New Properties Up Denver Hotel Inventory

<B> New Properties Up Denver Hotel Inventory</B>

By Robert Selwitz

Denver is doing its best to boost its complement of badly-needed hotel rooms. The city offers 5,286 rooms downtown and 24,000 in the metro area. The most prominent recent debut was that of a 181-room Marriott Courtyard hotel.

In October, another important renovation project, the 189- room Hotel Monaco, will debut. Its structure incorporates the 1918 Railway Exchange Building and the 1934 art modern Title Building. It will feature 3,800 square feet of conference and banquet facilities.

Other downtown hotels under construction include the $33 million Off Larimer Inn, offering 176 rooms near Larimer Square and the Denver Performing Arts Complex; the 120-room Tramway Hotel; and the 120-room Denver Hotel, in the heart of the increasingly trendy LoDo (for Lower Downtown) distict surrounding the baseball stadium.

Outside center city, hotel development includes the Westin Westminster, which just broke ground on a 350-room hotel to open in February 2000. Featuring a 50,000 square-foot conference center, it will be part of the new Westminster downtown center.

Nearby, the Omni Interlocken Hotel and Conference Resort has broken ground for a July 1999 opening. The five-star, 392-room resort will be attached to the 27-hole Interlocken golf course. It's located mid-way between Denver and Boulder.

The largest project, planned to connect directly to DIA, is a 526-room Westin Hotel already under construction. The $87 million site will link to the terminal via a 325-foot pedestrian bridge. The hotel will offer 30,000 square feet of conference space, a restaurant, lounge, health club and coffee shop.