In my years of traveling, I’ve never stayed at a Thompson Hotel before. I tried once but was walked on Thanksgiving. I decided to give it another try; this time at the Thompson Denver.
The rate for a standard room in December was $179.10 + tax for a total of $207.30 per night. There is an additional $25/night “Destination Fee” that is waived for Globalists or those booking with points. Denver has a lot of Hyatts and the Thompson is the most expensive.
The 11 story, 216 room hotel opened in February, 2022.
Location
The Thompson Hyatt is located in LoDo (Lower Downtown). It is about 4 blocks from Union Station which has train access to the airport. It is an extremely central location.
The area is mixed use; offices, apartments and retail. Even on a Saturday night there were plenty of people in the area.
Check In
I arrived at the property around 2pm. I had checked the Hyatt app and was showing I had been upgraded as a Globalist to a Skyline Studio. At check in I was told I’d been given a King Bed Corner, but one of the other staff members corrected them. I don’t know what the difference is between the two room types except for slightly better views from the Skyline Studio.
I was offered a bottle of water and was told that as a Globalist I could have breakfast in Chez Maggy. My understanding is that the credit is $40/person per day for breakfast, though when I went over $40, the entire bill was removed from my bill.
The lobby is modern and reminded me a bit of Kissel Uptown in Oakland. High ceilings with a bar, coffee shop, and the restaurant all in an open floor plan.
My room was ready so I headed up. The elevators have rugs that rotate throughout the day.
Room
I was assigned room 519 on the 5th floor (out of 11 floors total). It is directly below the 6th floor bar but I never heard any noise.
It is a strange layout for a hotel room. When you first enter, there is a nook on the right with a bench and a long hallway stretches out in front of you. The bathroom, with a sliding barn door, is half way down the hall on the right.
At the end of the hall you turn right and there is another narrow passage with windows on the left and glass closet on the right.
The closet has space to hang clothing in addition to two small drawers and a safe.
In the main part of the room, the bed is against the back wall. A wall mounted TV can swivel so you can watch it from bed or from the chair. Though if you don’t have it pushed against the wall, it can be a bit awkward to avoid. I’d recommend it be pushed back before bed so you don’t walk into it during the night.
The bed has a leather-material headboard with outlets on each side (though only one side has USB ports). There is also a phone and old fashioned style radio. Each side of the bed also has controls for the lights though one of the buttons on one side was broken.
While the bed was comfortable, like so many hotels it does not have a true duvet cover. Instead it is a comforter sandwiched between two flat sheets. It is my biggest hotel room pet peeve.
The bed area has windows on two sides so it provides plenty of light. The flooring is solid with a rug under the bed.
The views are of the city. Mile High Stadium can be seen in the distance.
On the small island against the window is the Nespresso maker and mini bar.
Two free canned waters were provided in the room upon check in with refill stations on each floor. Additional bottles were not provided on subsequent days.
Besides the sheet situation, I found the room temperature hard to get right. It is impossible to tell if the thermostat is turned on or off as it looks the same no matter what. I don’t know if it was broken or if that is how it is supposed to be.
Turn down service was provided each night and a chocolate was left on the pillow along with a card showing the next-day’s weather.
Bathroom
The bathroom is small; it seems like the hall is wasted space they could have used for the bathroom. I would have preferred the bathroom be larger and take up part of the window wall.
A single sink sits under a circular mirror. The toilet is in a cubby to the right and the shower is glass enclosed to the left.
The shower has both a wall mounted shower head and a handheld wand.
The bath products were large bottles of D.S. & Durga which seemed quite high quality. A bar of soap was included in addition to the shower gel.
Though the bathroom was small it felt spa-like. The water pressure could have been higher.
Gym
The Thompson Denver has a standard hotel gym in the basement. There is no pool or spa.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in Chez Maggy located off the lobby on the ground floor. As a Globalist I was told a credit of $40 per person would be added for each day. I booked my hotel reservation for one adult and both days my total went over $40 yet nothing was added to my bill.
On top of the prices, an additional 20% charge is added; of which 17% goes to the server and 3% goes to the restaurant. I find this extremely dishonest (though it does say that’s how it works on the menu) to take on a 3% bogus fee to help the owner’s bottom line. For this reason I would not pay to eat at the restaurant.
Despite the stupid mandatory fee policy, the breakfast was very good.
My first morning I had the Chilaquiles with a side of fruit, French pastries, and juice. The Chilaquiles had a huge amount of avocado and the egg was sitting on a square of hash browns. I found the sauce to be very spice but flavorful. The pastries were excellent; clearly made that morning.
The next day I had the breakfast burrito which was okay but not as impressive as the other dishes.
My first morning was a Sunday and the restaurant was clearly understaffed. The tables on either side of me complained at different times to the staff about how long it was taking. As a single person my food came relatively quickly.
Overall
I think had built the Thompson brand up in my mind as being much more than it turned out to be. The hotel hard product was nice but I didn’t think that much better than many other hotels. The staff was okay but no better than you would get at a Regency. In fact, I found some of the staff to be aloof and disengaged.
The additional fees, both the “Destination Fee” and the bogus restaurant fee, feel like guests are being nickeled and dimed and a supposedly high end property that already has significantly higher rates than other Hyatt properties in Denver.
The location is fantastic; probably the best thing the property has going for it. Overall I enjoyed my stay but I think my expectations were higher than what I experienced.
I may try other Thompson properties in the future but if they are similar to the Denver property, I won’t go out of my way to stay in them.
Have you stayed at Thompson properties (Denver or others)? What are your thoughts on the brand?
