DEN Overnight Layover Advice
 

Our family has an overnight layover in Denver ahead of a flight to Europe in November, and I'm trying to decide which Hyatt to book.

We arrive in DEN just before 11 PM, and leave the following day at 2:50 PM.

Considering:

• Hassle/Ease/Cost of getting from and back to the airport
• Globalist perks
• A nice neighborhood/area to spend a morning sightseeing (or whatever) before we head back to sit on planes for a long time
• Points costs

Basically, every hotel in the Denver area seems to be available that night. Here's the points costs for properties I saw recommended on another DEN stay thread (but one that was focused on a longer stay):

1. Grand Hyatt (Downtown) - 18k points
2. Hyatt Regency (Downtown) - 18k points
3. Hyatt Regency (Aurora) - 6.5k points
4. Hyatt Regency (Denver Tech Center) - 6.5k points
5. Hyatt Place Pena Station (Airport) - 6.5k points
6. Hyatt place (Boulder) - 12k points

I was leaning towards:

• HP Pena Station for ease of getting to and from our hotel, and low cost. But guessing the downside is there it might be like many airport-adjacent neighborhoods, where there's not gonna be tons to do in the morning?
• Hyatt Regency Aurora for the low cost, and perhaps a bit more to do in the morning. Downside would be the increased cost of getting to and from the airport.

BUT - I've never been in Denver outside of the airport, and don't really know what I'm talking about. Would love to visit sometime for outdoor recreation, but afraid that's not going to be this trip.

Hyatt Place Pena station is very convenient to DEN especially if you are willing to take the train but with a bunch of you, it may not be cost-effective. There is little to do in the area after you wake up. Also, without renting a car, getting to Boulder that late is impossible on public transportation. The Boulder Hyatt Place is nowhere near all the cool things on Pearl Street. It is still a schlep or a bus ride. So if you need to walk around, I suggest downtown at any of the mentioned hotels, enjoy the walk around downtown and the colorful characters, grab coffee and snacks at Whole Foods, and take the train or an Uber/taxi back to the airport. The breakfast at the Grand Hyatt is good, the breakfast at the Hyatt is good, the Pena Hyatt place is not great, and the Boulder Hyatt Place is AWFUL.

Agree. For convenience, the Pena Station HP wins. Rooms are spacious and clean, but as mentioned, nothing to do around the area...for that I'd go downtown. DON'T go to the Tech Center. That HR treats Globalists poorly and is rundown, with again, mainly industry in the area. The Thompson downtown is AWESOME, and I love the HR downtown, having stayed there many, many times...even the downtown HP is nice. Never stayed at the Grand Hyatt, but I hear nice things about it.

HP Pena and HH DEN both have free shuttles and are a ~40 min train ride to downtown. I would go with either of those, or stay downtown. Don't think the HR Aurora or Tech Center offer much for neighborhood sightseeing.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

For now I've booked the GH Denver. It'll be a bit more of a hassle to get to late at night, but worth it for the chance to experience a bit of the city, and it looks like it might have the best pool/exercise facilities, which would be nice before a long flight.

For getting there and back to the airport with a family, would you recommend a rental, the train or an uber/taxi?

Honestly, I would really recommend staying closer to the airport. DEN airport is well known to have "operational issues" pretty frequently (e.g. trains going down, etc.) Our most recent trip out of DEN was bedlam and had we not arrived a bit early things would have gone well south.

Realistically speaking, a long haul international flight departing at 2:50 PM doesn't really leave much time at all for exploring downtown Denver, IMHO, before you would really need to be heading to the airport (particularly when account for getting the "family" up, having breakfast, etc.). Personally, I'd save exploring downtown Denver for another trip, you really aren't going to see much on that timeline and some things may not even be open yet, in the morning, before you'd need to head out.

That said, the train which runs to the airport is pretty easy to get to (just several blocks down from the GH at Union Station). Tickets are quite reasonable. That said, we just used Uber which was efficient but not cheap (Denver has some of the highest Uber rates in the country)

Regards

I stay in Denver all of the time. The GH and HR are my favorite Hyatt properties and both are right near the 16th St Mall area that has lots of shops and restaurants. It's 30 minutes to the airport from either hotel. I would take an Uber back and forth which should cost no more than $20 each way. There is nothing to do in the areas around the airport hotels, I'd definitely stay downtown if you have never been to the area.

While I don't disagree with most of what you are saying, in terms of how long the train takes, etc. I think you are minimizing the fact that poster doesn't even arrive into DEN until 11PM at night, then needs to get to downtown, check in very late at night at the point, then needs to be back at the airport for a 2:50PM long haul flight the next day. Lets assume they want to be at the airport 2 hours prior to their flight; that would be 12:50 PM, plus time to catch the train or Uber, etc.

How much sightseeing do you think they are going to actually accomplish between checking into the hotel and getting to bed well after midnight, after a day of travel, getting the family up, having breakfast, etc. and then needing to depart for the airport by say, noon? :confused:

Regards

HR DEN Conv & GH DEN are well-managed, well-located properties, and especially GH has excellent Glob recognition, incl compl suite upgrades on nearly every stay. Sometimes, we just want to stay at a great property short as it may be!

if you decide to stay outside airport properties make sure you have a plan for delay - navigating the area at 1 am with family in tow is not fun.

personally I d stay at westin (if budget allows) or hp Pena and if circumstances allow take a train to union Station in the morning to explore for an hour or two.

There is next to zero traffic going into Denver from the airport after 11 pm. I have also never hit any substantial traffic going to the airport from downtown and I done that trip dozens of times. All of the major traffic jams in Colorado are on I-70 going out to the ski resorts or during rush hour.

If they get done with breakfast by 8 or 9 am it gives them 3 or 4 hours to explore the area. If some planning is done beforehand that time can be maximized pretty well.

I will add that the breakfast buffet at the GH or HR are nothing to write home about so don't expect that Globalist benefit to be one of the highlights of the short time there.

it's not about traffic - just a lot of stuff to deal with very very late at night even without delays. Getting to rental car in DEN will take 40-50 min from landing then driving in the middle of the night in unknown place will add to that. Uber can be very expensive that late and downtown is pretty far. You may get to hotel (even as decent as HR or GH) to find out that living room couch doesnt have any bedding for kids - gonna take another half hour to sort out. Been there done that but YMMV of course :)

downtown hotels are not very practical for layovers with late night arrival and imo there isnt much appeal in DEN downtown on novemeber morning to complicate things like that

An Uber or cab from the airport to downtown Denver late at night takes about 28 minutes. It is very easy and costs 20 bucks give or take.

HP Peña or HH Denver Airport are the best choice, I think. Going to DT Denver is a bit too much if arriving at the airport around 11pm. I was trying to get Uber/Lyft around midnight last time but had to wait for awhile to get one. Another time I gave up and took the train.

Uber(X)/Lyft() usually costs me $35-$50 between DIA and DT Denver. Train is about $10/person, but I think it's valid for 24 hours from purchase.

If this trip is late November, there might be a chance of snow… Keep the GH then change to one of the airport hotels if the weather gets bad?