The Delaware Hotel Renovation Featured in 5280 Magazine

3 Historic Colorado Hotels Get Upgrades

Throughout its history, Colorado has hosted an impressive register of desperados, dignitaries, and dreamers who rested their weary heads at the state’s finest hotels. Many of those celebrated boarding houses are still welcoming guests, and in honor of Colorado’s 146th birthday this month, we found three long-standing lodgings whose renovations are only slightly less impressive than the iconic guests who have graced their beds.

Leadville
Then: With escape routes down the stairs and through the window, what’s now Room 16 of the Delaware was allegedly a favorite among cowboys watching their backs, none more renowned than gunslinging gambler John Henry “Doc” Holliday. After spraying bullets alongside friend and lawman Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral, Holliday lived briefly at the Harrison Avenue hotel from late 1886 to early 1887. He left town after shooting (but not killing) a man at the Hyman Saloon.

Now: Purchased last year by Monty Moran and David Chrisman, former Chipotle execs, the Delaware is undergoing a multimillion-dollar update to its grand lobby and lounge that is expected to be completed later this month. The refresh will add antique mechanical games, an upscale eatery called Mineral (whose menu will be developed by an undisclosed James Beard Award–winning chef), and a hidden candy room open exclusively to pint-size hotel guests—if they can find the secret lever in the lobby.

Images by Morgan Moutrie