Silver Boom Brought Majestic Hotels
Glenwood Springs, Colorado is a huge draw for outdoor buffs worldwide. Two mountain-fed rivers converge here, bringing Gold Medal trout fishing and roraring whitewater for rafters and kayakers. Six world-class ski resorts are all within an hour drive. Moreover, those mountains are overflowing with serene panoramas and wildlife. Hunters and hikers alike flood the trails and backcountry. Glenwood Springs is not all about outdoors, however. The region was a silver boom hotbed in the 1800s, and a couple of the spectacular historical hotels that grew are still around in all of their glory today.
In 1893, financier and silver tycoon Walter Devereux opened Hotel Colorado, an expansive neo-renaissance Italian design resplendent with intricate scrollwork and sandstone and twin bell towers. The grounds also featured a hot springs pool, a cascading fountain, a waterfall inside the main room and well-appointed dining and lodging.
The luxury of the resort and the splendors of the vapor caves attracted superstars and the social and political elite. Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt had long stays at Hotel Colorado, and Herbert Hoover chose the Hotel Colorado for a significant speech on finance and the economy.
Renowned gangster Diamond Jack Alterie flaunted his wealth and muscle around the resort. The famous gambler Doc Holliday lived out his final month attempting to beat tuberculosis in the area’s vapor caves.
During World War II, Hotel Colorado saw duty and operated as a convalescence hospital for almost 7,000 soldiers.
Today, Hotel Colorado is a totally up to date resort with wi-fi internet, a luxurious spa, and seasonal equipment rental services, all the while continuing its historical originality and furnishings. Some guests have even reported a stray ghost or two.
Around the start of the twentieth century the riverfront district of Glenwood Springs was abounding with bars, gambling houses and brothels. When Prohibition virtually shut down many of those businesses, a few local entrepreneurs were able to merge inns and hotels cheap. The Hotel Denver opened in 1938 as a child of those mergers. The riverfront neighborhood is now a clean, lively nook in the town, with cozy eateries, and the Hotel Denver has become a budget-friendly but exquisite stay right in the heart of town. The Hotel Denver also displays the contemporary amidst the hotel’s historic brick and mortar.
Just a ten minute drive from downtown is the Sunlight Mountain Inn. While it is not so much an historical stop, it is an ideal spot for people with children who may want to get their history one day and then get in a day of skiing. The bed and breakfast is cozy with warm fireplaces in each room, views of the Mt. Sopris and the rivers and awesome slopes across the road at Sunlight Mountain Resort.
- motel
- cabins
- B&B
The Roaring Fork Valley is also full of river cabins, inexpensive roadside motels, as well as the finer hotels and inns after a fun day of White Water Rafting Colorado
Other help: http://whitewater-rafting.glenwoodspringsaspen.com/colorado-river-rafting http://glenwoodspringsaspen.com/
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.