First new hotel in decades opens in Cripple Creek

The Daily Gazette
 
First new hotel in decades opens in Cripple Creek
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More than two years after starting construction that stretched through most of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 101-room Wildwood Hotel opened late Friday in Cripple Creek as the first of three major projects that will more than double the city’s inventory of hotel rooms.

Located adjacent to Cripple Creek’s largest single casino, the $14 million hotel is expected to attract gamblers who want to spend more than a few hours playing the slots or table games, said Matt Andrighetti, general manager of the Wildwood Hotel & Casino. The hotel opened nearly two months after casinos in Colorado welcomed higher betting limits and a host of new games, authorized by voters last year.

“This is something we have been looking forward to for a long time, a hotel next to our casino,” Andrighetti said. “It has been inconvenient to have to shuttle guests to a hotel. We believe this hotel will be a big attraction for players.

"We look to attract a more upscale clientele, including out-of-state visitors. It also will be much more convenient for our existing customers since the hotel is across the street from the casino.”

The hotel features six suites with separate living rooms and king-size beds as well as 2,800 square feet of space for banquets and meetings. The casino recently paved a parking lot near the hotel, adding 80 spaces.

The nearby 67-room Gold King Inn, owned by Wildwood parent company American Gaming Group, also is available for casino customers and other guests, though 14 rooms have been converted into employee housing.

Andighetti said the hotel has strong advance bookings — more than 400 rooms booked during July and early August — since it began taking reservations in mid-May. Rooms in the hotel start at $119 a night for a standard room on weekdays, with hospitality suites topping out at $239 a night on weekends with discounts available for members of the casino’s player’s club.

At least two other major hotels are planned in Cripple Creek by the city’s largest casino operators:

Full House Resorts has begun construction of the 300-room Chamonix Casino Hotel, scheduled to open late next year. The hotel is part of a $180 million expansion project under construction that will nearly double the gaming floor of Full House’s Bronco Billy’s Casino and add upscale hotel rooms, restaurants, a spa, rooftop pool, convention and meeting space and a parking garage.

Triple Crown Casinos, owners of the Brass Ass, McGills and Midnight Rose casinos, plans to start construction soon on its $40 million, 150-room hotel that will be attached to the Brass Ass and Triple Crown’s parking garage. The hotel also will have 5,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, hot tubs, coffee shop, lounge and other amenities.