Renovated Regal becoming Millennium

BOULDER ? Under new ownership, The Regal Harvest House, one of Boulder’s larger hotels, in undergoing a major renovation. On April 9 the hotel will be renamed the Millennium Hotel Boulder.

Millennium Hotels & Resorts purchased the hotel in December 1999 as part of the acquisition of all 12 hotels in the North American Regal Hotels chain, said Suzanne McIntosh, vice president of marketing and communications for Millennium Hotels & Resorts.

Millennium Hotels & Resorts, which has its main headquarters in London and its North American headquarters in Washington, D.C., is spending $70 million to renovate the 12 hotels, she said. How much of that will be spent on the Regal Harvest House in Boulder will be determined by what is needed there.

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“Some (hotels) needed guest-room renovation, some needed public-space renovation,” she said. “Some needed both.” The Regal Harvest House needs renovation primarily of its guest rooms, she said.

The renovation of the Regal Harvest House will reflect the flavor of Boulder, keeping with Millennium’s policy. “We wanted something very local in flavor, to make it feel like Denver or Colorado in style,” McIntosh said.

The Regal Harvest House, which was built in 1959, is located at 1345 28th St. The hotel has three buildings on 16 acres edged by Boulder Creek. The hotel has indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a small exercise room, an outdoor basketball court, 15 tennis courts, a 12-mile bike path through the property and 13 conference rooms, which total approximately 15,000 square feet. The hotel also has two restaurants; Champs, a casual restaurant with a sports theme, and The Fancy Moose, a more formal restaurant designed like a mountain lodge.

Bill Zollars, general manager of the Regal, said the hotel’s 269 rooms are being gutted and completely revamped. There also is talk of adding an 8,600-square-foot, high-tech conference center, which would include computer and Internet connections, in the hotel.

The Boulder Chamber of Commerce presently is conducting a feasibility study for a conference center in Boulder. (See story, Page 8B.) A smaller conference center at The Regal likely would not influence the city’s decision of whether or not to pursue a larger facility, said Rich Lopez, a member of the Boulder city council. “The city is looking at something a little bit bigger,” he said. The chamber’s feasibility study is looking at a 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot center, said Stan Zemler, chamber president.

Lopez said the fact that The Regal is considering putting in additional conference space demonstrates there is a desire for more conference center space in Boulder.

Plans for the remodel were done by Stone, Hill & Taylor of New York. The hotel’s remodel will reflect Colorado, Zollars said.

Room renovation will include new wallpaper, carpet, paint and furniture. The headboards, meant to have a distinctive Colorado style, have been custom-designed to look like fireplace mantels. The headboards will include 15-inch tubular lights as well as spotlights like those found in airplane seats on both sides of the bed for reading. The rooms also will include early 1900s-style furniture, leather chairs and large workable desks with computer hookups, he said. The drapes will be suede, and the rooms will feature art and patchwork quilt bedspreads.

First-floor rooms have been renovated, and the rest of the rooms will be renovated by mid-April, said Zollars, who has wanted to remodel the hotel for two years. “The first thing the new owners said was they wanted to come in and fix the property up.”

Occupancy of the Regal Harvest House now is on par with what it was at this time last year, Zollars said. Many of the rooms are being renovated and the 100 that are available are full, he said.

Zollars expects occupancy rates at the hotel to grow because of the renovation, he said. “I expect occupancy rates to grow now that we’ll be able to compete head-to-head with our competitors down the street,” he said.

Large hotels have been popping up in the area such as the Westin Westminster, the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield and a new high-end hotel that will be built on Ninth Street and Canyon Boulevard in downtown Boulder.

The Omni, located near FlatIron Crossing mall at 500 Interlocken Blvd. in Broomfield, opened one and a half years ago. The four-star hotel has 390 rooms, a fine-dining restaurant, golf course with a more casual restaurant, a spa and fitness center, heated pool and shuttle service.

The Westin Westminster, at 10600 Westminster Blvd., opened April 1, 2000. The 14-story hotel has 369 rooms, a fitness center, pool and hot tub, a sun deck with a fireplace, and jogging and bicycle trails. The hotel also features two restaurants, a 12,000-square-foot ballroom, 18 function rooms totaling 30,000 square feet, 10,000 square feet of pre-function space, and 30,000 square feet of exterior event space.Contact Amy Stogner at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail at astogner@bcbr.com