the Curtis Denver - a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel — Hotel in Denver

What you need to know about this hotel is that it is extremely quirky and kinda weird. I was here for a conference which means that I booked my room through the block link sent to me and I barely looked at anything else. If you’re coming here for an event and didn’t pick the accommodation yourself, get ready for a wild ride. I walked in the door late in the evening after arriving from the airport via train (Union station is walkable but my late night taxi was about $7 for me and my luggage). Upon arriving, I was greeted by a friendly receptionist and checked in with water and a cookie (chocolate chip and walnut). This was my first glimpse of the lobby which was decorated like a garden party slash ski lodge slash drive in movie theater. I questioned, internally, if I had made a mistake.

When I got on the elevator, someone warned me that the elevators were extremely busy. The elevators are not really meant to serve the volume of guests that we had staying there + attending the conference which was held on multiple floors, in my opinion. They were a little slow and kind of small, and the stairs were a little tough to navigate at first until some staff actually propped the stairway doors and added more signage. The banquet space is a labyrinth.

I had a couple small hiccup-y things that always happen with travel and new places and the staff were great about it.

If you’re coming for an event, CALL and find out if you’re in a themed room. My room was clean and comfortable, and very quiet (and not themed). If I craned my neck and smashed my face against the window I could just glimpse the mountains which was nice.

Floor 13 is horror themed, so beware of that. My friend thought that was awesome but I didn’t love it, personally. My floor was “big hair” themed and Marge Simpson greeted me as I walked off the elevator and I much preferred that to horror, though the space floor was cool, too. The voices in the elevator can be jarring when you’re not expecting them but it could be worse. Also, if you message the staff on the app you will be talking to Mariposa Barbie and Funky Monkey so don’t be too weirded out by that - it makes more sense when you’re inside the hotel.

It did not fit my preconceived notions of a professional venue but it certainly gave all of us something to chat about and a common ground that worked out nicely as a community building feature of the events.

If you’re going to Denver for fun and looking for a memorable stay that won’t break the bank, this is a good choice. You will never forget it. I will be talking about this for years because - and I must emphasize this - I had no idea this was a quirky themed hotel until I was there and the extent of the commitment to theme was much more than I would have believed unless I saw it with my own eyes. Kids and nerds would love it. If you dig Moxy hotels, you’ll love this place.

Minus one star for the lack of hot water (sometimes it was hot but usually just warm) and the clock problems (they were addressed quickly and kindly), and for the elevators not meeting the need. 5 stars for staff and cleanliness. Oh, and I felt very safe. Never had a moment where I was concerned coming or going,...

The hotel theming is fun on every floor, the location is awesome, and the staff is very friendly. However, I do not recommend staying here if you're going to be there more than one night. The theming gets old quickly and it's really the only redeeming quality the hotel has.

Skip the Restaurant The first day, I gave the restaurant a go for breakfast. I've had better pancakes at scout camp. The middles were undercooked and the outside burnt. I gave the restaurant a second chance for breakfast a couple days later. I ordered the oatmeal thinking that it's pretty hard to mess that up. Well, it was VERY lumpy. A fellow conference attendee said that they messed up his Denver Omelet pretty badly. So, if you do stay, skip the breakfast at the hotel.

No Microwave While there is a fridge, unfortunately, the rooms do not have microwaves. You can't warm up your own food unless you want to go down to the business center on the 2nd floor to use the microwave. Yeah, I know, who puts a microwave in the business center? The last thing I want when trying to get something done in a business center is the smell of someone else's food. Cubicle etiquette 101 - know better than to microwave food in open work spaces.

Prepare for Cold Showers or Scalding Hot Water Two out of the five days I stayed, the shower was cold. I've NEVER stayed in a hotel that ran out of hot water. The other three days, the water was scalding hot. I believe the water heater has been turned up in an attempt to make up for having too small of a capacity for the number of rooms it's servicing. The water is so hot that it is possible to burn your hands. The showers have to be cranked down pretty hard in order to get them to shut off.

Multi-Flush Toilet The toilet in the room I stayed required multi-flushes no matter what was in the bowl. Yes, I know, this is a first world problem, but the inconvenience was annoying.

Noisy Location I was awakened by the sound of a fire truck/ambulance more than once one night, and the sound of a train horn two other nights. I know, not much the hotel can do about this one, so be prepared and bring ear plugs.

What's the Light Switch For? Upon entering my room, I noticed a light switch right next to the door. I tried flipping it on, but nothing turned on. I tried plugging a light in to every socket in the room to see if something had just been moved, but I was unable to determine why the switch was even there.

Thermostat Reads Low The heater in the room is VERY quick at heating up the room. I set the thermostat to 70 upon entering my room, but it felt like it heated up to about 75 before shutting off. Once I figured that out, it was pretty easy to regulate the room temperature. The fan is pretty quiet compared to other hotels I've stayed in.

Good View I had a west facing room on the 9th floor. The view of the city with the mountains in the background was really cool.

Decent Exercise Equipment The workout room was stocked with decent equipment for a hotel. The weight machine allowed for several different exercises and there were plenty of treadmill, bike, and elliptical options.

Good Internet I had no issues with the internet speeds or...

Is it a cute hotel with gimmicky selfie opportunities? Absolutely. And, before I'll get into it, I'll give some SMALL credit and say beds are comfortable. But, I am still here and still checked in, it's 1:45am in the morning, and I can't sleep. Why? Because the air condition rattles exceedingly loud, NON STOP. I noticed it when we checked in, and called the front desk. They initially sent up the "building engineer" who changed the air filter and that was it. Did absolutely nothing to fix the problem. I called front desk again and their solution was to move us to a lower priced room than we paid for (no adjustment offered). We went to that second room, and same issue. Clearly they are not maintaining their air conditioners or are using faulty parts. I highly suspect the plastic filters they swapped out don't properly fit into the slots, which causes the rattling noise. Additionally, in the second room there were cheezits from a previous guest on the floor under the ac And inside the vents of the ac, so CLEARLY the cleaning staff is lacking.

No more than five minutes after reviewing the second room (I walked in heard the same rattling, turned around and immediately went to the elevators down to the lobby) and asked to be switched back to our original room we had just walked out of, since it's clearly an issue in every room. I could hear the front desk clerk selling out room to another couple telling them they had a guest who didn't like the room and insisted on being moved. The clerk I was talking to then took the other desk clerk aside, and then that second clerk came back and offered the couple a larger upgraded room than the one we originally were given. So they obviously had more rooms available than they led on. (I was told it was 100% booked and no other rooms were available AT ALL) I would have happily paid a bit more to get a room without the issue. (side note, we paid for a mountain view high king room, so we already upgraded) the front desk staff were not apologetic, offered us absolutely no other solutions, did nothing to try to, or even offer to, have someone look at the air conditioner to fix the problem.

Also "mountain view" is a bit misleading. Can u see the mountain? Sure. But it's distant. It's certainly not the lovely view they make it seem on the website that they up charge for. The main portion of the view is the giant parking garage below, and other hotels next door.

So yep. I'm still here, until tomorrow morning when we can finally check out, listening to this ac rattle constantly, with absolutely no sleep and no relief from the noise.

Last thing: THERE IS A $200 HOLD FEE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD DURING YOUR STAY!! Every other hotel I've ever stayed at is $50 hold.

All I can, say is, if you choose to stay here, either bring earplugs or vodka, you're going to need it. The video is the ac rattling at 1:30 in...