Sage collaborated with Colorado art curators Nine dot Arts to fill The Crawford Hotel and Denver Union Station with significant pieces of art that were locally curated from Colorado artists.
The Crawford Hotel has been celebrated as one of the most exciting and experiential hotels in Denver since its opening in 2014. Set inside of Denver’s recently renovated Union Station, The Crawford’s lobby is the train station’s Great Hall. The hotel bar, is The Cooper Lounge, an above ground speakeasy serving classic cocktails and very high end plates. Two of the three floors of the hotel in the north and south wings, which had to be created during renovation, now serve as the most intriguing rooms in Colorado.
112
GUEST ROOMS
4,711
OF MEETING SPACE
2014
JOINED THE SAGE PORTFOLIO
As a partner in the Union Station Alliance, the group tasked with rejuvenating Denver Union Station, which had gone dark years before—Sage Hospitality participated in a grueling bidding process for the lease of the building. The office space that currently existed in the north and south wings could only hold about 60 rooms, making the building too small to sustain a successful hotel. Historical preservation was key in order to receive millions in tax credits. And the partnership with RTD Denver required that the building remain a transit center, serving as the gateway to a 22-bay bus concourse, the center of the light rail system and in 2016 the landing pad for the direct line to Denver International Airport.
The team brought in New York design team AvroKo to create a space in the Great Hall/hotel lobby that welcomed activation morning, noon and night. Sage hired management that knew how to execute a successful independent brand and built The Crawford from the ground up, naming it after redeveloper and long-time Sage partner, Dana Crawford. To make the hotel more viable, an additional floor was built between the ground and former first floor in each wing, creating space for what are now termed The Pullman rooms—small, functional and well-appointed guest rooms with mass appeal. The building’s attic was also renovated into loft-style rooms, featuring original exposed brick and load-bearing beams, bringing The Crawford’s room count to a successful 112 rooms. Sage used its experience in renovating historic buildings to aide in the process and the $54 million renovation celebrated its opening with the Great Hall Gala, on July 11, 2014, raising more than $1 million for Colorado charities. The Crawford Hotel opened the next day and has been successfully overachieving financial goals ever since.
