, offering fresh and locally sourced food in an otherwise chain-dominated environment. The Westin DIA offers several dining options including a Grill & Vine, a farm-to-table restaurant. What sort of locally sourced ingredients and fare can guests expect to find here?

Grill and Vine isn’t a completely traditional Farm to Table restaurant, but it does a fair amount of
local product as it’s available. On the current menu, the only produce this time of year are the beets,
fingerling and russet potatoes and onions. The cheeses on the cheese board are all from Colorado: Avalanche (Basalt), Haystack (Niwot) and MouCo (Fort Collins) creameries. Two of the sausages on the Charcuterie board are also local: one is the Finocchiona from Avalanche and the other is the jalapeno bison sausage from Continental Sausage here in Denver. The Striped Bass on the
menu is a farm raised hybrid bass that is grown in ponds in southern Colorado. The honey used in
Grill and Vine is from Clark’s farm in Louisville. During the summer months, the restaurant will have options for local produce that are quite good, with lots of heirloom varieties available from some of the artisan farms around the state.

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303: Westin DIA is an “elite conference center” with twenty events spaces: several
conference/meeting rooms, a ballroom, a handful of pre-function areas. What are some of the incentives of hosting an event at your hotel? 

Laurie Meza: The 37,000 square-foot conference center features a grand ballroom and a junior ballroom (both divisible by two) as well as 15 meeting/board rooms of varying sizes and spectacular pre-function space, providing 19 meeting rooms total when the ballrooms are divided. The meeting space also boasts a 10,000 square foot pre-function area that showcases a panoramic three-story, floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall, approximately 100 ft. wide, making for a unique experience and view of the train station and Denver landscape.

The Westin DIA has a dedicated in-house catering and events team, as well as an in house audio visual department. All catering takes place on site in our fully equipped banquet kitchen.

IMG_6573303: Westin DIA’s stunning architecture with floor to ceiling windows and “glass curtain walls” with sweeping mountain views, as designed by Gensler. Discuss some of the Westin DIA’s unusual design features that make it unique.

Laurie Meza: Our goal was to build a signature hotel that would complement the iconic design of the terminal and be notable itself. The entire program was quite dense and complicated, as it was limited by the height limitations (set by the FAA) and the east/west boundaries defined by the roadways.

The design of the hotel resembles a bird in flight and was inspired by the city, its surrounding natural environment and DIA’s iconic tents.

The hotel is located on top of the public transit center, and its curved roof mimics the concave shape of the existing Jeppesen Terminal tents. The transit center itself is inspired by the native landscape and appears as if it emerges from the earth serving as a solid base to the elegant glass hotel resting above.

This single, integrated building is located perpendicular to Jeppesen Terminal to maximize hotel
and plaza patrons’ views of the Rocky Mountains, downtown Denver and the Great Plains, as
well as to preserve as much of the vista of the airport terminal’s signature peaked roof through
the “saddle” in the center of the hotel as possible. The plaza connects the Westin and Transit
Center with the Jeppesen Terminal, which is also less than 200 feet from the hotel, and provides
a place for entertainment, relaxation and dining.

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The expansive public art program at new Westin makes for a very unique design feature. The large-scale public art at the Westin and Transit Center are focused on the three main public areas, starting at the train arrival area, at the escalator that ascends from the train hall to the plaza, and the plaza itself. All of DIA’s public art, including art within the hotel, is done by Colorado artists, embracing aspects that reflect the region and enhance a sense of place at the airport.

More information on the public art at DIA can be found at http://www.flydenver.com/art.

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