Polishing the Crowne

The Crowne Plaza Hotel on South Circle Drive has two miles of hallways, 500 rooms and 47,000 square feet of meeting space. So it's no wonder that when it came time to remodel the hotel, it cost $50,000 just for signs telling guests which way to go.

"The property itself covers 14 acres, so directional signs are really important," said Jon Kranock, general manager for the Crowne Plaza. "It's kind of hard to find your way around, so a lot of thought went into figuring that out."

The signs were a drop in the bucket for the Crowne Plaza's year-long, $12 million renovation, the latest in a string of updates, remodels, expansions and spruce-ups at Colorado Springs hotels. Keeping up with the Joneses, or the Marriotts, Hiltons and Broadmoors, has never been more important in the competitive hospitality industry, and every hotel is only as good as its last facelift.

"We have some really good hotels and all of them are very into the idea of looking sharp," said Pam Sherfesee, vice president of sales for Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak, the convention and visitors bureau.

"When you start looking tired, people start to lose interest," she said.

And just like updating your home, investing in a remodel can pay dividends down the road.

"The revenues are way ahead, that started when we had a promise of a renovation," said Janet Hansen, corporate director of sales for Harrell Hospitality Group, the Crowne Plaza's corporate parent. "It's not going to help tonight, but in 2009 and beyond."

Remodels can also bring in new business and open new doors, said Paul York, general manager of the Cliff House in Manitou Springs. The Cliff House is midway through a $1.7 million addition to expand its meeting and wedding space and add a new bar and casual restaurant.

"I think that hotels are really always in a position of having to look toward the future and also the competition," York said.

The Cliff House also is seeking city approval for a controversial $15 million plan to expand the nearby Wheeler House into Cliff House West, which would more than double the number of rooms the hotel offers and in turn open the door to more and larger groups. The expansion has drawn opposition from neighbors around the Wheeler House.

"Our biggest challenge is booking meeting groups," York said. "The meeting groups are really what are going to put the Cliff House in a position to survive long term."

The Colorado Springs Marriott is putting the finishing touches on its own $20 million renovation that, like the Crowne Plaza, transformed all of the hotel's public spaces, restaurants and bars.

"You always want to have a guest feel at least as comfortable as they do in their own home," said Lyn Arguello, director of sales and marketing at the Marriott. "(And) of course, you want to be up-todate with the general feel of the hotel."

Hotel rooms get a lot of wear and tear and style can shift from modern to dated in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it's ironic, then, that both the Crowne and the Marriott have modernized with a decidedly retro look, with bold colors and patterns reminiscent of styles from the 1960's.

"The life span of a renovation is five to seven years," Kranock said. "Most brands won't let you go more than seven years."

So, while not every local hotel is going to the lengths of the Crowne and Marriott, nearly every one is doing something. Cheyenne Mountain Resort did a makeover on its Mountain View Restaurant and redid its lobby; the Clarion Hotel did its lobby and added a pool and restaurant; the Embassy Suites redid its meetings rooms, bedding for guest rooms, bathrooms and lobby and so on. Guests, particularly groups, pay attention to these things, Sherfesee said.

"We do have groups, when they're here on a site visit, they ask, ‘What's your construction schedule?'" she said. "That tells them how up-to-date and on-the-ball the properties are."

Of course, the granddaddy of them all is The Broadmoor hotel, which is, by general consensus, in its own league among local hotels.

"There's nothing timeless ... except The Broadmoor," Harrell Hospitality's Hansen said.

That may be true, but few hotels work as hard, or spend as much, to maintain that feeling of timelessness. The Broadmoor is planning another $55 million in improvements, including golf course renovations, guest cottages and room renovations.

That's on top of $250 million in additions and renovations that were completed just two years ago, which included the 60,883-foot Broadmoor Hall exposition center.

"They have to because of the league they run in," Sherfesee said. "They are a destination in themselves."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0275 or awineke@gazette.com