From Leo Vilarreal’s LED light installation greeting guests at the valet to Larry Bell’s “Light Knots” at the FIRE Restaurant, Denver’s ART Hotel has been a beacon of art and culture for the Mile High City. And this year the hotel received a multimillion-dollar upgrade with more than just a fresh coat of paint.
The ART Hotel Denver recently underwent a massive renovation, overhauling everything from the 165 guest rooms and suites to the new custom furniture, paint, carpet and more.
Built in 2015, The ART Hotel Denver was part of a “master plan” for the Denver Art Museum complex and was the final piece of a four-block section of the city’s cultural district that included the Denver Public Library, the art and history museums and the Ralph. L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. But the original vision for the project didn’t feature a hotel, rather it had plans to use the space for high-rise condominiums.
However, due to the uncertain economic situation at the time, investors lost interest and the focus shifted to changing the purpose of that space. No projects caught on until the fall of 2013 when it was proposed to turn the space into a boutique hotel. It quickly gained attention, after Senator John Hickenlooper (then governor of Colorado) said in a statement “This is the coolest hotel that I’ve seen open…ever,” also adding that he doesn’t normally promote any businesses with such praise.
Spearheaded by TDA Interiors, the refresh of The ART Hotel Denver looks to keep the iconic artistic essence and neighborhood influence of the property. Guests will find accents of pops of color in the new custom furniture, paint, and carpet, which seamlessly complements the hotel’s natural finishes, modern design and comprehensive art collection.
Many of the works on display at the hotel are inspired by Colorado with some of the artists local Coloradans. One particular example is the Mustang lithograph by Luis Jimenez residing in the fourth-floor lobby, a tribute to the dashing and diabolical-looking steel sculpture by the Denver International Airport.
For something less industrial though, one floor up gives way to the piece Continental Divide by Rob Reynolds, showing a nearly photographic image of a cloud. The artist was inspired by a photo they took in Leadville “Cloud City” above the actual Continental Divide. Another work of his on display across the street from the hotel is An Ocean View for Denver — a tongue-in-cheek jab at the state’s lack of maritime connections.
Other local artists such as Betty Woodman, a longtime favorite professor of ceramics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who passed away in 2018, left her legacy on display in one of the hotel’s meeting rooms with her piece Alessandro’s Room.
Similarly, Sushe Felix is another local artist from Colorado Springs, featuring work of “American Regionalist and Modernist Art Movements from the 1930s and 40’s and [the] desire to find new and different ways in which to depict the rhythms of life and the natural flow of motion found in nature,” according to her personal bio on her website. Her artwork Early Morning Mist is on display in the Bottoms Up private dining room of the ART Hotel Denver.
The amount of work that’s gone into enhancing the experience for everyone cannot be overstated. Aside from the visual overhaul, several amenities make it an even more luxurious experience, such as on-demand spa-quality massage treatments in partnership with Soothe, a refreshed 24-hour fitness center. Refreshed guest rooms reflect an updated design concept featuring navy textured carpet accented by blue, yellow, and green seating chairs, window drapery, colorful bedding fabric and an upgraded bathroom with white Italian marble.
Additional upgrades include conference rooms, a boardroom, private dining spaces, a ballroom that can be divided into three sections and an outdoor terrace space for smaller events. This amounts to an astonishing 7,500 square feet of event space being overhauled in addition to the room and suite enhancements.
Alongside self-guided tours and a scheduled one that the hotel offers, stop and take the time to admire the hotel’s art collection which is truly one of a kind. Whether it’s a day-stop or an overnight stay, a visit to The ART Hotel Denver makes for a truly memorable experience for the refined art aficionado or those who can’t tell Jackson Pollock from Salvador Dali.