After operating solely in ski towns like Aspen, Snowmass, Ketchum, and Mammoth, Aspen Hospitality is entering Colorado’s Front Range market with the recent announcements of additions to the Limelight Hotels brand in Denver and Boulder. Aspen Hospitality, the hospitality division of Aspen Skiing Company, owns and operates Limelight and affiliated residences in Aspen, Snowmass, and Ketchum; The Little Nell and affiliated residences in Aspen; and private mountain clubs.
The latest news is a joint venture with Denver-based Continuum Partners, LLC in reflagging Kimpton Hotel Born into Limelight Denver. Hotel Born, located next to Denver Union Station in downtown, will continue to operate as a Kimpton until the conversion to Limelight becomes effective in May. The property’s 200 guest rooms, including 23 suites, will be updated in conjunction with the Limelight brand transition.
Hotel Born opened in 2017 and was developed by Continuum Partners, who served as co-master developer of the Union Station neighborhood. The hotel has about 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space and a restaurant, which may be re-concepted as part of the conversion.
In January, Aspen Hospitality and the University of Colorado Boulder announced that construction for the on-campus Limelight Hotel Boulder has commenced and is expected to wrap up in summer 2025. The groundbreaking at the intersection of Broadway and University is the culmination of years of collaboration among the city of Boulder, CU Boulder, and numerous other stakeholders.
Limelight Hotel Boulder will feature 250 guest rooms, 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space (including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom), a ground-floor restaurant, and an outdoor plaza. The city of Boulder is creating a fund made up of lodging tax generated by the hotel to provide financial support for use of the conference facilities by local nonprofit and civic groups.
LEED Gold certification for green building construction is the aim, which is in line with all major construction projects on the CU Boulder campus and the sustainability goals of Aspen Hospitality. In addition, the hotel is designed to be powered only by electricity, reducing the carbon footprint of the facility over time as the local utility grid incorporates a greater mix of renewable energy.
