New hotels in the offing for both Larimer and Weld

After several years in the doldrums, tourism was making a comeback this year in Northern Colorado, with cities from Greeley to Estes Park posting consistently higher occupancy rates.

There is talk in both Fort Collins and Greeley about building a downtown hotel, though both cities have a lot to discuss before anything definitive can take place.

Fort Collins has been back and forth on the subject, with many calling for city support on a hotel and conference center project. City Council has declined to get involved in a financial capacity for the time being, but earlier this year sent out a request for qualifications.

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Three companies responded to the RFQ, including O’Reilly Hospitality Management, based in Springfield, Mo., Gatehouse Capital, out of Dallas, and Magnolia Hotels of Denver submitted proposals for the project.

A memorandum of understanding between one of these companies and the city is expected by the end of 2012.

Greeley has contracted with a firm to help it analyze the state of its city facilities in the downtown area, with the possibility of replacing one of them with a hotel. A recommendation is expected once the study is complete later in the year.

The High Park Fire, of course, was a major disruption to tourism, though it had its silver lining, of sorts.

Rafting and other outdoor recreation companies suffered when major roads into Poudre Canyon were closed by one of the largest fires in Colorado history consumed hundreds of homes. On the other hand, hotels were filled for week with thousands of firefighters and evacuees.