Longmont lands long-awaited boutique hotel
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Hotel Longmont. Photo: Mitchell Byars/Axios Boulder
Longmont finally has the boutique hotel city leaders have spent decades trying to land, just as Sundance prepares to descend on Boulder County.
Why it matters: Longmont has plenty of places to stay, but officials have long argued that downtown lacked an upscale, full-service hotel that could attract visitors, meetings and events — and keep that spending in the city.
Driving the news: Hotel Longmont opened this summer at 508 Third Ave., bringing 84 rooms, event space and a rooftop restaurant, Longmont Supply, to the heart of downtown.
- The five-story hotel includes about 3,700 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom for weddings and other events.
- The Thrash Group developed the project with Colorado-based Vertikal, in partnership with the city and Longmont Downtown Development Authority.
Context: A downtown hotel has been on Longmont's wish list since at least 1984, and the idea repeatedly resurfaced.
- "Hotel Longmont brings the type of lodging that our community has not had before," Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring said at the hotel's grand opening party in late August.
- "This unique destination provides visitors with a more personalized and distinctive experience … right in the center of everything and of what makes Longmont special."
Between the lines: City leaders have argued the lodging gap sent visitors — and their money — to surrounding communities.
- "This creates new opportunities for meetings, conferences and gatherings that can bring even more economic vitality and activity to our community," Hidalgo-Fahring said.
Zoom out: Boulder will be Sundance's hub, but lodging demand is expected to spill into neighboring communities.
- Visit Longmont is already pitching the city as a festival home base, with Hotel Longmont as a new boutique option about 20–30 minutes from screenings.
The bottom line: After roughly four decades of chasing a downtown hotel, Longmont landed one just in time for what could be Boulder County's biggest new tourism draw.