The 38-storey, 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, which is located in Denver, Colorado, US, started construction in June 2003 (14 months after its initial planning and approval). Construction costs were estimated at $354.8m. The hotel complements the Colorado Convention Center, which is situated opposite the hotel on California Street and 17th Street.
The Hyatt Regency Convention Center hotel is the group’s third hotel in the area. The others are the 511-room Hyatt Regency Denver, which is located in the downtown business and entertainment district and caters for business travellers, and the Hyatt Regency Tech Center, which has 450 rooms and is the focal point of Denver’s technological centre.
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The hotel opened in December 2005. Built on the west edge of Denver’s panoramic downtown, it offers picturesque views of the Rocky Mountains and the Platte Valley.
In April 2010 the Hyatt Regency Convention Center hotel was awarded the AAA Four Diamond rating for 2010 for having the highest grade of hospitality, attention and service.
The hotel was renovated with an investment of $9m. This included renovation of its 451 guestrooms and suites, a gym, an indoor pool, sauna, improving cuisine at the Cafe Restaurant, and providing evening games at Garrity’s Sports Bar and Grill.
Financing the Hyatt Regency Denver hotel
The Denver Convention Center Hotel Authority, an independent government agency, financed the hotel through tax-exempt revenue bonds. Totalling $367.5m, these bonds cover $285.5m in project expenses and $89m in reserves, insurance, points and fees.
Hyatt Regency Denver contractors
The project manager for the Hyatt Convention Center Hotel was FaulknerUSA, who were responsible for managing the general contractors, defining the project ‘road map’, setting the master project schedule and preparing budget, estimates and procurement. The hotel was designed by a joint venture of Klipp Colussy Jenks DuBois Architects (KCJD) of Denver and New York-based Brennan Beer Gorman Architects (BBG).
Additional contractors include Hensel Phelps Construction Company, Alvarado Construction Inc and JA Walker Company. The interior of the hotel is to be designed by Wilson and Associates of Dallas, Texas.
The electrical parts of the contract were executed by Ludvik Electric Company as a design assist subcontractor. Ludvik’s scope of work included an electrical power distribution including 2-4000 Amp 277 / 480V and 1-3000 Amp 277 / 480V main distribution switchboards, and 2-3000 Amp 277 / 480V life safety distribution switchboards.
Construction
The structural steel of the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center was in place by September 2004. All the concrete was poured by the end of December the same year and dried out by February 2005. Completion of levels six to 15, along with all below-ground work, was achieved by March 2005.
By May 2005 levels 16 to 26 were completed, with levels 27 to 38 following in mid-August 2005. The podium / base tower was completed by the end of September 2005 with the final certificate of occupancy (CO) awarded on 20 December 2005. The first full year of operation for the hotel was 2006.
Hyatt Regency Denver facilities
The 1.25-million-cubic-foot hotel contains a 30,000ft² grand ballroom at third level, the largest in Colorado State, as well as a 14,000ft² Capitol Ballroom at the fourth level and an additional 25,000ft² of meeting space in 33 meeting rooms.
It also includes a 6,700ft² Health Club (Hyatt Gym with Cardio Theatre / YogaAway) with 100 pieces of cardio and fitness equipment, a 50ft indoor lap pool with city views and an outdoor hot tub. The spa, called ‘Spa Universaire’, includes a sauna, steam room, changing rooms and sun deck.
The hotel also has a 600-space underground car park. There is a choice of several eating and refreshment venues in the hotel. In addition to the Perks Coffee Bar and Convention Bar, there is a 300-seat, three-meal restaurant called Altitude and the top floor panoramic Rocky Mountain Lounge.
Each guestroom has the Plush Hyatt Grand Beds with flat-screen TV, high-speed internet access and a luxury bathroom. Hyatt FastBoard / PDA check-in facilities are available and there is Wi-Fi in all public areas. In addition there is a 24-hour FedEx / Kinko business centre along with the Limestone boardroom for meetings and an Enterprise rental car desk.
A 38-storey design
Denver’s Hyatt Regency Convention Center hotel has 38 floors, with a 27-storey lower tower and a 50ft vertical beacon. The 66ft-tall base of the tower includes the main lobby, restaurant and guest services on the ground level. The conferencing facilities are located on levels 3 and 4. Level 5 contains the health club, which has an indoor lap pool and hospitality suites with outdoor terraces.
The public spaces are arranged along a large three-storey high, glass atrium space that runs the length of the building along California Street. The ground floor houses the restaurant, guestroom lifts, lobbies and convention bar. Escalators connect the pre-function areas with the grand ballroom on the third floor and the junior ballroom on the fourth. The escalators offer views of the Rocky Mountains to the west, the Colorado Convention Center across the road and the lobby internally.
Extending 22 floors above the base tower is the main portion of the structure, with an additional ten floors of a smaller floor plate of guestrooms that extends to level 37. The low-rise and high-rise portions of the towers are connected by a vertical tower that serves as a viewing area from the elevator lobbies and extends 50ft above the top of the building. This ‘lantern’ top gives the hotel a strong identity on the downtown skyline.
The hotel offers 1,100 guestrooms, including 59 suites, 453 kings and 588 doubles. Its decor uses natural stone, warm colours and natural light along with the extensive use of LCD screens displaying images of the Colorado landscape. The building also houses $2.5m of original art including six bronze climbers scaling a 35ft limestone wall.
The Hyatt Regency Denver hotel contribution to art includes the Forgotten Landscape, a permanent video installation designed specifically for the new Hyatt Regency Convention Center Hotel and produced by film-maker Shannon W Kelly.
