Broadmoor begins $60 million renovation

The Broadmoor hotel on Wednesday announced a two-year, $60 million wave of updates and renovations that will extensively remodel Broadmoor West, double the size of the Golden Bee pub and replace Charles Court with a new Italian restaurant.

Constantly reinventing and refreshing what The Broadmoor offers is an essential part of maintaining a world-class hotel, said Broadmoor president and CEO Steve Bartolin.

“Great resorts evolve,” he said. “It’s very important that we give people new reasons to get excited.”

The $60 million investment is a credit to The Broadmoor’s new owner, Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz’s Anschutz Corp., which bought the hotel in September from the Oklahoma Publishing Co., Bartolin said.

“It displays their commitment to continued, quality ownership in making this kind of capital investment,” he said.

As the region’s flagship hotel and the city’s largest meeting space, The Broadmoor plays a vital role in attracting visitors and meetings to the area, said Chelsy Murphy, public relations manager for the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“It’s really positive to see them making those renovations,” she said. “They realize the importance of always improving and always expanding such a standalone property.”

Broadmoor West is the focus of most of the attention. The exterior of the building will be getting a pair of cupolas and accent paintings to more closely mirror the main building. It will also host the as-yet-unnamed Italian restaurant, a redesigned lobby bar and a new activity center, with bowling, billiards and other family friendly entertainment. The guest rooms in Broadmoor West will be getting balconies and terraces and updated bathrooms.

Bartolin said Broadmoor West, opened in 1976, needed to feel more integrated into the Broadmoor as a whole.

“I’ve never been very fond of the architecture of that building,” he said. “We want it to look and feel like it was an original building.”

Replacing Charles Court with an Italian restaurant, due to open in 2014, will add variety to The Broadmoor’s fine dining options, Bartolin said.

“It’s hard to differentiate the cuisine you get in the Penrose Room from what you get in Charles Court or even in Summit,” he said, referring to other restaurants at the hotel. “We’re crossing over a little too much. This gives us more distinction in our dining options.”

The Golden Bee remodel, on the other hand, is designed to give people more of what they like. The Bee, which was built using the interior of an actual 17th century London pub, marked its 50th anniversary a year ago. The renovation, Bartolin said, will give it a real entrance, instead of the current, nearly anonymous passage off the back of the International Center, and double its seating area while keeping its intimate, dark-paneled ambience.

“You’ve got to be very careful with the Bee,” Bartolin said. “You’ve got to be so careful not to change the character of the place because it’s been hugely successful since it opened.”

The Tavern’s Garden Room patio dining area will get a makeover to resemble a European conservatory, highlighted by a 16-foot chandelier.

“I think when people walk in there, they will say, ‘Wow, look at this place,’” Bartolin said.

Two projects already completed — a facelift of the Cheyenne Lodge meeting space and extensive updates to the Southlake Building — plus a remodel of the Pauline Chapel scheduled to be completed in time for Sunday services, are also part of the slate of construction.

The  Broadmoor, which Spencer Penrose built in 1918, has won Forbes Travel Guide’s five-star rating for a record 52 consecutive years. The 744-room hotel employs more than 1,800 people.

Bartolin has overseen more than $300 million in construction and renovations in his 21 years leading the five-star hotel. This latest round of upgrades will keep The Broadmoor at the front of the pack for the next decade, he said.

“I think this will do us well over the next two years,” he said, “and, I think, go a long way toward positioning The Broadmoor over the next 10 years.”

Reported by:  The Colorado Springs Gazette