Lobby at the Hotel Monaco, a popular
downtown boutique hotel in Denver
The Kimpton family of boutique hotels is noted for its
theme suites, such as the Sixties Suite at Hotel Monaco
in Denver. This suite is stylishly decorated with Beatles
and Jerry Garcia memorabilia
ROUGH & READY
Denver’s newfound cultural explosion is admittedly a long
way from its founding in 1858 as a mining camp on the
South Platte River. After a prosperous geographical alliance
in 1865, where Denver became the capital of Colorado and
subsequently a regional centre for mining, ranching and
transportation, the city became well known for its fun-loving
and informal nature, whose popularity further blossomed
around beer drinking and sports.
Colorado (home to Coors) leads the nation in beer
The starkly angular design employed by architect
production and Denver is the country’s craft brewing
Daniel Libeskind infuses the Denver Art Museum’s
capital with a dozen microbreweries at last count. Heck,
new Frederic C. Hamilton addition with what he calls
“tectonic energy.” The structure is one of the strongest
even Mayor John Hickenlooper was a brewer before he
statements of the city’s ambition to become a world
centre for the arts
entered politics. He was also a board member of Denver Art
Museum for many years before he was mayor. So it doesn’t
Typical of Denver’s unconventional public art is the
come as a surprise that art projects feature greatly as one of Dan Ostermiller sculpture Scottish Angus Cow &
the mayor’s pet projects.
Calf which stands beside the striking new Frederic
C. Hamilton addition to the Denver Art Museum
Aware of the recent cultural developments,
especially this ‘arts at altitude’ movement, my wife Jan and
I opted for a return visit shortly following the Democratic
Convention. We settled in for a few days at our preferred
downtown boutique retreat, the Hotel Monaco. This stylish
189-room, AAA 4-Diamond property is a member of the
Kimpton Group, the country’s foremost boutique hotel
chain.
We were fortunate to secure the Sixties Suite, one
of Monaco’s several theme suites – this one festooned with
Beatles and Grateful Dead memorabilia – including a giant
peace symbol autographed by dozens of legendary 1960s
entertainers. We were pleased as well to discover chef Elise
Wiggins’ tasty new appetiser menu, which we enjoyed
nightly with a bottle of wine at the hotel’s romantic Panzano
Restaurant bar.
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