112-room Best Western Denver Southwest in Colorado Launches Resort Remodel

Will Focus on Regional Identity by Celebrating the Unique Paleontological History of the Dinosaur Ridge Area

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. December 07, 2012

LAKEWOOD, CO - December 7, 2012 - The $3 million remodel for the Best Western Denver Southwest, located at 3440 South Vance Street, reaches back over 250 million years for its inspiration. The concept: come roaring back as a dinosaur themed natural history museum, replete with skeletons, fossil displays and exhibits. The dedication and grand reopening is slated for April 19, Earth Day weekend 2013.

"We'll be creating a strong sense of regional identity by celebrating the unique paleontological history of the Dinosaur Ridge area," says Best Western Owner Greg Tally.

"In 1877, the modern love affair with dinosaurs began ten minutes from our front door. Paleotourism is a huge draw in the Western U.S., so we are going to make our property feel like a Gilded Age explorer's club/natural history museum. We hope to do this in a tasteful, understated manner. Think "A Night at the Museum" rather than "Jurassic Park" or an Americana Sinclair Dinosaur/Route 66 Roadside attraction."

Inside the 112 room hotel, there will be curiosity cases, specimen boxes, original aged, yellowed "Field Note" sketches that explain all the displays. Old reproduction lithographs of dinosaurs will line the hallways. There will be two restaurants, Paleo Joe's and Roof Lizard Lounge, as well as a limited services “pocket spa,” Chalk. Also, a bogus satirical fraternal organization will serve as the museum entity -- The Venerated Order of the Stegosaur. The classroom/child care program will be Terrible Lizard Club (TLC).

"We've already started acquiring fossil casts and cases for the displays — including Sophie, a 30 plus foot Tylosaur, who will hang from the ceiling inside Joe's, " says Tally. "For our homey natural history museum/explorer's club vibe, we are using a dark, rich earthy palate, with a decidedly masculine presence. Overstuffed leather furniture, vibrant woods, curiosity cabinets and specimen drawers will complete the feel."

A brand new zero point entry swimming pool will be lined with an Italian tesserae mosaic Late Cretaceous Niobrara Sea.

"Imagine Ammonites, Belemnites, Mosasaurs, Archelons and Plesiosaurs swimming along the bottom. A few pterosaurs flying overhead, and living fossil potted cycads, palms, magnolias, fig trees, horsetails and ferns inside and out. Guests will be able to swim with the Mosasaurs," says Tally.

Also part of the project are 100 percent remodeled room packages and bathrooms, flat screen TVs, new guest room doors and windows, a resurfaced parking lot and updated landscaping, front facade and porte cochere.

Later construction phases slated for 2015 will include the addition of an elevator and covering the pool.

The hotel is owned and operated by Jefferson Hospitality, RLLLP, a family business consisting of Greg and his wife Meredith Tally, as well as parents Richard and Jean Tally. The Tallys also own the Wine Country Inn in Palisade, Colorado, and the Quality Inn in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Strategic partners include:
Morrison Natural History Museum -- On loan exhibits; Pahl Architecture -- Architects; Alliance Construction Solutions -- General Contractors; LeMessurier Engineering, LLC -- Structural Engineer; Design Force -- Guest Rooms and Public Space Interior Designers; Bargreen Ellignson -- Restaurant and Kitchen Designers; Taylormade Fossils -- Fossil Suppliers; Daniel Bigelow and Veronica Hunt -- Artistic and Creative Concept Directors.

For more information, go to www.bestwesterndenver.com

About The Best Western Denver Southwest:
The Best Western Denver Southwest is ten minutes away from Dinosaur Ridge, part of the Dakota Hogback. It is amongst the most paleontological important sites in the world. Most of our understanding of Jurassic era dinosaurs began with the little town of Morrison. The 19th century Bones Wars launched here, and the world's first stegosaurus (the “holotype”) was unearthed here. Fossils are still being pulled out of the ground. There's a Cretaceous era fossil track that once bordered the Cretaceous Interior Seaway on Dinosaur Ridge. And at the Morrison Natural History Museum, visitors can help remove part of an apatosaurus skull from its surrounding rock matrix, and hold parts of the original stegosaurus fossil. The world's smallest stego footprints (from a baby the size of a kitten) are on display here. And the MNHS is one of the favorite haunts of the Beethoven/John Lennon of the modern Dinosaur Renaissance, Dr. Robert Bakker. He frequently runs the register at the gift shop.