E Aspen Hospitality acquired an interest in the Kimpton Hotel Born and will convert it to the Limelight Denver .
DEVELOPMENT
Living in the Limelight :
ASPEN HOSPITALITY SWOOPS INTO DENVER
THE FORMER KIMPTON BORN HOTEL WILL BE REBORN AS THE LIMELIGHT DENVER .
By DAVID EISEN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
Its name says it all : Aspen Hospitality . For anyone who has clicked into a pair of skis or strapped on a snowboard , Aspen summons fluffy snow , tipples around the fireplace and Moncler as far as the eye can see . There , in this snow haven , sits a little gem , The Little Nell , a 92-room sybaritic ski-in / ski-out hotel favored by jetsetters and owned by Aspen Hospitality , a division of Aspen Skiing Company , which formally launched earlier this year , with a portfolio of other Colorado properties , including Limelight Hotel Aspen , Limelight Hotel Snowmass , The ASPENX Mountain Club and The Snowmass Mountain Club . It also has the Limelight Hotel Ketchum , close to Sun Valley , Idaho , and has two other Limelight properties scheduled to open in the next few years in Mammoth , Calif ., and Boulder , Colo .
Up to now , Aspen Hospitality has stuck mainly to the slopes , but in the upcoming Limelight Denver , it ’ s taking its brand of hospitality to the city . In February , Denver-based Continuum Partners sold an interest in the Kimpton Hotel Born , which it had opened in 2017 , to Aspen Hospitality , under which the 200-room hotel will convert to the Limelight Denver later this year . Notably , the hotel will shed the IHG Kimpton flag and turn over to the Limelight , a homegrown brand that outside the ski slopes , not too many know about .
At the time , Aspen Hospitality CEO Alinio Azevedo said of the deal : “ With Limelight Denver , we are excited to expand our brand beyond mountain and ski locations into an urban market .” Like the miners of Denver yore , Aspen Hospitality is looking to find gold in the Union Station neighborhood .
If so , Azevedo will have a lot to do with it . He became CEO this year , part of a 25-year career that includes stops at Loews Hotels and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and advisory services for Ernst and Young .
38 hotelsmag . com May 2023