While modern hotels tend toward the corporate and impersonal, Golden visitors have long had a few options for those looking for a more colorful place to lay their heads.
Come next year, those offerings will grow by one with the opening of the Eddy Taproom & Hotel, a new “boutique-style” hotel that its owners hope will provide travelers with a lodging experience that is uniquely Golden.
The 49-room hotel, currently set to open in March or April of next year, is being built as part of the redevelopment taking place just east of the Highway 58 and 93 interchange on land that included The Briarwood Inn.
That development also includes the Basecamp Apartments, a two-building development containing one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments.
Tony DeSimone, a partner at the Golden-based Confluence Companies that is behind the development, said the Confluence team became interested in bringing a hotel to the site after seeing the recent popularity of boutique hotels like The Ramble in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood.
“Overall Golden is a popular tourist destination and we felt like we wanted to kind of improve the hotel stay in Golden for visitors and that we could do something unique and give people a more upscale option,” said DeSimone.
The Eddy takes its name from river eddies, which the hotel’s style guide describes as “the gentle whirlpools where kayakers take refuge before running rapids downstream.” The concept of the hotel as both a place of refuge and gathering is central to the bar-forward ethos of the Eddy, said John Drugan, who will serve as the facility’s general manager.
“As you’re walking into the lobby you’re walking into this taproom and it’s going to be a very social and a very warm and welcoming environment,” said Drugan. “We are looking forward to partnering with the best of what Golden has to offer when it comes to local breweries.”
Those visiting the taproom will also be able to order food from the hotel’s food truck, which serves a menu focused on barbecue and milkshakes.
DeSimone said the hotel’s small size also will offer it the flexibility to offer more unique room types, including a two-bedroom suite geared toward families.
Confluence Companies is also aiming to make the hotel a destination for wedding and events and working with Colorado School of Mines on a deal to make the Eddy their preferred hotel as well, he said.
Beyond the modern comforts associated with any new upscale hotel, Drugan said one of the calling cards of the hotel will be its strong sense of place.
“The Eddy is being built on the historic brickworks location and their will be homages to that throughout the guest rooms and lobby space as well as a nod of appreciation to Golden’s miner history with the door numbers being displayed on the doors being displayed from old miner’s tags,” he said. “That’s what really excites me is being able to create a unique experience in a hotel that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.”
Although the Eddy is being constructed amid a pandemic that is wreaking havoc on the travel and hospitality industries, DeSimone said he feels his team has dodged a bullet because the hotel will not be opening until early 2021.
“I’m definitely happy we didn’t open this summer but I think sometimes things work out and we are going to be opening at the right time when people are going to be wanting to getting to travel,” he said.