Review: The Oxford Hotel

First impressions?
Step inside LoDo’s historic Oxford Hotel and it’s a bit like traveling back in time. Downtown’s only wood-burning hotel fireplace crackles as a bow-tie-wearing bellman shows you to the front desk, and original tiling and intricate iron handrails show off the building’s history as the first hotel to open in the city in 1891.

Who stays here?
A blend of sophisticated home-away-from-home urbanites and business travelers.

What's check-in like? Grab your key—yes, an actual key—from reception and climb onto another piece of city history; the Oxford has the first elevators ever built west of the Mississippi. Rooms are easy to navigate and hallways are extra wide—to accommodate two women in hoop skirts.

And, the rooms?
A renovation overhauled 80 of the guest rooms, swapping out heavy Victorian tropes for a lighter feel of whites, grays, and rich emerald green. The new rooms have a great combination of old bones—think antique headboards and claw-foot tubs—with more contemporary pieces and an Art Deco vibe. Pillow-top mattresses and Egyptian linens guarantee a peaceful night, and scented beauty products from Le Mistral add a little something extra.

How about food and drinks?
For nose-to-tail cuts of naturally raised meats, the hotel's Urban Farmer is an easy choice. But the real standout at the Oxford is the Cruise Room, the city's original cocktail lounge. Opened the day after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, this red-hued temple to all things Art Deco is shaped like a wine bottle, modeled after a bar on the Queen Mary, and features ten panels depicting “cheers” from different countries. It’s the perfect place to lose track of time and pretend that you’re on a ritzy 1920s yacht, awash in glamour.

What else is there to check out?
Stop in for a free drink at the hotel's Bourbon Bar from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily. The hotel also offers courtesy transportation within a two-mile radius, which covers most of downtown.

Bottom line.
In a prime location just steps from Union Station and the train to the airport, there’s no wonder the Oxford Hotel has been impressing guests since 1891.