Whether you live in Boulder or are just visiting, you’re due for a trip to the historic Hotel Boulderado. Tucked neatly into the corner of Spruce Street and 13th Street, this beautifully maintained luxury travel destination has roots that date back to 1909.
Named for a combination of the words Boulder and Colorado, it’s pretty impossible that any guest has ever forgotten where they stayed and the name of the hotel. Designed to be a shining example of modern technology, the hotel’s 75 rooms were all outfitted with lighting powered by a combination of natural gas and electricity. Hot water was coal-powered and it took a mighty team to keep the hotel’s furnaces stoked for the bathing comfort of its guests.
When you walk into the hotel lobby, you’ll notice the Hotel Boulderado’s incomparable stained glass canopy ceiling. Originally crafted of fully leaded glass, a massive snowsotrm caused the original glass ceiling’s collapse in 1959. Today, you can see the third version of the ceiling installed (the interim ceiling was a lacklusted red, white, and blue Plexiglass number) in 1977, designed to recapture the classic beauty of the original stained glass design from the hotel’s beginning days.
Two more feats in design are the original mosaic flooring throughout the entryway, lobby, and dining room along with the cherrywood staircase that extends from the basement all the way up to the fifth floor. The hotel staff estimates that the staircase is the number one destination in the entire Hotel Boulderado for photos (take a stop by and you’ll see why!).
The Hotel Boulderado is an incredible accomplishment in architecture with a long legacy of service. The best part is that it continues to improve to this day. There’s the Corner Bar with a gorgeous outside patio, popular with locals and visitors alike for year-round post-work mingling. Guests and locals can take a stroll through the lobby and explore display cases filled with artifacts from the hotel’s history. The hotel is also a popular destination for corporate events and boasts abundant event space for everything from networking mixers to weddings.
So for a piece of Boulder history, why not stop by the Hotel Boulderado? Grab a drink in the Corner bar and sit streetside and watch the pulse of over 100 years of Boulder history come to life through design, architecture, and a fantastic bartender.
