denver. sleeping with history.

Continuing the series on Denver, we move on to sleeping accommodations, a very important chapter in a stay. It is important to mention that hotels at one point in history were originally places you paid people to not kill or rob you when you sleep. Pretty simple. Sometime not too long ago a guy named Phillipe Starck came along and put glass walls in the bathroom and the boutique hotel was created, where you now paid people to let you into overpriced bars and drink very small bottles of liquor. Oh how things have changed. So it was super refreshing to stay at the Oxford Hotel in LoDo Denver. The Oxford is a beautiful timewarp back to a season where elegance and service were fresh and ready for the picking. While the Oxford is the oldest hotel in Denver, it certainly doesn’t look like it; modern amenities, deluxe bathrooms, and even a free hotel car await you at this refurbished relic. Built in 1891, the hotel was a “city within a city” having a Western Union, Barbershop, Bar, Restaurant, Stable, and even a movie theater. Much of that can be seen in the layout of the building and it is amazing to wander the wide halls, or take in a cold drink at their original bar. The Oxford is sort of a living museum that you can sleep in; the art on the walls are all notable pieces, and many a famous guest, from the Dali Lama to Kid Rock have graced her with their presence. (would have loved to been in that elevator ride… oh the conversation.) One of the things I loved about the hotel was the old-timey key system; I felt like I was in a Wes Anderson film. Another thing I particularly enjoyed was the “day of the week” floor-mats in the elevator. I had to ask the desk about these because my travel partner and I got in a heated debate about exactly when do they change the mats. The desk was quite serious about it saying that one man alone has been changing the mats for the last 40 years. Every night right at midnight he brings both lifts down and locks them, and changes them out. No one knows where the mats came from or when the tradition started, but in a city where pot is now very legal, lemme tell you, it’s not a bad idea to be reminded what day it is. You will see that I forgot to take a picture one day. Case in point.

Finally, a hotel is nothing without rooms, and these were fantastic. Thick, comfortable beds. Modern amenities and wifi. Bathrooms that made you want to film a scene from The Untouchables. De-Lux!