Hotel Colorado

Established by silver magnate and banker Walter Devereux, construction began in 1891 at a cost of $850,000. Edward Lippincott Tilton designed the building as a replica of the Villa de Medici. Local materials used include cream-colored Roman brick and Peach Blow Sandstone; imported items included 12,000 yards of carpet and 2,000 rose bushes. The Hotel Colorado opened on June 10, 1893 to a program including a fireworks display, an orchestra in the ballroom, and dining at midnight for the 300 couples in attendance.[3]

The hotel quickly became a popular summer retreat, earning the nickname of "the little White House of the West" after extended visits by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. The teddy bear is alleged to have been invented during President Roosevelt's 1905 visit when the hotel's maids presented him with a stuffed bear pieced together with scraps of fine material.

On September 16, 1925, live music and speech was broadcast by way of telephone from the hotel's ballroom to Denver radio station KOA.[4]

In 1942, the hotel was leased to the United States Navy for use as a hospital. The U.S. Naval Convalescent Hospital was commissioned on July 5, 1943 and served over 6,500 patients by the end of 1945. The hospital was decommissioned in 1946.

In 2003, a time capsule was buried in the courtyard. It is scheduled to be opened in 2043.

The National Trust's Historic Hotels of America added the Hotel Colorado to its list in April 2007.[5]

Actor Tom Mix, his wife and several production crew members stayed at the Hotel Colorado during the filming of The Great K & A Train Robbery in summer 1926.

In addition to the visits by Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, former President Herbert Hoover addressed a luncheon at the hotel on August 2, 1939.

Ghosts

Several ghosts are believed to reside there, notably a young girl in Victorian clothing seen playing with a ball, a female that peers over sleeping male guests, and a male presence on the fifth floor. The two suites in the bell towers are frequently reported to be haunted. The elevator moving on its own without passengers, strange smells and sounds have also been reported by guests and staff. In September 2006, CCPI Paranormal Investigations visited the hotel and recorded two areas of higher electromagnetic energy, one in the corridor in front of room 325 and the other outside room 551.[6]

Partial exterior view of the Hotel Colorado as it stands today.

The screams of a woman are often heard throughout the hotel, believed to be of a chamber maid who was involved in a love triangle, and was murdered by one of her lovers. The room in which the woman was believed to have been murdered was a guestroom, it has now been turned into a storage room, due to the history of paranormal happenings occurring there.[7]

• Fleming, Kathy Rippy (1995). Apparition Manor : True Ghost Stories of the Hotel Colorado. New Castle, CO: Twin Aspen. OCLC 51564297.
• Koelling, Janet; Kerry Koepping (2001). Hotel Colorado: Fountains of Enchantment. Glenwood Springs, CO.: Hotel Colorado Nonprofit Museum Corp. ISBN 0-9673594-0-6. OCLC 50327186.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Garfield County, Colorado
• Swannanoa (mansion): Another structure inspired by the Villa Medici.