I had the privilege of opening the FS Den. Denver has always been troublesome for 5* accommodations and the opening of this FS solves the problem. My travel plans put me in Denver for a Geophysics conference (SEG) and I was able to adjust the travel dates to coincide with the opening. This will be a tad long, and please, for those of you reading this in 2015, these comments are from the first 72 hours the hotel was open. There wasn’t a soft open. Please read some follow on reviews from others for a better feel.

Rooms: I was in the deluxe room at the price of $180. My travel agent is FSPP and I was upgraded to a deluxe room from the standard. The package included American breakfast for 2 and a complimentary lunch. I assume this price will rise as the hotel establishes itself. My room was a normal FS room: comfortable and wholly lacking that busy feel that the MO has monopolized. The bathroom was quite nice, and had a SEPARATE SHOWER AND BATHTUB, for those of you persnickety people that have to have this. I would note that the bathroom didn’t take up 60% of the available space, like it does here: MO LV. One of the lights switches makes the sinks glow from underneath, a cool way to do a nightlight. A coffee maker sat quietly on top of the minibar. Closet space was pretty good. The hotel appears to occupy floors 1-18 or so, with private residences filling out the upper floors of the building. I was on the 12th floor, facing 14th Street. I did get a little street noise and the view from the room was OK, but not that good. At least I wasn’t staring at pickup trucks in the IKEA parking lot, with further views to a swamp. I think the better views are the rooms that look toward the Rockies on the Lawrence side. On the 12th floor, those rooms are 1206,8,9,10,11,12,13. Also, those rooms would have less traffic noise. The easy way to ask for a room-with-a-view is to get a room that overlooks the pool.

The pool was not open yet. All the photos you see are rather clever Photoshops. I was told that the lounge chairs would arrive Friday, the day after I left. The pool bar was under construction and it looks like they need another 2-3 weeks to complete. The pool is on the 3rd floor and large enough to do laps. I checked 4 different times to confirm, and unfortunately, the pool appears to be in permanent shade. This picture from Google Maps shows the problem, although I cannot identify the pool from the satellite image: FS Den. The pool is underneath the building shadow and parallel to Lawrence Street on the top of this satellite image. This is a bad oversight. I’ve never understood how architects remain in the business after a making such a mistake. Hyatt Aventine in La Jolla suffers from the same problem but that architect is a notable incompetent that now designs dangerous teapots that don’t work for Target.

The Spa facility looked great. I had an extensive personal tour by one of the managers, a San Diego native that had just moved to Denver. I’m not a Spa guy, but this facility looks to me like it has everything. I was shown several massage rooms, including one for couples, along with the nail salon. The dressing rooms were spacious, well equipped, comforting. The men’s side had a Jacuzzi and a steam bath.
The fitness center was adequate. I wouldn’t describe it is as great. I counted 6 or more treadmills along with some ellipticals. I remember weights, some balls, and some other miscellaneous wall-mounted equipment. If you were running on the treadmill, you can leer at the (probably cold) people lounging around the pool. This fitness center isn’t anything near FS Hua or FS SF, but it will work. I prefer Stair climbers such as StairMaster, and there were none to be found.

There is a moderately large bar/lobby area and it was crowded. On my second night I had to wait 30 minutes or so to get a seat at the bar. Service was remarkably good and the bar staff friendly, even though it was clear they didn’t have the slightest idea what they were doing. There is a limited sushi station in the bar with a menu that is utterly indecipherable. I mean completely and totally incomprehensible. On my second night I ordered randomly from this menu, hoping to get something edible. What I ended up with was pretty good, but not really sushi. It appeared to be steak wrapped up to look like sushi, with some raw fish stuffed in.

My bigger worry is the restaurant EDGE. EDGE appears to be a steak place. I ate a meal from EDGE on my first and third nights. I had the New York Strip Loin on the first night, and it was atrocious. On my third night I tried something different, Bone in Filet, and it was better. The menu is very confusing, and like the bar menu, often incomprehensible. Everything is al la carte including sauces and sides. Both times I ordered, I forget to order a sauce, so ate the steak plain. Now that I think about it, the reason I didn’t get any sauces is because I didn’t recognize a single one of them. Here is the list:

Lump Crab Citrus Hollandaise
Butter Poached Half Lobster
Shaved Seasonal Truffles
Pan Seared Foie Gras

The sides are equally confusing. Sorry to be ignorant, but I don’t know what these are:

Bubble and Squeak
Crispy Mac and Cheese

If you are staying at this hotel for a few nights, the EDGE menu will get very tedious FAST. The menu is limited, the cooking mediocre. I see much, and perhaps more, of the same ‘yuk’ that infects Quatrro, the mediocre restaurant at FS EPA. Not good. There are deep structural problems here that cannot be explained away by the fact that they ‘just opened’. I had breakfast twice. It was terrific.

The staff is young and friendly and many some of ‘em look VERY good in their somewhat revealing black dresses. Management has done a good job hiring and has screened well, obviously hiring for personality rather than experience. ‘Experience’ can be taught. Every last employee I encountered was approachable and energetic. Not a single employee showed any fear, something I would expect in a new job at an FS. All were chatty. Their excitement was palpable and infectious. They all appeared to be happy to be working with real, paying guests. I encountered several that were on their first shift ever. A side benefit to being a guest at the opening was that several managers from other FS’s were in town to help the training. Notably, I had a long conversation with Bob, the manager from the Bristol Lounge (FS Bos), my favorite FS restaurant. He was helping open EDGE.

A great opening. I will return.