Colorado

DENVER 

Local Update 

• The 230-room Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center debuted in May in the historic Colorado National Bank building. The property, whose lobby features 16 murals painted for the bank in 1925, has 6,000 square feet of meeting space, including three former bank vaults. Also on-site: Range, offering "new American West" cuisine, and the Teller Bar, serving Countinghouse, a pre-Prohibition-style cream ale created for the hotel by Denver brewery Former Future.

• Opening July 12 is the restored 1895 landmark Union Station, featuring eight restaurants, an outpost of the Tattered Cover Bookstore, an ice-cream shop, two watering holes, retail stores and the 112-room Crawford Hotel. The station still welcomes travelers: Amtrak and light-rail trains will use a new terminal behind the building. The independent hotel will offer approximately 3,000 square feet of meeting space and provide access to the 10,000 square feet of space at the 80-room Oxford Hotel across the street. Guests also will be welcome to use the Oxford Club Spa.

• The 150-room SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown at MSU Denver has been certified LEED Gold for new construction, the city's first such hotel. The property features a market, a fitness center, complimentary Wi-Fi and 5,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The three floors of meeting rooms at the 216-room Warwick Hotel now have new d•cor and lighting, while a new farm-to-table banquet and catering menu has been created by chef Jesper Jonsson. The hotel offers 10,000 square feet of meeting space, plus a rooftop pool and Randolph's Restaurant & Bar.

• A recent $23 million renovation at the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver centered on the guest rooms. New work stations, Hyatt Grand Beds and 46-inch TVs have been installed, and the hotel's Wi-Fi bandwidth has been increased. The property has a 6,700-square-foot health club, the 27th-floor Peaks Lounge, the Altitude Restaurant and 60,600 square feet of meeting space.

• Construction continues on The Art, a 165-room hotel downtown. The property will be the top half (floors five through nine) of a multi-use building. To open in January 2015 in the Golden Triangle Museum District, the hotel was designed by Davis Partnership and Studio Daniel Libeskind.  

• In May, workers topped out the 519-room Westin hotel under construction at Denver International Airport, which will open in 2015. Also being built is a Regional Transportation District hub that will begin running FasTrack trains downtown in 2016.

Meeting Hotels: The Mile-High City offers more than 8,600 rooms within walking distance of the convention center. Major properties include the 1,225-room Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, 615-room Denver Marriott City Center, 512-room Grand Hyatt Denver, 430-room Westin Denver Downtown, 403-room Embassy Suites--Downtown Convention Center, 240-room Marriott Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel, 239-room Four Seasons Hotel Denver and 202-room Ritz-•Carlton, Denver.

To compare hotels and send RFPs, visit mcvenues.com.

Convention Center:Colorado Convention Center; exhibit space, approximately 584,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 63; (303) 228-8000

Airport Transit: Denver International Airport, about 24 miles northeast of the downtown district. Transfer cost by taxi, $55.15 to downtown and $60.50 to the Denver Tech Center; by Super Shuttle, $21

Taxes: Room tax, 7.5%; sales tax, 7.35%; total tax on hotel rooms, 14.85%

Group Venue: Playing chef together is one of the great interactive ways for attendees to team-build. Denver's Stir Cooking School is open to all types of themed activities and menus for up to 24 people. Popular choices include: Iron Chef-like competitions; Mexican fiesta classes with margarita-making lessons; wine and cheese pairings, and pasta-making parties. Up to 50 people can enjoy the Interactive Cocktail Party, making appetizers, rolling pizza dough and creating signature drinks. (720) 287-4823

Contact: Visit Denver, The Convention & Visitors Bureau, (303) 892-1112

COLORADO SPRINGS 

Local Update 

• Renovations to the West building at the 779-room Broadmoor added 31 guest rooms to the property, and the building's older rooms were enlarged. Also new is the Ristorante del Lago, designed by Adam D. Tihany, plus a healthy-dining option, Natural Epicurean. Beyond the actual hotel building, next month will see the debut of Cloud Camp, a wilderness retreat on Cheyenne Mountain featuring a lodge with seven guest rooms surrounded by 11 cabins. Reopening this month is the Ranch at Emerald Valley, about 30 minutes up the mountains in the Pike National Forest. Featuring 10 cabins and a common-room lodge, the ranch was damaged during flooding last fall and had to undergo repairs. The Broadmoor also offers three top golf courses and 185,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The verdant Pete Dye golf course at the 316-room Cheyenne Mountain Resort has been refurbished and extended by 47 yards.

Meeting Hotels: The top meeting properties in town include the 779-room Broadmoor; 500-room Hotel Eleganté Conference & Event Center; 316-room Cheyenne Mountain Resort; 309-room Colorado Springs Marriott; 299-room DoubleTree by Hilton Colorado Springs; 292-room Antlers Hilton Colorado Springs; 207-room Embassy Suites Colorado Springs; 117-room Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel; and 87-room Garden of the Gods Club. For a more complete list of area hotels, go to mcvenues.com.

Airport Transit: Colorado Springs Airport, about 11 miles southeast of the downtown district. Transfer cost by taxi, approximately $20 to $25. Many area hotels offer airport shuttle service.

Taxes: Room tax, 2%; sales tax, 7.63%; total tax on hotel rooms, 9.63%

Group Venue: A new winery has opened northwest of the city in Cascade. The Winery at Pikes Peak can accommodate up to 100 people for tastings and evening events. (719) 684-8000

Contact: Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, (800) 888-4748