Antlers Hotel (Colorado Springs, Colorado) facts for kids

The Antlers in 2016

The Antlers is a famous hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's part of the Wyndham Hotel family. This hotel opened in 1967, but it's actually the third hotel with the same name built on this exact spot!

The very first Antlers Hotel was built way back in 1883. Sadly, it burned down in a big fire in 1898.

Then, a second Antlers Hotel was finished in 1901. This one stood for many years until it was taken down in 1964. That made room for the modern Antlers hotel we see today.

Where is The Antlers?

The Antlers hotel is right in the middle of downtown Colorado Springs. It's on Cascade Avenue, very close to Colorado Avenue. You can also find it near Interstate 25, which is a major highway. The hotel is also close to a park called Antlers Park.

What's Inside The Antlers?

This big downtown hotel has 272 rooms for guests. This includes special executive suites and junior suites. There's even a fancy "governors suite" that looks out over the city. A "founders suite" offers amazing mountain views.

The hotel also has a lot of space for meetings and events. There's an indoor swimming pool and a health club where you can work out. You can even get your hair done at the beauty salon! For food, there's a breakfast restaurant, a sports bar, and a lobby bar. The lobby bar has a huge selection of 50 different beers and 50 different wines.

History of The Antlers

The Antlers hotel has a long and interesting past, with three different buildings over the years.

The First Hotel (1883-1898)

In June 1883, a man named William Jackson Palmer built the first Antlers hotel. He was also the person who founded Colorado Springs as a railroad town. The hotel was built close to the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway, which Palmer also helped start.

The hotel got its name because Palmer put many large elk and deer antlers inside the building. It was a very fancy hotel for its time, especially for the western United States. It had 75 unique guest rooms. There was a music room, a special Turkish Bath, and even a children's playroom! Guests could also enjoy a billiards room and a barber shop. The hotel had modern features like gas lights, steam heat, hot and cold running water, and even an elevator. Palmer spent a lot of money, about $125,000, to build it.

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  The first Antlers Hotel, built in 1883

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  The first Antlers Hotel from Pikes Peak Avenue in the 1880s

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  The Antlers Hotel fire in 1898

Sadly, the first Antlers hotel burned down on October 1, 1898. The fire started at a nearby train freight depot.

The Second Hotel (1901-1964)

After the fire, William Jackson Palmer decided to rebuild the hotel. The second Antlers hotel was finished in 1901. It was designed in a beautiful Italian Renaissance style. This new hotel was very elegant and offered amazing views of Pikes Peak.

It had 200 rooms, a restaurant, and a grand room called the Rose Ballroom. The walls were fireproof, and it had fancy tapestries and mosaic floors. Many important people visited this hotel. Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, and William Howard Taft all stayed there. Theodore Roosevelt even gave a speech from a hotel balcony in 1901.

William Jackson Palmer passed away in 1909. Later, another famous person named Spencer Penrose tried to buy the hotel. When he couldn't, he decided to build his own famous hotel, The Broadmoor, in 1918.

The last guest checked out of the second Antlers hotel on September 20, 1964. Soon after, the building was torn down to make way for the hotel we see today.

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  The second Antlers Hotel, completed in 1901

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  View of the second Antlers Hotel in 1948–49

The Third Hotel (1967-Present)

The Antlers in 2011, when it was a Hilton hotel

The current Antlers hotel was built by a company called Western International Hotels. It opened its doors on March 20, 1967, and was first called the Antlers Plaza Hotel. This building is about 170 feet (52 meters) tall and has 14 floors.

Western International ran the hotel until 1975. After that, the Broadmoor Management Company took over. They even used a special double-decker London-style bus to take guests between The Antlers and The Broadmoor!

The hotel got a big makeover in 1989–90, costing $24 million. By 1998, it was known as the Antlers Doubletree Hotel. It was then sold and renamed the Antlers Adam's Mark.

In 2003, new owners bought the hotel for $27.2 million. They spent about $7.5 million on more renovations. At this time, the hotel changed its name again to the Antlers Hilton Hotel.

In 2015, two attorneys, Perry R. Sanders, Jr. and John Goede, bought the hotel. They decided to bring back the original, simple name: "The Antlers." Then, on September 29, 2016, the hotel joined the Wyndham Hotels family. It is now known as The Antlers, A Wyndham Hotel, but Mr. Sanders and Mr. Goede still own it.

Back in 1927, there were 24 hotels in downtown Colorado Springs. By 2015, only The Antlers and The Mining Exchange hotel were left in the downtown area.