Kimpton Hotel BORN® Denver
Colorado Expression
By Kathy Smith
The grand opening in August of the Kimpton Hotel BORN® put an exclamation point on the completion of Denver’s Union Square development project. Since 2007, Mark Falcone, CEO and founder of Continuum Partners; along with East West Partners, created the vision for the transformation of the 14-block Union Station neighborhood. Falcone and wife Ellen Bruss of Ellen Bruss Design collaborated with the architectural firm Semple Brown on the design of Hotel BORN®.
Kimpton Hotels, which is owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group, is the leading boutique hotel company in the world. Each of the more than 65 concepts is designed and built in the style of smaller European, family-owned inns with an integral fireplace and inviting comfortable seating in the lobby.
The BORN® continues the tradition with a living room style lobby with a fireplace where guests are served complimentary wine each evening, according to general manager Von DeLuna, who has more than 25 years as a hotelier and 16 years with Kimpton Hotels. “It is a great way for the staff and management to engage with the guests and a hospitable way to get to know the guests,” he said. Locally sourced knotty pine paneling, walnut herringbone flooring and hand woven rugs lend a warm but contemporary feel to the space.