Apr. 21, 2005 - The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs plans to gut its Broadmoor South tower as part of a $24 million project to expand and renovate its oldest guest rooms.

The nine-story building, which houses the resort's top-rated Penrose Room restaurant, will be closed throughout the project, scheduled to begin in late October and to be completed in May 2006, Broadmoor President Steve Bartolin said Tuesday.

"Our objective is to improve the quality of the guest experience with larger rooms, five-fixture baths, flat-screen televisions in the bathrooms -- all things that guests expect in a five-star hotel," Bartolin said. "We also want the exterior to match the classic look of our main building."

The renovation will extend Broadmoor South, built in 1961, up to 16 feet on the east and west sides to enlarge its 124 guest rooms and add features such as balconies and a special area of the Penrose Room with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides.

While Broadmoor South is closed, the 3,000-acre resort on the southwest side of Colorado Springs will keep its Charles Court, Golf Club, Tavern and Golden Bee restaurants open. A new, free-standing restaurant called Summit will open in October, Bartolin said.

The Broadmoor finished a two-year, $75 million project in 2002 to renovate its main building, add a 21-suite building and create an outdoor pool complex. In 1995, the resort finished a major expansion and renovation of Broadmoor West, including a new tower.

The Broadmoor South renovation is part of $200 million expansion under way that includes a 60,000-square-foot events center scheduled to open in October and 90 luxury condominiums and town -homes on hotel property that will be completed next spring.

The project also includes a makeover of the hotel's nine-hole, south golf course into an 18-hole, Jack Nicklaus-designed course, as well as construction of a stand-alone restaurant in front of the events center and a seven-store retail complex.

"This is what a five-star resort has to do -- spend money to maintain the image and the property. It is expected and a given," said Bob Benton, a Parker-based hotel industry consultant.

"You have to maintain a fresh appeal. Often hotels don't do it, and slip."

The Broadmoor is among only a few hotels nationwide to win the five-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide and the five-diamond award from AAA.

The $200 million in renovations and expansion in progress boosts Oklahoma Publishing Co.'s investment in the 87-year-old hotel to more than $400 million since the Oklahoma City-based company acquired controlling interest in The Broadmoor in 1988, Bartolin said.

"What we are doing here is unique. The owners' interest is not a short-term mentality of building up the value and selling it," Bartolin said. "The hotel has only had two owners since it opened. It is remarkable how much the owners have invested."

Bartolin said hotel officials have put part of the condominium project on hold because of concerns about how the project would affect the hotel's award-wining tennis program, which would have to be relocated if that phase of condominiums are built.

When the renovations and expansions are complete next spring, Bartolin said, the resort's staff should increase to 1,800 from 1,600.

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