The glitzy hotel finally comes to Denver.

The Ritz-Carlton, Denver opened in January with a glittering display of the style and service required to fast track AAA Five Diamond and Mobil Five Star ratings. It puts sophisticated travelers on notice that the Mile High City is ready to receive them.

"Denver has been on everybody's radar screen for a while," says Michael King, the hotel's general manager. Formerly the GM of The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, this 18-year veteran of The Ritz-Carlton Company believes Denver will be a draw for corporate meeting groups that already have been to New York, Chicago and other big cities that are expensive and difficult to reach. King notes: "It's easy to get here on direct flights and people have discovered there's so much more here than they ever thought with LoDo, light rail, the convention center and the (Rocky Mountains) so close."

The new Ritz-Carlton, Denver and the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton are tucked into a long existing building at 1881 Curtis, which is owned by CJS Denver Holdings, LLC (Charlie Biederman, Steven A. Roitman and James T. Cobb Jr.). The hotel on floors 1 through 14 and The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton on floors 15-19 are being managed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

The Building
The former Embassy Suites hotel site was chosen because it's close to the business district, the 16th Street Mall and Lower Downtown. Plus, there was enough room inside to build the hotel and residences, according to King. Renovating the building "caused us a lot of headaches to start with," explained Bill Wood, project manager at Pahl Architecture, the architect of record for The Ritz-Carlton, Denver. The structural engineer, on site during the building's construction in the 1980s has been involved in the current renovation and warned the unique tower structure shouldn't be changed.

"The building was forcing us to work around it, so there were lots of compromises on both sides." said Wood. While there couldn't be as many room variations as The Ritz-Carlton Company would have preferred, according to Wood, structural bays of three small rooms in the former hotel were turned into one deluxe guest room, with spacious bathrooms. The suites are combined sets of these structural bays. To create an eye-catching staircase to the Plaza level that houses meeting spaces, an escalator was removed in the lobby area and a 25 x 25-foot hole was opened on the ground floor.

The Decor
The public areas marry Colorado casual with urban chic. The lobby is warmed by chocolate brown and off-white veined marble reminiscent of Rocky Mountain hues and rich woods. On the plaza level's 13,000-square-foot meeting spaces (which includes a 6,200-square foot ballroom), some rooms have textured upholstered walls and ceilings that reflect light from the chandeliers because flecks of real gold were mixed into the paint. The boardroom's chandelier is a cascade of glass pieces shaped like aspen leaves.

Each of The Ritz-Carlton's 202 rooms is a minimum of 550 square feet, with a comfortable chair and ottoman, a flat-screen TV, desk and phone system designed for the working businessperson, and a large bathroom with two sinks, separate deep soaking tub and shower. (Coffee addicts will love the espresso machines.) The hotel's 47 suites vary in size up to The Ritz-Carlton Suite, which wraps around one side of the building. (Guests in this suite can relax in the soaking tub with a view of Coors Field.)

The colors and fabrics on the furniture, walls and window coverings in the deluxe guest rooms have earthy tones, with accents of copper, moss green and deep reds. The 32 club level guest rooms have a warmer palette of soft peach and sage green, with punches of color similar to Colorado's red rocks lining the foothills. Guest rooms also have motion detector lights at calf height that turn on as you walk by, lighting your way to the bathroom. The club level lounge stretches along one side of the building with city views, while intimate areas offer quieter places to watch TV.

From the start, the hotel has committed to a "strong state of green," notes King. The company vehicle is a hybrid, newspapers will be donated to a paper drive for children's programs and, for every couple that gets married at the hotel, a tree will be planted as part of Denver's Tree by Tree program.

The Service
Going beyond the über level of service expected by Ritz-Carlton devotees, King is developing a new personal concierge standard. Select guests can arrange for every need – from a car pickup to having suits pressed or dinner reservations – via PDA, Blackberry or e-mail before they arrive or while on the run in Denver.