The Holiday Chalet — Hotel in Denver

Here's the real deal on the Holiday Chalet. The rooms are all different, so you either have to know which room you want or just take your chance and inspect your room before you accept it. I stayed there for a week around April 23-30 this year (420 week), and by luck I got a very nice room. The exterior is fun and the halls are really cutely decorated (my daughter fell in love with all the old pictures from earlier times, and the needlepoint and bric-a-brac on the walls. It's not the nicest, best maintained or most well-run hotel in town, but if you get a good room and aren't expecting the Ritz-Carlton you may find that you fall in love with the place yourself. And the staff are great, especially Carter, although Chloe was very nice and helpful too.

My first room (number 4, I think it was - the closest to the front door but on the side away from Colfax Street) was pretty great, with nice kitchen, bathroom, bureau, dining nook, and a second bedroom. I spent several very comfortable days there. There was no closet, but there was this strange metal sculpture about six feet tall, to hang clothes on. The last night I had to move to another room because of a scheduling conflict, I think. There are some rooms in which the heat valves for the antique steam radiators have become irredeemably stuck full open, and my second room was such a one. I spent a very uncomfortable night - I couldn't find any staff to try to get the problem rectified - and in fact had to open a window in the dining nook and place a small fan there, then sleep in a chair leaning on the dining table just to be cool enough to doze. I know that sounds, terrible, and it wasn't particularly pleasant, but hey, it was all just part of the unique experience of this quirky little inn in the heart of the funky East Colfax/Capital Hill area.

Just before I arrived the B&B was sold to a new owner, and at the time I was there they were no longer serving breakfast. In fact Carter, the desk clerk, had formerly been working as the cook there, and had just been shifted over to desk duty. In lieu of a custom-made breakfast they were giving out vouchers for breakfast at a little cafe down the street, but I never ate there personally; there are just too many great eating places around the area to waste a meal at an ordinary little cafe. At any rate, I am hoping that the new ownership will institute a thorough revamp of the rooms (and the smoking patio outside - see my pictures for the poor state of affairs at the time I was there) and that the next time I stay I will find all the unfortunate little problems and inconveniences solved. And I hope they start serving breakfast again. After all, it's not even a real B&B without the breakfast, right?

And I will stay there again. It's just too special a place not to relish it, even with all its warts and scars. For an inveterate street wanderer and city-scape photographer this is well-nigh the perfect location; and as someone who hates cookie-cutter highway motels I am MUCH happier here amongst the nineteenth-century amenities than in a Holiday Inn or Best Western. I know now that I have to go over whatever room I get and make sure it is in reasonable condition before I accept it. By the way, I didn't look upstairs but I heard that many of the rooms on the second floor are nicer than the first-floor ones, but maybe they are pricier too. My rooms were certainly reasonable enough.

Parking is on-street only; during the day it's metered nearby, but at night it's free and reasonably plentiful. I don't park my Corvette convertible on the street unattended so I parked it downtown at the Museum of Art parking garage, where there's full-time security. Between the transit system and Uber/Lift you really shouldn't miss your car anyway.

Recommended, but only for the adventurous and incurable romantics like me. If you are allergic to street noise, or homeless people, or random chaos, do yourself a favor and go stay at the Art downtown. You'll spend two to four times more, but you'll be...

This unit was on the bottom floor of a very sketchy neighborhood with people loitering literally right outside the hotel. Upon entering the room I immediately noticed the windows were wide open, a very dirty trash can, black hairs all over the sheets, dirt & filth caked on the power strip, and dirty floors. After making sure nobody was under the bed/closet, I tried to shut the windows and lock them. One of the windows would not shut all the way. I thought I could force it and lock it to make it secure, but the lock was missing.

Upon notifying management, she said she could go to Home Depot and secure a lock. I told her the room was also dirty, she immediately started cleaning it and asked me kindly to wait. After a bit, I checked on her and it was about 8:15pm and she was still cleaning. I was grateful, but figured by the time she got done, went to Home Depot, bought a lock and installed it, it would be late. I needed to get to bed because I was leaving early the next morning. At this point I told her since it was so late I needed to find other accommodations. She apologized and said she would issue a refund immediately. I trusted her to do so and left. I was kind, nice and respectful.

On my vacation, I followed up several time because I didn't get a refund. (Each time prior to calling or emailing I checked my credit card and my email.) Once she said she was too busy. I left messages, talked to her personally, sent several emails. After a few days I reached out to her again and she claimed she issued me a refund, but admitted she never sent me proof or a receipt. I wanted to believe her, but the credit card company stated there was no credit and there was no proof that she had sent me a refund (no email stating otherwise). I asked for proof (a receipt of credit). She said she would send it. TWO DAYS LATER and I still hadn't received a refund or proof of a refund. The ONLY reason I am writing this review is because a customer shouldn't have to chase down a refund for several days. (Also, I looked at past reviews and they know the windows are an issue. There is NO WAY customers should have to sleep on a first floor unit in a sketchy part of town with no locks on the window and the window not shutting properly.)

UPDATE AFTER READING THEIR RESPONSE TO ME: In your response you asked for reviewers to be honest. Since I was accused of not being honest, I will NOW attach the receipt that shows the date that I actually got the credit. This receipt came from YOUR COMPANY. IF they gave me a refund immediately like YOUR response said, then WHY is the receipt that came from your company dated 10/29 and WHY is the credit per my credit card statement dated 10/29? So, to recap I was very kind and patient THE ENTIRE PROCESS. I treated the kind lady with respect the entire process. I VERY KINDLY waited a fair amount of time for the room to be cleaned with the understanding that life doesn't revolve around me. Regardless, I should not have to secure a window with a stick or anything but a lock. Look through the reviews, this is an ongoing issue. I ONLY wrote a review because I had to reach out multiple times to get a refund.

A REFUND WAS NOT ISSUED "IMMEDIATELY". CREDIT WAS ISSUED 10/29 (6 DAYS LATER ONLY AFTER I SENT EMAILS AND CALLED NUMEROUS TIMES). YOUR employee stated she had NOT sent me an email for proof of refund (at that point in time) AND my credit card company stated I had NOT gotten a refund. SO, AFTER I checked my email and AFTER I called my credit card company only then did I reach out again. She admitted she hadn't sent it yet. SO, please look at your email and see I am not lying.

It is WRONG after what happened to accuse me of not being honest. OWN UP to the mistakes and be better. Shut down the place, spend a weekend replacing old and outdated furniture and really REALLY clean this place. Replace...

We have stayed at the Holiday Chalet twice. Our first visit was nice. We stayed on the 2nd floor and it was relatively quiet. There is the normal creaky floorboard and thin wall that is to be expected in an older home, but nothing unusual. There was a kitchen where you could have a delicious breakfast made to order with coffee, juice, or milk. The location is not the best as there are a lot of homeless people in the area and a bus stop right across the street, but on this first trip i was not bothered by anyone and enjoyed my stay. I was able to walk down the street to Walgreens for forgotten toiletries or to the diner to pick up food without feeling like my husband needed go to protect me. Fast forward 3 years to our 2nd trip to Denver. Booked the Holiday Chalet again. We are told that management has changed since our last visit and they hope we enjoy our stay, giving us a room on the first floor this time. Big mistake. Our first night, the people in the room above us were having such loud, raucous sex that it woke me from a dead sleep. It went on for hours. I went to the front desk to see if they would go ask them to keep it down, but management was nowhere to be found. The next morning, sleep-deprived and hungry, i went to get some of the advertised "continental breakfast". The new owners had done away with the kitchen in the renovation, so no more hot, made to order breakfast. There's bagels and nutri-grain bars that you can find in the fridge yourself, because management doesn't bother to put the breakfast out. Second night we were there, the couple staying next door began arguing very loudly. They were screaming, slamming doors, running up and down the hall, etc. Once again i was awoken from a dead sleep in the middle of the night, so i sent my husband to try to find management. Again, they were nowhere to be found. We stayed a week and our trash was never taken out, room never cleaned, towels never replaced until i tracked someone down and asked for fresh ones after 3 days. Upon trying to check out we just had to leave the key because no one was there to check us out! Overall, this hotel is just not safe. You should always have someone at the front desk to look out for the safety of the guests, and they never do. They do not have the staff needed to operate functionally. We love Denver, but next time we will be staying at hotel where we feel safe and can actually relax, not at the Holiday Chalet. EDITED TO RESPOND TO OWNER: of course you are confused and don't remember seeing us, we only saw a gentleman at the front desk one time in the entire week we were there. As for not finding my name in your reservations, did it ever occur to you that perhaps my husband made the reservation? Also, I never said our last stay was 3 years ago. I said our second, and final, stay was 3 years after our first visit. And when we told the person we had been there previously some years before, we were told the establishment had changed hands since we were last there. Not for the better, might i add. Instead of debating and trying to justify your shortfalls,...