dingo

I get to Denver fairly often; a highlevel overview of room experiences if you're looking for an alternative to Tabor:

Brown Palace - old, elegant, small rooms unless you ask for and get upgrade, great location if you're downtown, nice bars (formal and informal), one of the most unique hotels I've stayed in in US.

Hyatt DTC - if you stay there once, I believe you have just seen every room in the place. I've stayed here about 10 times in different types of rooms and room rates and the rooms are identical. They are dark and temperature control system is tough to get just right. Bar is sports themed and so so; buffet is pretty poor. No free parking option here.

Hyatt Downtown - Hey, they have different types of rooms! And, a club level/lounge (at least last time I was there a year ago). Views are decent, downtown Denver has tons to do...LoDo, street mall, Rockies...tons.

fly co to see the yanks

just got back from my one-night stay.

overall, a thumbs up. pleasant check-in at SPG line. proactively recognized my platinum status and offered the amenity. told i was upgraded.

got to the room. not sure what i had been upgraded from since it looked like it was a basic room, albeit on a floor with shiny gold "Preferred Guest" plaques on the walls near the elevator. bed was great. heavenly shower was heavenly. molton whatever shampoo and products. nice view. couldn't quite get the room as cold as i like to sleep.

the pool and sundeck were great although i didn't get a chance to use either as i arrived after sunset. but, they looked absolutely great.

the gym was serviceable but for such a nice sized room it could have used more equipment. what equipment they had was nice, but they had only one of many items. for instance, they only had one abs mat for the floor. i can't imagine that these mats cost more than $5-$10. but, both times i used the gym, the mat was occupied for much of the time i was there. also, there was only one stationary bike even though there was plenty of room along the wall where it was stationed for several stationary bikes. (there was also one elliptical and one stairclimber, for example.) for full disclosure, there were several treadmills and a full rack of dumbbells. this gym could really use some weight bars and a swedish ball (low cost/low risk for injury/highly functional equipment).

for some reason, i don't think i have stayed at a starwood hotel this year in which the TV checkout service worked and the Tabor Center was no exception. but, a quick call to Service Express checked me out and i picked up a bill when i went downstairs (thankfully, no line).

room service breakfast was a bit of a disaster. after a couple of calls and over 45-50 minutes, it arrived. my bagel was ice cold and hard as a brick. i think i will go to the restaurant next time.

Palm Restaurant is in the hotel and i was able to charge the bill to my room. it was delicious.

overall, a thumbs up to this property. nice pool/sundeck, decent (albeit under-equipped) gym, nice room, great staff.

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited 08-13-2003).]

bxwatso

I agree that the staff at the Tabor is consistently first rate. I wouldn't want my mixed review above to leave any other impression.

fly co to see the yanks

additionally:

the hotel gave me a coupon for a free Absolut Vodka cocktail for use at the Palm at check-in. used it on a nice citron and soda.

the property offered unlimited domestic long distance, local, and 411 calls as well as high speed internet access for $9.95 per 24 hours.

the GM's name is John Everett, per a card i received at check-in. the manager on duty's extension is 7541 (internal extension). not sure if this is helpful to anyone.

lintemut

Last year I was at this location and was put on the "Club Level" as a Gold. The room did not have HSIA so I asked to be moved to a room that did. I was put on a lower floor. So I was downgraded to receive an upgraded level of service.

LISAA

I stay there often, and the best room is a corner room on an upper floor, very roomy and great all-marble bath with a jacuzzi tub and seperate shower. Only rarely do I get that room as plat upgrade though

fly co to see the yanks

i had a corner room on the 17th floor but it didn't have a jacuzzi tub-separate shower. but, i was only there one night so the room i got was fine.

LISAA

A gal pal and I skiied Vail this past weekend, and on the way back to COS the road conditions were horrific; we crept at 5MPH for about 60 miles, so when we got near Denver I decided to treat us to dinner at the Palm and a night in the Westin. She was not aware of SPG, and I bragged a bit; so when the first room I got was not too spectacular, I was somewhat let down. THEN, as we readied for dinner, it became clear that the room heat did not work, and I called Craig at the front desk, also mentioning that I had thought a Platinum member might have at least been given a corner room. We were immediately moved to a luxury room, nice and WARM, with a hollywood marble bathroom and a spectacular view of Denver downtown with soft snow falling. Needless to say, my friend was VERY impressed, and joined SPG in hopes of getting this type of recognition. I felt valued by Westin and wanted to recognize Craig and his outstanding response.

skofarrell

You felt valued? Why did you get a defective room and then have to call and remind them of your status? Shouldn't you have gotten that great room in the first place?

[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited Jan 27, 2004).]

AZ Travels the World

Congratulations, LISAA, you may have stumbled upon the only way to get a Platinum upgrade at this hotel. In all my many stays at this hotel, I have yet to see anything other than the standard room. Perhaps something needs to get. . . I mean be, broken.

I, unfortunately, will checking in there again tomorrow. (My usual Westin Tabor Center alternatives are booked.) I'll ask for Craig -- and tell him LISAA sent me!

nyc500

Yeah, I have not had any luck getting an upgrade there either. I have landed a corner room several times, but there does not seem to be much difference aside from slightly more space. The hotel is generally underwhelming - just basic accomodations.

------------------
SPG Platinum, HH Silver, AA Platinum, DL Silver, Hertz 5*

DFWFlier

I stayed there last summer and after a little while in my (rather ordinary) room, I noticed it was not getting cool, despite the thermostat being turned down. Called the front desk and they confirmed the whole hotel was having air conditioning problems, but that it would be fixed "shortly". After an hour or so, called again and they offered to comp me 2 drinks in the lobby bar (where it WAS cool). Ended up being quite awhile before they got the problem fixed. Overall, I was not impressed with the hotel.

tfong007

I stayed there as well. The staff are very friendly. The hotel is nothing special. Lots of guest from conference stays. No suite upgrade but did get a very nice room. As others have said, its really nothing special.

osxanalyst

It's basically a Sheraton labeled as a Westin, in terms of quality/comfort. As a Gold I have yet to be upgraded there.

Pietro

Unless you need to be downtown for appointments or a show/convention of some sort, it's worth checking out the Westin in Westminster, which is about halfway between downtown Denver and Boulder. I know traffic can be nasty all over the area, but I've had great experiences with this newer Westin. It just takes a while to get to the downtown area during rush hour, but that's a problem in any larger city.

FWIW, the Sheraton south of downtown in the tech center area is also pretty nice and can be much less expensive certain nights.