I expected to walk into a cookie cutter Hyatt Place, but my preconceived notion quickly vanished when I walked into Hyatt Place Peña Station/Denver Airport. I did a one-night stay in one of Denver’s newest hotels. As a traveler, I love the travel theme throughout the lobby. There’s maps, globes, old suitcases and even oversized paper airplanes as decor. A nod to travel of past, present and future seems to be done almost in a juxtaposition to the sleek lines of the hotel’s design and furniture. It works and makes for a super interesting stroll through the lobby. I also noticed the orange and blue hues in furniture and pillows, which I assume are subtle nods to the Denver Broncos. My welcoming committee was a 6-month old golden retriever named Denver. He’s a big hit with guests. Being a wonderful hotel ambassador is great training for his future plans to be a therapy dog. When I was checking in, I noticed screens in old suitcases filling the wall. “Take a look through the view finder over there, ” the guy checking me in said. So of course immediately walked over and looked. There’s different wildlife that appear on the screens. What a cool concept!
As I settled into my room, I was thrilled with the spacious room. The seven story hotel has 226 rooms and is LEED certified. I always find it nice to have a seating area and a separate desk/work space from where the bed is in a hotel room. I immediately thought this is a great room for families doing a one-night stay to catch an early morning flight or if faced with a cancelled flight and staying for an unexpected extra night. For the the solo traveler like me or business traveler, extra space is always a luxury, plus Hyatt Place Peña Station/Denver Airport is super easy to get the airport or downtown. The hotel is one stop from Denver International Airport. It’s an 8-minute ride on light rail to the airport or 28-minute ride to Union Station. As I looked out of my room’s window, I couldn’t believe I couldn’t hear the train or traffic. The hotel also has its own shuttle service to and from DIA if you’d rather get to and from the airport that way.
There are wonderful cozy seating areas and nooks where you can duck into to work, read or enjoy a glass of wine or cup of coffee. Speaking of coffee, they do have a fully licensed Starbucks. With an almond milk chai latte in hand, I wandered around the lobby looking at the artwork. There’s the giant bison you can’t miss, the ties on the ceiling, 14er Scrabble on the floor in front of the elevators and other interesting works of art. There’s a game room where kids, and kids at heart, can play video or board games. I also wandered back to check out the meeting facilities. Should you need a meeting room or board room while traveling, they’ve got you covered.
Taking advantage of the hotel’s meeting spaces, I held a late afternoon meeting in the business center area. It was perfect for the unstuffy, relaxed meeting space that I needed. Afterwards, we headed over to unwind in the bar area. We indulged a bit with the parmesan-paprika French fries and citrus-chile popcorn for nibbles. Wanting some greens, I ordered the baby kale Caesar salad, which you can get with or without chicken. They have beer, cocktails and house wines. They also have a rotating selection of wines weekly and I ordered the red blend.
When I retreated to my room, it didn’t take long for me to drift off to sleep in the super comfy bed. I really appreciated the blackout curtains too. For any frequent traveler, that’s always a welcomed extra feature in a hotel room. I woke up the next morning, refreshed from a great night’s sleep and ready to tackle the day, after sipping a cup of coffee in bed and enjoying the view of snow covered mountains in the distance with an RTD train passing every few minutes. I really loving that I could see the trains and traffic, but not hear them.
Fueled with caffeine, I headed downstairs to the fitness center to check a workout off my daily to do list. The workout room and heated pool are right next to each other. I realized I had forgotten my headphones so was thrilled to see they have disposable ones that they also recycle. I ripped open a package of headphones, changed the settings on the Peloton bike and worked up a sweat pumping the pedals in one of the spin classes.
After my workout I grabbed my laptop and settled in at the long hightop table in the bar area so I could enjoy the natural light flooding the space while I worked for a couple of hours. I did take a breakfast break to nosh on cage-free eggs, peanut butter toast, juice and coffee.
I was getting so much done that I didn’t want to leave! I’m already planning to book another stay for a 5:20am flight I have in March so I can be close to the airport. Can’t wait to stay here again, in a Hyatt Place that completely surprised me. You know it’s a hot spot to stay if I write a blog before checking out!
Author Jennifer Broome spends a lot of nights in hotels. She jumped at the chance to check out one of the newest hotels in Denver, where she lives, especially since it’s so close to Denver International Airport.
