WHAT'S NEW

Spas are hot across the nation, and the resorts of the Rocky Mountains are taking advantage of the trend. The older resorts of the area grew from spas. Geothermal springs created naturally heated pools, water rushing up through mineralized rock created mineral springs, and water bubbling up from limestone aquifers as carbonated water was thought to be medicinal. From Colorado Springs to Glenwood Springs, Steamboat Springs, and Park City, resorts sprang up. In the past 10 years, modern spas have opened across the nation, but those most true to the old health spas are still found in mountain hotels, fed by mountain springs.

Denver's 1892 Brown Palace Hotel has resisted many fads, but the allure of spas has proved irresistible, and the hotel is tossing out most of its retail outlets to construct a $2 million spa, set to open at the end of this year.

New behemoths on Colorado's Front Range — the Colorado Convention Center expansion and Hyatt Convention Center Hotel (to open this December) — are attracting new hotels, restaurants, retail, and attractions.

Coming down the pike are enough facilities to give downtown Denver about 7,200 rooms by 2007, a 35 percent increase over 2004. In addition to the Hyatt, high-end facilities include a 120-room, 50-story Four Seasons hotel-condo project. A Hampton Inn is planned for 18th and Sherman streets in the former Columbine Building, and a new Residence Inn by Marriott will be available at the corner of 18th and Champa. The 16th Street Mall is aglow with the lights from pubs, elegant new shops, and eateries.

Utah's Salt Palace Convention Center expansion project cleared a hurdle in March when lawmakers hammered out a compromise to allow the project to meet deadlines for keeping the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake. The lucrative show outgrew the current building and is providing much of the impetus for a speedy expansion by 2006.

Ski Salt Lake received funding through Salt Lake County's tourism, recreation, culture, and conventions tax, and the state committed $18 million over the next two years to market Utah. Ski Salt Lake is a partnership between the Salt Lake City CVB and four Salt Lake County resorts: Alta Ski Area, Brighton Resort, Snowbird Resort, and Solitude Mountain Resort. Together they have 1,500 guest rooms, and 16,000 rooms are available 30 minutes away in Salt Lake.

A convention center in Colorado Springs seems less and less likely. Proponents have linked it to efforts to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee from leaving, but opponents are citing a lot of new convention space chasing an industry that has not grown appreciably. Also, when the Broadmoor opens a new 60,000-square-foot conference center in October, it will be the city's largest group facility.

In Vail, efforts to start on the conference center authorized by voters in November 2002 hit snags. Some critics say the roof design looks like a mushroom. And some town council members feel parking and lodging are already overcrowded in ski season, and a facility that could be used only for the other half of the year is unwise.

FACILITY UPDATES

UTAH

• The latest Dolce conference resort, ZERMATT RESORT & SPA in Midway, is planned to open in early 2006. The property will include Hotel der Baer, with 226 rooms, and the Chateau Hotel Villas, with 126 apartments. The Matterhorn Conference Centre will have 64,000 square feet of meeting space. A spa, nine-hole golf course, European carousel, and more will complete the layout.

• Park City's five-diamond, 170-room STEIN ERIKSEN LODGE opened its GLITRETIND RESTAURANT and wine cellar and completed a two-year refurbishment.

• SNOWBIRD RESORT AND CONFERENCE CENTER expanded meeting space and added air conditioning in the Cliff Lodge. The Cottonwood Room, which can host up to 400, is the largest meeting room after the Cliff Lodge ballroom, which can host up to 900. Snowbird has 500 guest rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space.

COLORADO

• In Boulder, the ST. JULIEN HOTEL opened March 4 with 201 rooms and suites, the first full-service hotel to open since the Boulderado almost a century ago. The hotel has 23,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,000-square-foot spa.

• The 1,100-room, $286 million HYATT DENVER CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL is planned to open in December. It will have ballrooms of 30,000 and 15,000 square feet.

• ST. REGIS RESORT ASPEN completed a $37 million renovation that added the 15,000-square-foot Remede Spa. It is the first resort spa in Aspen. The St. Regis Aspen has 179 guest rooms, including 20 new suites.

• BROADMOOR HOTEL AND RESORT in Colorado Springs is undergoing a $43 million, 70,000-square-foot expansion of its convention space, slated to open in October. The addition will bring total meeting space to about 184,000 square feet.

• COPPER MOUNTAIN'S meeting facility, Village Square, with 3,500 square feet of space, had a major facelift and reopened as the PINE MEETING ROOMS AT VILLAGE SQUARE.

• Breckenridge Lodging & Hospitality offers more than 45,000 square feet of meeting space in three properties: THE VILLAGE AT BRECKENRIDGE HOTEL AND RESORT, GREAT DIVIDE LODGE, and MOUNTAIN THUNDER LODGE. Groups of up to 600 can be accommodated.

ASK THE CVB

COLORADO

ASPEN CHAMBER RESORT ASSOCIATION
(800) 670-0792
www.aspenchamber.org
Total Hotel Tax: 11.5%

COLORADO SPRINGS CVB
(719) 635-7506
www.experiencecoloradosprings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 11%

SNOWMASS VILLAGE RESORT ASSOCIATION
(800) 598-2006; Fax: (970) 923-5466
www.snowmassvillage.com
Total Hotel Tax: 15.5%

DENVER METRO CVB
(800) 480-2010; www.denver.org
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS CHAMBER RESORT ASSOC.
(800) 922-2722
www.steamboat-chamber.com
Total Hotel Tax: 14.4%

TELLURIDE & MOUNTAIN VILLAGE CVB
(888) 605-2578; www.visittelluride.com
Total Hotel Tax: 10.5% in Telluride and 11.5% in Mountain Village

VAIL VALLEY TOURISM & CONV. BUREAU
(800) 775-8245; www.vailalways.com
Total Hotel Tax: 15.3%

UTAH

SALT LAKE CITY CVB
(801) 521-2822; www.visitsaltlake.com
Total Hotel Tax: 11.35%

PARK CITY CVB
(800) 453-1360; www.parkcityinfo.com
Total Hotel Tax: 10.25%

SKI UTAH
(801) 534-1779; www.skiutah.com

PHANTOM PLANNER

• Salt Lake City's Temple Square, founded in 1847, is the city's central block. All addresses are numbered from this point outward so that visitors can tell how close to the square they are by the numbering on businesses and homes.

• Denver, beginning in 2006, will have a spate of hotel rooms opening downtown, and the Metro Denver CVB predicts there will be higher vacancies and lower room rates for at least a few years afterward. Now, don't all jump at once or you'll negate the advantage.

• Mountain meeting schedules often start early and split the day into two work sessions interrupted by play time, with no lingering over meals. The typical day:

7:30 a.m. Breakfast

8 a.m. Working session with coffee break

11:30 a.m. Lunch

11:45 a.m. Mountain activities in winter or summer

4:30 p.m. Group relaxation/cocktails in lodge

6 p.m. Dinner

7-9 p.m. General session or second work session — followed by social activities for those with energy left.

Special Venues

• CHALET DAY JOHNS is an 8,100-square-foot private home with eight bedrooms and nine baths that has just been purchased by Utah's Alta Resort. There are two living rooms and a large dining room for meetings of 25 to 50 people. Chef service is optional. (801) 742-2097; info@chaletdayjohns.com

• ZACH'S CABIN, in BEAVER CREEK'S Bachelor Gulch, offers views of Colorado's Gore Range, vaulted ceilings, and a large stone fireplace. During the summer, Zach's Cabin is available for groups as large as 100 in the main dining room and 50 in Gunder's dining room downstairs. (970) 845-6575; http://beavercreek.snow.com/info/winter/rst.din.zachs.asp

• COLORADO is home to more than 80 brew pubs. THE ROCK BOTTOM BREWERY on Denver's 16th Street Mall serves up local beers in one of the area's largest indoor/outdoor cafes. Jazz ensembles perform on Wednesday and Friday nights. Rock Bottom provides private space for up to 200 people, as well as several semi-private areas. Groups can rent the entire pub, which seats 350. (303) 534-7616; www.rockbottom.com