Grand Imperial Hotel — Hotel in Silverton

Don't stay at the Grand Imperial Hotel if you're a senior citizen or expect hotel services and amenities for an lodging establishment marketing itself as a hotel (let alone a grand hotel).|| We knew they didn't have an elevator. That wasn't an issue for us. We've stayed at plenty of historic hotels across the United States and in Europe. As were only staying 1 night we took our essentials from suitcases and crammed them into a duffel bag and a backpack. More on this later.|| Where to begin? || We went to the Front Desk at 2:20 pm. Official check-in time is 3 pm but the hotel wasn't sold-out the night before and check-out time is 11 am. Assuming many guests check-out well before 11 am and that cleaning a room only takes a housekeeping 20-25 minutes (maybe 30 minutes in a suite), it's reasonable to expect a room to be ready before 3 pm. We were told our room wasn't ready. The Front Desk clerk had us complete the check-in formalities. She promised she would call us when the room was ready. She said it would be soon. By 3:30 pm, nobody from the hotel had called us. We returned to the Front Desk and was told our room was ready. We were given our keys (2 keys; one per person) and sent on our way. No information was given. Nothing about wifi access (we ended up tethering our devices to our cell phones), no local information, nothing about restaurant options, etc. We later learned the Front Desk is not staffed 24 hours. We were given no information on who to contact in the event of an overnight emergency. || I'm 75 and my husband is 82. While we only had a duffel bag and a backpack, the Front Desk clerk never offered assistance with our bags. We also didn't see a bellman. Surely there is a young man who the hotel could hire to help guests and who could make a lot of money with tips. Our room was on the third floor. Even with light bags the stairs (at over 9,000 feet in elevation) were challenging. Mind you, we're very active seniors who hike, swim, bike, etc. We couldn't imagine a more normal senior citizen or someone with mobility issues getting up and down the stairs.|| We booked a 2-queen room as those seemed to be the most spacious outside a suite. We received a lovely room that was vaguely late Victorian or early Edwardian in feel. The beds seemed small for queens. More like doubles, than queens. But it had a nice view of the mountains, so we were happy. The room was had a modern TV, ceiling fan, plenty of towels, etc. Housekeeping did a nice job as the room was clean. We also appreciated the larger bathroom. In the bathroom there were basic toiletries (soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and mouthwash). Only 1 outlet. We had to take turns charging our phones. Our beds had the cheapest pillows we've ever had. The hotel advertises premium linen on the bed. While the sheets were nice, they were equivalent to Holiday Inn Express or Holiday Inn bedding. No coffeemaker. The hotel has an ante room that may have been a dining room or parlor back in the old days. They have a Keurig coffeemaker and honesty bar with snack items here. But going down and up 3 flights of stairs for a cup of coffee is brutal. If you can't put a coffeemaker in guest rooms, at least have a coffee station on each floor.|| Additionally, the emergency exit door on third floor was kept open all night. So birds, bats or other animals could theoretically enter. Similarly, someone could climb the fire escape ladder from the alleyway and get inside guest rooms. Although that wouldn't be necessary because the front door on the main street is unlocked all night. So anyone can walk in. If the hotel isn't going to staff the Front Desk all night then they should at least convert the main door to a keycard reader that guests can access after-hours with a keycard.|| Would we return? We fell in love with the San Juan Mountains in and around Silverton. It's one of the most beautiful parts of Colorado. Next time we would probably look at an Airbnb first because we didn't think the Grand Imperial Hotel offered enough hotel amenities and services to justify more than...

My husband and I did the Durango to Silverton train ride with an overnight stay and found it to be the highlight of our entire trip! We were greeted by Leslie at the front desk who was super friendly and answered all of our questions and provided lots of information and recommendations for where to eat and what to do while we were there. I highly recommend visiting the museum and going to the Gold Mine 4 miles up the road for a tour. Both were recommended by Leslie and well worth it!! So amazing!! The hotel is exquisite and has maintained the looks from 18th century Victorian style features. Our room was adorable from the Victorian small sink in bathroom to our very high bed that had a step stool to get in, and trust me, I needed it. The room was super clean and the bed was sooo comfortable!! With checkout being 11:00 am we really got to use the room a lot for just one night’s stay!! I have to say the staff are the best! I had an emergency with my work and needed a computer to log onto and Leslie bailed me out by loaning me hers without hesitation!! It wasn’t shortly thereafter that we met “the Boss”, Jim…He was not like any boss I ever had! He was amazingly friendly and just happy to serve! He wore many hats, from being the person who collected our bags from the train people and carried them up to our room to being our personal chauffeur. After coming back from dinner we wanted some Ghirardelli chocolates and asked where we might find some and without hesitation Jim personally drove us to the one and only supermarket! We walk a lot so didn’t mind walking to it but it was getting close to their closing time so he offered by saying he was heading that way anyway. Even though he actually wasn’t because he came right back to the hotel, but that’s Jim, the best guy you will ever meet! It’s like we knew him all our lives, and he was that way with everyone in that small little town! He’s the owner of the hotel and the town’s Deputy Mayor! I feel super blessed that we got to meet him! He actually drove us to the Gold Mine the next morning and came back to get us so we wouldn’t miss this fantastic tour!! I’m telling you, you don’t meet many people like him these days!! The absolute best and highlight of our entire week’s vacation in the area!! We definitely recommend this hotel and including it in your train package if you are doing the Durango - Silverton train ride! We would do it again in a heartbeat!!...

This is an interesting hotel because of all of the older fixtures, furniture, carpet, etc. but I wouldn't stay here again. You hear EVERYTHING on the outside of your room - not just from the street, but from inside (hallway, your neighbors, conversations of people on the stairs, etc). Most guests figure this out pretty quickly, so when they get to their rooms, they quiet down so they aren't making much noise for everyone else, but yeah... it's 3:30am right now and I'm sitting here awake because someone in my hallway has been coughing up something gross all night - and I can hear it from my room. It's loud enough to keep me awake at night. Even though everyone's doors are shut, there are these windows above each room and they all seem to be open. Since I'm not 7' tall, I can't reach mine to close it (if it can be closed). I assume the other rooms are the same. So we all hear every little thing happening in everyone else's room. If you're a heavy sleeper and you don't mind hearing what your neighbors are doing before bedtime, by all means... come stay here. We assumed it wasn't that bad and that maybe some others in their reviews were exaggerating. Nope. You hear literally everything. I can't spell this out enough - EVERYTHING.

Other than that, I can say the room was clean when we arrived. No one ever came to clean our room and the woman at the counter didn't say that there wouldn't be any housekeeping services, so we were a bit confused about why housekeeping never came. All in all, I think the price should be lowered and a couple things should be made clear to the prospective guest at this hotel:

you will hear EVERYTHING your neighbors and those outside are doing/saying for the entirety of your stay. Good luck sleeping. you won't receive housekeeping service here.

For those who are older, or have trouble walking: there is no elevator and you will have to haul your luggage up the stairs. There are high ceilings here, so the staircases have many steps. I'd suggest asking another guest at the hotel to help you carry your luggage because the girl at the front desk is unable to help.

If you arrive at the hotel and see a note on the desk saying that they'll be right back, call the number immediately. The front desk person isn't far, but won't come to the front desk unless there's some level of urgency conveyed to them over the phone, that a line of people are now waiting to...