Friday, March 29, 2024
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Front Range Exploring

By M+E Staff

The new exterior of Broadmoor West // Tasty cuisine at The Broadmoor’s new Ristorante del Lago // Enjoying the Dale Chihuly exhibition at Denver Botanic Gardens

Recently, I spent a week exploring Colorado’s Front Range. My first stop was a celebration of The Broadmoor’s total redesign of Broadmoor West with new guestrooms and suites, a new façade and lobby, the addition of a grand entrance and the opening of two new restaurants, Ristorante del Lago and Natural Epicurean. A three-story addition to the 1970s structure provided 31 more guest rooms and suites, including the luxurious Parker Suite that has a very large patio and spacious indoor living space that are perfect for hosting receptions and small gatherings. In true Broadmoor style, the cuisine and improvements were splendid. I attended my first vodka dinner (try sampling seven brands of vodka and then attempting to drink just part of three vodka cocktails paired with a four-course dinner at Summit restaurant) that featured renowned mixologist and author Tony Abou-Ganim.

Next it was one to another Colorado property with years of experience hosting conferences, lovely gardens and a golf course out the back door. The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood is celebrating its 25th anniversary and planning various upgrades. This hotel was built as a conference center and performs that way with in-house audiovisual, well-thought out meeting rooms and a break station that doesn’t get torn down during the day (finally someone though of this!).

While in Denver, I knew a stop at the Rocky Mountain Region’s first major outdoor exhibition of artwork by Dale Chihuly that was smartly placed throughout the 24-acre Denver Botanic Gardens was a must. Corporate groups should act quickly to plan an outdoor event this summer or fall with these amazing glass sculptures and the beautiful gardens as a backdrop. A bunch of friends and family tried out Canvas and Cocktails in Cherry Creek on a Wednesday evening, and we all walked away with our own version of a Van-Gogh-style downtown Denver starry night painting.

A renovated room at the Millennium Harvest House Boulder // Canvas & Cocktails creations.

In Boulder, the Saturday morning farmers’ market downtown was the place to be, and I found out why the Rembrandt Yard Event Center is a fun venue for groups of up to 150 and how nice it is to take a break from an event there to stroll Pearl Street only a block away. It was great to see new guest room renovations at Millennium Harvest House Boulder, which I had last visited many years ago while my sisters attended University of Colorado. Located on the Boulder Creek path and adjacent to the campus on 16 acres, the Millennium has so attractively renovated 100 of its 269 guest rooms and suites and public spaces, upgraded technology infrastructure and is giving the sports bar Coaches Corner a complete facelift. Lots to see these days in our own state!

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