Colorado Adventures - The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa

Monday, November 21, 2011
It's a triangle, even from the outside.

Saturday's Colorado Adventure was an overnight stay at the Historic Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in downtown Denver.

The Brown Palace is one of the Colorado hotels with a place on the National Registry of Historic Hotels, and it's been a staple in Denver's downtown landscape since 1892.

The Atrium Ceiling
Once we checked in, we walked around the property for a bit before heading to the spa for our couples massage. The hotel itself is triangular, and built around an atrium with a stained glass ceiling which was installed and has been maintained by the same glass company since 1892. The property is impeccably maintained, and the staff were all courteous, well-informed about their property, and extremely accomodating.

When can I move in?




Our room was on the sixth floor, and our weekend package included a rose petal turn down service, complete with chocolate and romantic music.

We decided to "dress for dinner," and made reservations at the Palace Arms, the Brown Palace's premier restaurant. In lieu of an appetizer, we decided to try two of their seasonal soups - the chestnut bisque for me, and a fall mushroom consomme for the Smart Man. They were both delicious, and for the first time ever, I was glad that the appetizer menu did not include crab cakes, thus forcing me to try something new. For our entrees, I chose the Japanese Sea Bass with Pearl Onion, Cauliflower, Pine Nuts, Crab, Blood Orange, and Picholine Olive. The Smart Man chose a Bison Fillet Rossini with Truffle, Foie Gras, Brioche, and Swiss Chard. ZOMGWTFBBQ. Those were the best entrees we've ever had. Seriously - here are two materialists, having a religious experience with our meals - just superb. For dessert we shared their take on a banana split which included dried cherries, chocolate noodles, banana rum ice cream, candied pineapples and caramel. This was one of the best meals we'd ever had, and Chef Thanawat Bates came out to chat with us as well, asking our opinion on some of his ingredient choices.

The Palace Arms, home of the best meal I've had in years.

Breakfast was the buffet at Ellyngton's, which was also tasty, but unfortunately couldn't stand against our experience of the previous evening.

This particular adventure was a bit pricier than our previous choices, but after the week we had we really needed a luxurious break, and the Brown Palace certainly provided that.

We'll be taking December off, as Christmas always ends up costing us more than we anticipate. We'll be resuming our adventures in January, with a stay at a Winter Park gasthaus and a visit to a dog sledding establishment.

5 comments:

Nathan said...

Jealousy is such an ugly thing.

I haz it.

Anonymous said...
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Janiece said...

*TONG*

Megan said...

Ha. TOB accumulates so much spam, I can't keep up with it.

Anne C. said...

Good job on the food description, J. My mouth was watering after the soup course. :)

I'm glad you are having good experiences along with your crapola ones. Miss you both!