Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Central Business District, Denver, Colorado

The lobby at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and almost sterile white floors, gives a good sense of what one can expect from the rest of the hotel -- cleanliness, spaciousness, and contemporary, but generic, style.

While the room decor could use some updating, there are nice touches throughout the hotel. In the lobby, for instance, there's an attractive two-sided fireplace, as well as nooks containing brightly colored glasswork that offsets the bare walls. Another appealing feature is the Garden Inn's unique Colorado-oriented take on art: brightly painted, nearly life-sized sculptures of cows on some floors.

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The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown is close to the Colorado Convention Center and the 16th-Street Pedestrian Mall, and within walking distance to many of the city's other popular attractions. Embassy Suites, Hyatt Regency, and the Magnolia Hotel are nearby.

Other attractions in the vicinity include the Denver Mint; the State Capitol Building; Coors Field; numerous restaurants; and microbreweries, for which Denver is famous.

• 30-minute taxi or shuttle from the Denver International Airport
• 1-minute walk to the Denver Convention Center
• 2-minute walk to the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall
• 6-minute walk to the U.S. Denver Mint
• 13-minute walk to the Denver State Capitol
• 5-minute drive to the closest microbrewery, Great Divide Brewing Company
• 5-minute drive to Coors Field
• 7-minute drive to Elitch Gardens Theme Park
• 7-minute drive to Denver Aquarium
• 7-minutes drive to the Pepsi Center
• 1-hour drive to closest ski facility, Loveland Ski Area
• 1.5-hour drive to Estes Park, gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park

The rooms are spacious and clean, although the decor is unexceptional -- busy carpets and run-of-the-mill wood furniture. They all have microwaves and mini-fridges, however, which are not always available in downtown Denver properties. Other notable amenities include the ergonomic desk chair by Herman Miller; and the Garden Sleep System beds, which have mattresses that adjust for hardness and body contours. The bathrooms have shower/tub combos with Waterpik showerheads.

• Spacious rooms
• Mini-fridges, microwaves, and coffeemakers
• In-room desks with ergonomic chairs
• Adjustable beds
• 32-inch LCD flat-screen TVs
• Free Wi-Fi
• Bathrooms with shower/tub combos and Waterpik showerheads
• Clock radios with MP3 connections

The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown has a DazBog coffee shop, an indoor pool (a nice extra for a hotel in this category), and a solid fitness center. Pi Kitchen + Bar offers an all-day menu including afternoon tapas, with a contemporary fusion cuisine combining local and global influences.

• Pi Kitchen + Bar, an upscale contemporary fusion restaurant serving three meals a day
• DazBog coffee shop
• Pavilion Pantry, a convenience store selling sundries and snacks (including microwavable meals)
• Indoor pool and Jacuzzi, which competing property The Curtis Denver lacks
• Solid fitness center with cardio machines, strength training machines, and free weights; most cardio machines have personal TVs
• Guest laundry, with coin-operated machines
• Free Wi-Fi
• Ample meeting spaces, including three breakfast rooms, an executive boardroom, and a ballroom
• 24-hour business center with two computers, a printer, and an ATM