DENVER—Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center officially opened its doors as the largest combined resort and convention center in Colorado. Just 10 minutes from Denver International Airport, the resort is the fifth Gaylord Hotels property and one of the largest resorts in the world to debut under the Marriott International brand this year. Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center has 1,501 rooms, 485,000 square feet of convention center space and an extensive indoor/outdoor water park on an 85-acre site.
Numerous steps have been taken at the complex to reduce its environmental impact:
Straw-less drinks: As part of the Marriott initiative to eliminate plastic straws and stirrers from all of its 6,500 hotels and resorts worldwide, the resort provides such options as biodegradable paper straws and sugar cane stirrers.
Reusuable bottles: Gaylord Rockies offers large amenity bottles in all guest bathrooms that are replaced when empty. The bottles are refillable; however, they will be replaced and then recycled on-property to ensure a “closed system,” boosting guests’ confidence that there are no contaminates in the system. The bottles are made of PET which is #1 on the recycling scale, so bottles purchased by guests from the Spa can be recyclable at home.
Mobile keys: To reduce plastic usage, the resort offers guests the option of mobile keys.
Water conservation: In addition to regular resort water conservation programs such as towel and linen reuse and low-flow faucets, the resort also integrated water efficient landscaping.
“Make a Green Choice” Rewards: “Make a Green Choice” is Marriott’s guest-facing sustainability and loyalty program that enables Marriott Rewards members to reduce their environmental footprint and earn bonus points. Each day a member forgoes housekeeping services, they earn 500 Marriott Rewards Bonus Points and help the resort reduce water, energy and chemical usage.
Will Create New Demand in the Market
“Adding a western group destination of this magnitude to Marriott International’s portfolio allows our organization to leverage existing large conference business demand into the property,” said Mike Stengel, Senior Vice President of Gaylord Hotels at Marriott International. “This spectacular new-build will also create new demand in the market with meetings customers who have never considered Colorado for their events.”
Overlooking the city of Denver skyline, framed by the Rocky Mountains, Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center is the first true tourism product in Aurora, Colo.—a rapidly growing community directly east of Denver. As one of the closest combined resort and convention centers to Denver International Airport—the fifth busiest airport in the nation—the property is positioned as a gateway destination to the Rocky Mountains with quick access to the Mile High City.
“For the past three years, a dedicated group of more than 1,500 individuals has worked tirelessly to bring this massive project to life,” said Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center General Manager Rick Medwedeff. “We couldn’t be more excited to officially open our doors and welcome guests to experience all that’s offered at this magnificent property; a destination experience in its own that authentically captures Colorado’s adventurous spirit.”
A Hyper-Local Colorado Approach
Setting it apart from other similarly-sized resorts, Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center is built from the ground up to authentically capture a local sense of place. The resort’s interior design and décor is modeled after aspects iconic to Colorado—everything from cascading waterfalls over boulders and local nature artwork to native landscaping and even elevators designed to look like old mine shafts, paying tribute to Colorado’s gold rush history. The Centennial State feel is carried over into guestrooms, with aspen tree-inspired carpets, lumberjack plaid print pillows and hiking and camping maps in the closets. In the Convention Center, charming Colorado details are sprinkled throughout including elements that represent ski tracks, snow drifts and snowflakes. Local food and beverage partnerships are also an integral part of the resort including a collaboration with Dry Dock Brewing Co., an award-winning brewery in Aurora, which offers two exclusive resort branded brews.
