Hi

I am helping a friend look for a hotel for one night (1/27/08) in Denver.

She and her husband will be spending the night before catching an early flight the next morning. They don't want to stay near the airport. They're looking for a hotel with some good restaurants nearby for around $150/night.

Any suggestions? I have searched here, and the hotels that have come up (Marriott, Hyatt, Hotel Monaco)are out of their budget. The closest one in their range was the Hotel Monaco, so if anyone has stayed there, please give your opinion.

Thank you,
Johanna

If you can get the Hotel Monaco for $150, I'd jump on it. It's in the heart of downtown Denver, if they don't mind that long cab ride. . . It's an art nouveau themed hotel, very good service, nice restaurant there. They could get to anywhere in downtown from there, too. We used to have an annual holiday party in their private wine cellar room downstairs, and it was always very well done. We stayed there ourselves a year or two, after the party.
>-

Thanks for your reply, Maureen.

How long of a cab ride are you talking about? Do you think there is a better area to stay?

Johanna

Have you asked the Monaco about transportation? They would know the least expensive and effective means to get there from DIA.

There are lots of shuttles from the airport. You can Google "Super Shuttle" and see what they'd charge. That's the company I see most often at the airport. It's probalby about $20 per person each way.

A cab ride to downtown would have to be at least $55. But it might also be a fixed charge. Call Yellow Cab and Metro Cab-- 303 333 3333 or 303 777 7777. (We take a cab to our house from the airport, and it runs $48 plus tip, and we're three miles from downtown.)

If they don't want to stay very near the airport, then going downtown or to Cherry Creek involves an expensive transportation bill. The middle ground would be to stay in the Stapleton area (which was our old airport, now transformed into a nice residential/commercial area.

There are a number of hotels there, on Quebec Street, like a Renaissance, a Doubletree, a Radisson, a Courtyard, etc. The only restaurants I know to recommend for walking to, in Stapleton, are on 29th street, near Quebec. It's only one block, but its cute. There's a place we like there, I think it's called Uno's. If they're interested in that idea, ask for a hotel near 29th, so they could walk across Quebec.

One other idea, is the new Northfield area, which is also off Quebec, but a mile or so north of Stapleton. It's a new mall-type area, with chain type restaurants, if that appeals. I don't know about hotels there, though.

It might be cheaper to rent a car for the night, actually, even with paying for parking downtown. But a hassle to get it returned for an early a.m. flight.

Now that I've said all this, I think overall I'd recommend they just take the shuttle to the Monaco and enjoy downtown Denver restaurants.
>-

They should stay in Cherry Creek. MUCH easier to get around that downtown (not so spread out.) AND much nicer with WAY better shopping. There are several nice, cheap hotels (under $100) on Colorado Blvd. that are a mile away from CC. An easy/cheap $5-10 cab ride into the heart of CC. Save the money on the hotel, since they'll be out and about at night and get up early in the morning and have a fabulous dinner in Cherry Creek. Lots of great restaurants to chose from. Take the SuperShuttle in. But Cherry Creek is MUCH nicer than downtown, and I live downtown!

I like Cherry Creek, too, especially for shopping, but the OP doesn't ask about shopping. And staying on Colorado Blvd would not be especially nice, plus you'd have to cab to and from Cherry Creek. If you could stay IN Cherry Creek, that would be ok, but you couldn't for $150.

I think the Monaco, from which you can walk to several restaurants or take the shuttle, would be much more pleasant and convenient and a much better hotel.
>-

Easiest would be to bid on Priceline for a 4* hotel downtown. Could probably get it for a good price.
How early a flight? They will need to be there at least 2 hours before their flight. The Denver airport security is the most thorough we have been through and it can be 'way backed up.
Search the Denver airport site for transportation.
The Monaco is indeed a little jewel.

http://www.flydenver.com/gt/search.asp

These are the shuttle services. There is also a city bus that runs downtown.
We have used super shuttle. They need to book the morning return to the airport. It will pick them up probably 3+ hours before their flight.

If you can get the Hotel Monaco for $150, you should grab it. I love the Cherry Creek area, but staying on Colorado Blvd. would be rather yucky. The area itself isn't bad, but it is congested streets and strip malls. I would only consider staying in Cherry Creek (for this trip) if you can get the JW Marriott at a nice price.

Thank you to everyone who responded.

I have forwarded this thread to my friend, and I think she is leaning towards the Monaco.

Johanna

I looked on Expedia last night, for 1/27, and found a great price at the Grand Hyatt downtown and the Magnolia boutique hotel downtown. Both of those would be good choices, too. (The Monaco was much more than $150)
>-

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/details...actionType=303

Hotwire has a downtown 4* hotel for
$70 incl. tax. It's one night--why overspend.