The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa offers daily formal tea service
Intertwined with the history of the American West and celebrating 130 years in existence, The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa in Denver has its fair share of scandal, mystery and elegance.
Some rooms feature period decor, while others have been completely renovated in a more modern style.
“Wealth is making fabulous progress in Colorado, but the Brown Palace is of itself proof that art and culture keep step with riches, and invention is no laggard,” according to an in-house publication circa 1893 that Denver historian Debra B. Faulkner discovered deep in the archives of The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa, newly appointed to Marriott’s Autograph Collection of properties, and currently celebrating an impressive 130 years in business.
Florentine arches and historic interior design details
Named for Henry Cordes Brown, who spent $2 million to build and furnish the property at the end of the 19th century, the triangle-shaped hotel has long hosted American presidents, celebrities, power brokers and the social elite—basically the who’s who for more than a century. Rumor has it that the Masonic Order of Denver held its fair share of Freemason rituals inside the Italian Renaissance-style atrium lobby with its Florentine arches. More rumors suggest that into the 1930s, Denver underworld figures who owned the Gothic Revival brothel across the street ferried discreet traffic through underground tunnels connecting the two buildings. Paranormal activity? Yes, they have plenty of that too.
The grand lobby
From a women’s history perspective, Faulkner details how “males’ tales have long overshadowed ladies’ lore in western history,” as stated in her book Ladies of the Brown, A Women’s History of Denver’s Most Elegant Hotel. She takes readers through an introspective look at the feminine dimension of the hotel’s heritage and women’s stories that reveal “as much about evolving social, professional and public roles, as it does about the Brown Palace and the developing American West.”
The entrance to the present-day spa used to be a grand fireplace
Many a debutante over the decades (and still continuing today) has officially entered society after descending the grand staircase underneath the stained-glass skylight suspended between the eighth and ninth floors. A slope-sided transparent structure on the roof has protected the architectural wonder from the elements all of these years but still allows a great deal of natural light to filter into the daily formal afternoon tea settings. Oh, the tea. It’s fancy with petits fours and Devonshire cream shipped directly from England. Then there’s the ample Champagne pours, ladies in wide-brim hats, music reverberating off rare polished golden onyx walls—it’s all absolutely divine. And it’s otherworldly—just like the griffins seen throughout the property, which are the mythological guardians of mountain gold treasure, a framework of the Colorado economy at the time of the hotel’s debut.
A historic image of the lobby
Since the 1900s, the hotel has housed decadent dining options all featuring live music, from the Brown Palace Orchestra during the 1930s to 1960s to the San Marco Strings of the 1970s and 1980s to the present-day jazz bands that play for well-heeled crowds during the Sunday Champagne brunch at in-house Ellington’s. The ambiance is magical.
Present-day view of the triangle-shaped exterior in downtown Denver.
Venture into Palace Arms, a distinctive fine-dining dinner venue decorated with Napoleonic-era military antiques acquired in post-World War II France by the restaurant designers and C.K. Boettcher, hotel owner for most of the 20th century. The restaurant opened in 1950 and serves up an impressive, locally sourced menu with a focus on premium Colorado-raised Angus beef and craft cocktails. At the helm of the hotel’s six on-site dining options, executive chef Kim Moyle not only pays homage to the history of the property but surprises and delights the next generation with her artful food presentations. Whether you’re into ghost and gangster stories or you just want to sip fancy tea and Champagne, the Brown Palace is a must-visit for anyone adventuring through Colorado. 321 17th St., Denver, brownpalace.com
A historic image of the “Mirror Room”
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BROWN PALACE HOTEL & SPA, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION
