The Broadmoor facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids The Broadmoor
The rear of the Broadmoor Hotel main building (right) on east side of Cheyenne Lake.
General information
Type	Resort & hotel
Location	El Paso, Colorado
Country	United States
Coordinates	38°47′28″N 104°51′01″W / 38.7911°N 104.8502°W / 38.7911; -104.8502

The Broadmoor is a famous hotel and resort located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's known for being a beautiful place where many important people have stayed. These include leaders from different countries, movie stars, and sports heroes. The Broadmoor is also part of Historic Hotels of America, which means it's a special old building with a lot of history.

The main part of the resort is at the bottom of Cheyenne Mountain. It's about 6,230 feet (1,899 meters) above sea level. This is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The resort has many buildings for hotels, meetings, sports, and a spa. These buildings are all around a lake called Cheyenne Lake. The Broadmoor also has other cool places like the Ranch at Emerald Valley and Cloud Camp, which are up on Cheyenne Mountain.

Over the years, the Broadmoor has hosted many big events. These include national and world skating and hockey championships. Golf championships have been held at the Broadmoor Golf Club since 1921. It has also been the site of clay shooting championships.

The Broadmoor Hotel

What You'll Find There

Main Resort Buildings

The hotel buildings have a special look called Mediterranean Revival style. They are pink, which helps them blend in with the beautiful mountains around Pikes Peak. The main buildings are connected in a circle around a lake.

The first hotel building, Broadmoor Main, was built in 1918. Other buildings like Broadmoor South, Broadmoor West, Lakeside Suites, and West Tower were added later. The Broadmoor has 784 rooms in total. Many rooms in Broadmoor South have balconies, and some even have fireplaces.

You can find eighteen restaurants at the Broadmoor. Some are in the main hotel buildings. Others are at the golf club, by the pools, or at places like the Summit Restaurant and the Golden Bee pub.

Fun Activities

The Broadmoor Golf Club has three golf courses. Famous golf designers like Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones, and Ed Seay and Arnold Palmer created them.

The resort also has a full-service spa. It has an indoor pool, a fitness center, and many rooms for treatments. There are also indoor and outdoor pools and tennis courts. You can find 25 different shops at the resort, selling clothes and other items.

A trail about 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) long goes around Cheyenne Lake. This lake is man-made and fed by a creek. In the summer, you can rent bikes and paddleboats to use on the lake. If you like horses, you can go horseback riding at The Stables at the Broadmoor.

Museums and Meeting Spaces

The Penrose Heritage Museum is on the property. It used to be called the El Pomar Carriage House Museum. Here, you can see a collection of old carriages and cars. Some of the cars are race cars from the Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb from the early 1900s.

The Broadmoor also has a lot of space for meetings. It has 185,000 square feet (17,187 square meters) of meeting space. This makes it a popular place for big events and conferences.

Mountain Adventures

The Ranch at Emerald Valley

The Broadmoor offers a special mountain experience at its Ranch on Emerald Valley. This ranch is 16 acres (6.5 hectares) big and is located on Cheyenne Mountain. It has a main lodge and ten cabins. There are also two small lakes, horse stables, hot tubs, and an outdoor fire pit.

Cloud Camp

Spencer Penrose, who started the Broadmoor, created Cheyenne Lodge. This is now called Cloud Camp. It's a wilderness retreat located 3,000 feet (914 meters) above the main resort. It's a great place to get away and enjoy nature.

Fishing Camp

About 75 minutes west of the resort, you'll find The Broadmoor Fishing Camp. It's along a five-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of the Tarryall River. This camp is next to 120,000 acres (48,562 hectares) of the Lost Creek Wilderness. It's perfect for fishing and exploring.

A Look Back in Time

How It Started

Spencer Penrose bought the land in 1916. He wanted to build a "Grand Dame of the Rockies." This meant a fancy hotel like the beautiful ones in Europe, with great service and food. He hired famous architects, Warren and Wetmore, who designed other well-known hotels.

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., a famous landscape architect, designed the resort's 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares). Penrose also hired Donald Ross to design the first golf course. At that time, it was the highest golf course in the United States.

Penrose bought art and old items from Asia and Europe for the hotel. He even had a traditional English pub taken apart, shipped to the U.S., and put back together at the resort. The Broadmoor was one of the first hotels in the country to have a full spa and a club for kids' activities. Penrose wanted to build "the finest hotel in the United States." The resort opened in 1918.

A New Owner and Ice Skating Fame

During the Great Depression, the hotel had money problems. In 1932, Penrose's company, El Pomar Investment Company, bought the hotel and became its only owner. In 1937, Penrose and his wife Julie started the El Pomar Foundation. This foundation gives money to support activities in Colorado.

The Broadmoor Ice Palace opened in 1938. It was an Olympic training center. Many national and world ice skating championships were held there. In 1961, it was renamed the Broadmoor World Arena. After Penrose passed away in 1939, the hotel and much of his money went to the El Pomar Foundation.

Changes Over the Years

In 1959, a ski area was built for the resort. The 144-room Broadmoor South building and the International Center were added in 1961. In 1961, a sad event happened when members of the U.S. Figure Skating Team died in a plane crash. A memorial bench was placed at the resort's lake to remember them.

A second golf course was added in 1965. The resort also added a third golf course in 1976. In 1982, Colorado Hall, a second conference center, was built. The Ski Broadmoor area closed in 1991.

Modern Times

In 1988, the El Pomar Foundation sold most of its share in the resort. The Oklahoma Publishing Company took over in 1989 and made many updates to the resort.

The old Broadmoor World Arena was taken down in 1994. A new building, Broadmoor West, was built the next year. Between 2000 and 2002, the resort had a big renovation that cost $75 million.

In October 2003, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting was held at the Broadmoor. Important leaders like President George W. Bush attended. From 2003 to 2008, the resort grew even more. It added shops, luxury homes, tennis courts on the roof, and underground parking.

In 2011, The Anschutz Corporation bought the resort. Steve Bartolin continued to be in charge of the hotel.

The Broadmoor Name

The hotel's name and logo are always written in a special way. All the letters are uppercase except for the 'A'. The 'A' is smaller but raised higher than the other letters: BRO^ADMOOR. This special way of writing the name was needed to get a unique copyright. Other places in the area had used the word "Broadmoor" in their names since the 1880s.

Big Events and Awards

Famous Tournaments

The Broadmoor has hosted many tournaments since it first opened. The first Broadmoor Invitation Golf Tournament was held in 1921. The US Women's Open and the US Senior's Open have also been held here.

National Figure Skating Championships took place at The Broadmoor in 1948 and 1973. In 1957, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) golf tournament was held there. Five years later, World and European Hockey Championships were held at The Broadmoor. The World Figure Skating Championships were held at the Broadmoor World Arena in 1966.

The resort has also hosted other championships. The World Senior golf tournament was held at Broadmoor East in 1966. In 1990, the United States Sporting Clays Association (USSCA) held its national sporting clays championship at the Broadmoor. The 2011 U.S. Women's Open was also held at The Broadmoor.

Top Awards

The Broadmoor has won many awards. Here are some of them:

It has received a 5-star ranking from Forbes for 54 years in a row as of 2015. This is the longest time any place in the United States has held this award.
It has received a 5-diamond ranking from American Automobile Association (AAA) for 39 years in a row as of 2015.
The Penrose restaurant at the Broadmoor also received a 5-diamond ranking from AAA for 8 years in a row as of 2015.
In 2012, Forbes gave the Penrose restaurant a 5-star ranking. This made the Broadmoor one of only three hotel and restaurant combinations to get this high award.
It is listed as a Historic Hotel of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In 2001, ColoradoBiz magazine called it one of Colorado's Finest Hotels.

Broadmoor in Movies

The Broadmoor has also been featured in movies:

The movie Ice Castles (1978) was filmed in the old Broadmoor World Arena. It starred skaters Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson.
The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987) was filmed at The Broadmoor.