I once again had the opportunity to stay at a Denver airport-area hotel as I arrived a day before my ski club. This time I selected the Atwell Suites Denver Airport, as it was an IHG property and I could use the free night certificate I have with my IHG Select credit card.
I have to admit I’d never heard of the Atwell brand but, in general, I quite liked the hotel. It’s located just off Tower Road, a main thoroughfare that has many similar hotels lining each side. It has its own private shuttle. I had a friend pick me up at the airport but it was very nice not to have any other stops on the way back to the airport the next day.
The hotel has a very modern feel. As I understand it, this building is only a couple of years old so it’s still in quite good shape. The front desk was straight ahead upon entering. I arrived quite early, before noon, and asked if I could get a ground-floor room since I was wrangling both my skis bag and a larger wheeled duffel. None of those rooms were ready yet, but that was fine as my friend and I went off for lunch and a free tour through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which is now a wildlife preserve. While we were in the Arsenal I received a call that my room was ready.
Common Areas
Lobby
Immediately upon entering there are seating areas both to the left and right. This whole area is available for breakfast seating as well. The area on the left has a sofa and a couple of casual chairs along with some more traditional dining tables.
Atwell Suites Lobby Seating
This is also where the beverage bar is located for breakfast. There wer four kinds of juice along with various coffee and tea offerings.
Behind the beverage bar was another area for the mini-market.
Atwell Suites Mini-Market
On the right side is the bar area as well as some more seating. The bar is open for “Bar & Bites” daily from 4 PM to 10 PM.
This is also where the breakfast offerings were presented. Breakfast is served from 6:00 to 9:30 AM (M-F) and 7-10 AM on the weekends. One side was labeled “Hot” and had Egg White & Veggie Omelets, Biscuits, and Turkey Sausage. The biscuits were pretty good but I’d have loved to have had some jelly available.
Atwell Suites Hot Breakfast Items
The other side was labeled “Not” (as in, “not hot”) and had Overnight Oats, Milk, Cold Condiments, and Hard Boiled Eggs. Across the way, near the mini-market, there was a basket of fruit, but I did not see that until I was checking out.
Atwell Suites “Not Hot” Breakfast Items
My biggest disappointment with the hotel was the limited breakfast selection. Still, I found enough to keep me from being hungry.
If the seating area on the ground floor gets too crowded, there’s an open staircase up to the second floor where there are more seating areas. There’s also a private/board room on this level but it was locked.
There’s also a “business center” on this floor
Atwell Suites Business Center
Gym
There’s a small gym on the second floor. It’s open 24/7. There is no pool at this property.
Guest Laundry
A washer and dryer is available to guests. This is also located on the second floor. I was glad to see the machines accepted credit cards. Laundry soap is available in the mini-market.
Atwell Suites Guest Laundry
Guest Suite
On the ground floor there’s a bit of a zig-zag in the hallway before it reaches the guest rooms. This is nice because it serves to keep the noise of the lobby away from potentially sleeping guests. The hallway still looks and smells new.
My room, 113, was not quite halfway down the corridor.
The layout of this suite is slightly different from a standard hotel room. Upon entering you’re immediately faced with a closet while the room opens up to the right side. On the left side, behind the door, is what Atwell refers to as a kitchenette. I concede the use of that term although I never thought of it as such while I was there. But this is where the sink, microwave, mini-fridge and Keurig-type coffee machine are so I guess it fits.
Immediately to the right was the sofa with an ottoman and a high-top table to be used for working or dining or whatever. Even though the room sleeps two people I guess they don’t think those two folks will be eating at the same time because there’s only one chair. I’m not sure how comfortable it would be if I needed to spend hours working at the table but it was OK for the brief amount of time I did use it.
The king bed was the next feature in the room. 
It had small night stands attached to each side of the bed and on each side there was a lovely outlet that contained 2 electrical outlets, two USB-A ports and 2 USB-C ports. Kudos to the hotel for that!
Across from the bed was the TV with a small shelf under it and the entrance to the bathroom.
In the bathroom the toilet and the shower were on the right. I liked that in addition to the wall-mounted toiletries (gel, shampoo and conditioner) there was a low shelf in the back, perfect for propping up a leg for shaving…
…and another small shelf at the front of the shower, in case you bring your own toiletries.
One thing that could use improvement is the cleaning of the shower head as it had a bit of build-up on it.
The vanity had high countertops with the sink to one side, which left plenty of counter space. Towels, the hair dryer and extra TP were stored on the shelves underneath. I liked the fluorescent light around the mirror but this bathroom also needs an extendable mirror as those who are short and/or nearsighted may find it difficult to get close enough to the mirror. Though there is a full-length mirror in the room, the lighting is not as good there as it is in the bathroom.
Tissues and plastic cups were provided.
The wall-mounted toiletries were by Apotheke and worked fine. I did think their placement was strange as they were at the far end of the counter, meaning you’d get a squirt and then have to carry that over whatever you may have placed on the counter, potentially getting water or even a little soap or lotion on them. Plus they were almost blocking the electrical outlet. They’d have been much better placed on the wall next to the mirror over the sink.
And then there are the doors and the closet. This hotel has what I consider to be a pretty cool design regarding the closet. I mentioned earlier that the closet door is the first thing you see upon entering. But the cool thing is that there’s a second door in the bathroom that can also access the closet from the other side. That’s a great idea. The execution, however, needs a little work. Both the bathroom door and the bathroom’s closet door open into the bathroom and neither are light doors. The closet door does close fairly automatically but they are just space hogs in that bathroom. It would be so much better if both of these were pocket doors. It would make the bathroom feel that much larger.
The closet itself is fine. This is the view from the room. Along with hanging space there’s a shelf overhead and room below the safe for shoes. There’s an iron and ironing board in here as well along with the bedding for the sofa.
My stay was for a single night in February but it was unseasonably warm outside and my room was quite warm as well. I was pleased to see that the thermostat could be changed to air conditioning as it would have been too warm to sleep and the windows do not open. This hotel does have that annoying system of having to have a key card in the slot for the power to work. Fortunately I was proactively given two room keys when I checked in. Though there is a central light switch at the door, the light over the sofa and the one over the table each have switches on their cords. I’m quite sure that’s cheaper to build but it’s just something I’ve never seen before.
I also liked the lack of carpet in the room. I’m sure the laminate floor is much easier to keep clean, especially in winter months, than carpet would be.
In the end
I wouldn’t mind staying here again at all. My only disappointment with the hotel was the breakfast but I still had enough to eat. I will quite possibly find myself in a similar situation next ski season and will be looking to see what free nights I have available so this hotel would definitely be on the list.
2B Traveling 
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