10 Dec 2011, 7:59pm
Colorado Denver Fashion & Style Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Shopping The Rockies:
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Comments Off on Cherry Creek: One of America’s Top Spots for Chic Shopping, Lodging and Dining

Cherry Creek: One of America’s Top Spots for Chic Shopping, Lodging and Dining

City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks, Dressed in Holiday Style. It’s Christmastime in the Mile-High City.

Where are you shopping this weekend? With only two weeks left until Christmas, I’d say there’s a good chance you might find yourself in a store. Many Americans will be hitting the mall, a dreaded chore for some unless you’re lucky enough to experience the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, one of the world’s premier showcases for quality goods from sunglasses to kitchen accessories to classic and up-to-the-minute fashions. Think Tysons Corner and Bal Harbour Shops—if you’ve been to either of these renowned shopping areas you have a good idea of what to expect at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. From Burberry to Juicy Couture to Montblanc to Keihl’s and many more, the finest American and European brands reign here in great force. Macy’s, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus anchor this alluring complex where even during this busy retail season, shopping is a delight. You’ll also find an Apple store among the mall’s 160 retailers, reason alone to hit this celebrated shopping place in Denver. Their jewel-like Ice Palace where Santa Claus holds court distinguishes itself by having a Santa that signs to deaf and hearing impaired children. Indeed, this is not your ordinary mall.

I suggest you plan to spend at least a couple of days in this most gentrified part of Denver. You’ll also want to take in Cherry Creek North, a lively shopping district next to the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, comprised of over three hundred upscale boutiques, galleries, restaurants, salons and spas within a sixteen-block area. I love the leisurely feel of this area where you can shop at big and small emporiums such as Crate and Barrel, Eileen Fischer, Loro Piana, Lands’ End and many more. Why, there’s even an Hermès.

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Hotel Happiness in Denver

TownePlaza Suites Denver Downtown

Looking for a fun, convenient and affordable place to stay in downtown Denver? Check out Marriot’s TownePlace Suites Denver Downtown, a chain hotel with charm. Of course I was drawn to this property since it occupies the legendary A.B. Hirshfeld Press Building, a handsome  structure over a century-old located on Speer Boulevard. Historic photos, modish- colored furnishings and accent pieces dress up this property with style and panache. Everywhere you turn there’s something interesting, fun or joyful to look at or experience. (No dreary breakfast bars here!)

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DCPA, The Lion King, Kevin Taylor and Other Roars About Denver’s Downtown and LoDo

The Lion King

With Halloween behind us, we can focus more on the real holiday season, the nearly two-month period that begins right about now. (You all must know that it has been moved up!) For me, one of the nicest things to do during this festive period is to go out on the town for dinner and a show, a not-too-easy feat from Telluride but certainly closer than New York.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) makes such a night out worth the effort since they consistently offer a tremendous lineup of shows and performances, all concentrated within a twelve-acre, four-block complex in the heart of downtown Denver. Did you know that DCPA is the second largest arts complex in the country? Their ten performance spaces beautifully accommodate Broadway touring productions, a major symphony and opera, dance and ballet, chorales and a variety of theater groups. They can seat 10,000 people within their theaters, splendid showplaces of varying sizes connected by an eighty-foot-tall glass roof.

And tonight “The Lion King” opens at The Buell Theatre for a five-week run! This dazzling production enjoyed sell-out shows during their 2002 and 2006 engagements in Denver. Tickets are still available for this stint but as expected, they’re going fast. I hope I can take it in since I love great stories, spectacular shows and cats of all kinds.

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Teatime with Dad at Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel

Exquisite Treats at Denver’s Brown Palace

Travel is often most rewarding when you step out of your comfort zone, when you do something you’ve never done before. This can mean zooming on a zip-line in the jungles of Costa Rica or just sipping tea at a fancy hotel. I’ve done the latter countless times but it became a more novel experience nearly a year ago when I found myself sharing afternoon tea at The Brown Palace, Denver’s legendary hotel, with my father.

We were together in Denver on our way back east after he’d spent time in his beloved West. At eighty-four years old, those trips have been curtailed from the days when he’d spend weeks on end skiing in Aspen. But still, we’ve all tried to make sure he gets his Colorado fix even if he has to be “accompanied” throughout most of his travels these days.

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25 Jul 2011, 1:08pm
Colorado Denver Hotels & Lodging Restaurants:
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Summertime and the Livin’ Is Easy at the Denver Warwick Hotel

Red, Wet and Blue at Denver Warwick's Rooftop Oasis

With record-breaking temperatures hammering most of the country this summer, business and leisure travelers are delighting in hotels that offer something more than icey-cold, air conditioned guest rooms. Yeah, baby, it’s hot outside. But it’s also summer, the season intended for sitting outdoors to breath in fresh air and listen to the chirp, chirp, chirp of little birds.

Denver’s a great city for capturing this sort of bliss since even when temperatures soar well into the nineties, it’s dry enough that a quick dip in a pool or a leisurely moment on a shaded patio, can leave you feeling like you’re relaxing in a balmy seventy-five degrees. But the secret is to find those special havens where you can forget big-city life and lull yourself into some sultry summer fun. You’ll find just the place at the Denver Warwick Hotel in the heart of the mile-high city.

Randolph's at Dusk

Even if you’re not checking in to this superior quality establishment, you can enjoy a fine meal on the terrace at Randolph’s Restaurant and Bar, the hotel’s signature restaurant. Randolph’s presents a contemporary American cuisine served up with a Rocky mountain flair. Enjoy an Heirloom Ensalata Caprese, followed by a Rocky Mountain Red Ruby Trout Florentine and you’ll understand why this restaurant has become a favorite among Denver’s movers and shakers. (I’m sure they appreciate the relaxing atmosphere of Randolph’s terrace as well.)

You’ll want to be a guest at the Denver Warwick just to experience their rooftop swimming pool, a real rarity in any major metropolitan center. Not only is it a fun way to cool off, but it also offers some fine views of the Denver skyline.

After lolling poolside for a while, you can still pad off to your temperature-controlled guest room to flop on the bed. Fortunately there, too, the crisp, Rocky mountain air is close at hand because all of the rooms at the Denver Warwick boast their own private balcony.

Fresh and breezy. Here, summer never felt so good.

Denver Warwick Hotel, 1776 Grant Street, 303-861-2000. Randolph’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily year-round; brunch is also served on Sundays. Call 303-318-7272 to reserve. Check out their daily specials at their Web site or enquire by phone.

 

13 Jun 2011, 2:30pm
Art & Culture Colorado Denver Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Restaurants:
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Comments Off on Fun this Summer and Year-Round at The Curtis

Fun this Summer and Year-Round at The Curtis

Curtis Philosophy and a Nod to the Beatles

Curtis Philosophy and a Nod to the Beatles

Who says summer fun is all about building castles in the sand, running through sprinklers or taking a dip in a secret water hole? Sure, those activities can provide many hours of giggles and entertainment, but when was the last time you checked into a hotel that really made you smile? And smile. And smile. And smile.

Kids on vacation and weary business travelers alike can’t help being endeared to The Curtis, a Doubletree Hotel, located in downtown Denver. A stay at The Curtis leaves an indelible mark on your funny bone–and every other sensitive part of your body–from the moment you spot their giant building blocks sign that say “all together now” to when you’re back home recalling your fun-filled visit at this unique property.

To me, some of the best hotels are ones that provide a memorable experience, a positive stay that you can’t easily create at home. The colorful and cheery Curtis does this and more. You can just sashay through a Laugh In-like set or pay closer attention to the Light Brite artwork and oversized wooden game board in their lobby. Here it’s also fun to check out the video art that displays favorite retro games and the Cartoon Network playing on the T.V. You can catch up on pop culture trivia in the library or drink a retro soda at the 5 & Dime and nibble on one of the hotel’s fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies on this level as well. If you’re indecisive about personal or professional doings, just ask to play rock, paper, scissors with the frond desk attendant. Head to your room and the real fun begins.

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Yves Saint Laurent Comes to Denver

One of Many YSL Creations to be Shown in Denver

One of Many YSL Creations to be Shown in Denver

So long cow town, hello haute couture. Maybe I was a bit ahead of my time moving to Telluride, Colorado from Paris, France. Well, there’s nothing like the combination of natural beauty and sophistication and clearly that dynamic duo is increasingly on the rise here in our magnificent Rocky Mountain state.

Mention of an Yves Saint Laurent exhibit in Denver popped out at me yesterday in a piece in the New York Times about Pierre Bergé. (Read Saint Laurent’s Other Half.) My excitement quickened as I discovered that Denver was selected as the only U.S. city to present the major Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective featuring forty years of this world-renowned designer’s creativity, organized by Monsieur Bergé. It came as no surprise that the show will be hosted by the Denver Art Museum (DAM), one of the most stunning showcases of art and history in our country. The show opens March 25, 2012 and will run through July 7, 2012.

 

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Spa Going: The Perfect Antidote to the Winter Blues

The Sitting Room of the Spa George V at the Four Seasons in Paris

The Sitting Room of the Spa George V at the Four Seasons in Paris

Ho hum. If you’re not an avid outdoor enthusiast, you might be growing tired of winter by now. The Northeast has been in the grip of mighty cold and snow for the past couple of months and as I write this, half the U.S. is bracing itself for another arctic wallop. Europe has experienced quite the winter as well, particularly in Paris where I hear many fashionistas have gone so far as to trade in their stylish châpeaux for more practical knit hats—mon dieu!

Aside from cozying up on my couch with my kitties, an excellent cup of tea and a good book, I’ve found a trip to a spa to be the best therapy for curing mid-winter doldrums. (That’s, of course, after I’ve had fun in the mountain air.) Pampering and intense relaxation always warm my body and soul, leaving me to feel newly restored and ready to affront the cold or whatever else is thrown my way.

I love how almost no matter where we find ourselves, we can chose a spa experience that will transport us to a new and different healing space sure to transform us on many levels. There’s a spa out there for seemingly every mood and budget; it’s just up to us to seek it out.

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