Seventy-five rooms on three floors is a small building with a long list of repeats. A limited-service hotel is a room module stacked, mirrored and hung off a double-loaded corridor, and the economics depend on how efficiently that module repeats. In Firestone, a 75-room, three-story, 45,635 square foot limited-service hotel was proposed at 11256 Business Park Circle, northeast of the I-25 and Highway 119 interchange, on land that sold for $990,000 in August 2019. That is a typical limited-service footprint: a few acres, an interstate exit and a surface lot.
We build select-service, extended-stay and full-service hotels in Colorado, and we bring the discipline of a logistics builder to a hospitality project: tight budgets per key, a fixed opening date and a building that has to work on day one. Developers who run several hotels in a brand family expect repeatable packages, and we give them repeatable schedules, submittals and punch lists.
Our value is in the site, the structure and the systems, not the décor. The brand sets the finishes; we deliver the building those finishes sit inside.
Hotels follow airports, interchanges and mountain passes
Three demand patterns drive Colorado hotels. Airport hotels follow passenger volume: Denver International Airport set a passenger record of 82,427,962 in 2025, and its Operation 2045 plan proposes four new concourses with about 100 more gates by 2045. Peña Boulevard links the airport to I-70, and E-470 has a full cloverleaf interchange with Peña Boulevard giving the 47-mile toll road direct airport access, so sites along that road in the Denver International Airport area serve both crews and travelers.
Suburban interstate hotels follow growth. Castle Rock's Miller's Landing was planned as a $300 million, 65 acre mixed-use project at the northwest corner of the I-25 and Plum Creek Parkway interchange next to Philip S. Miller Park, in four phases over seven to 10 years with a corporate campus, office, retail and a hotel (ColoradoBiz, October 26, 2017). Our Castle Rock work looks at sites like it. The third pattern is mountain resort lodging, which brings structural snow loads and wildfire rules into the design.
Fire, life safety and resort-town rules
Hotels are sleeping occupancies, so the life-safety package is heavy: full sprinklers, fire alarm, rated corridors and floor assemblies, stair pressurization in taller buildings and accessible-room counts that depend on the key count. We review those items with the fire marshal early, because the fire district's interpretation sets door hardware, smoke control and the number of exits.
Mountain jurisdictions add wildfire. All of Summit County, including town centers, is rated moderate to high fire intensity and requires Class 2 structure hardening under the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code with county amendments for permits applied for after May 4, 2026. That changes roofing, vents, siding and decks for a lodge in Frisco and Summit County. Along the Front Range, energy code and local amendments drive the work instead, and commercial codes in Colorado are adopted city by city and county by county, so we confirm the edition for each site.
Structure, acoustics and the repeating room
The structural system for a low-rise hotel is often light-gauge steel or wood framing on a podium or slab-on-grade, with a fire-rated demising wall between rooms. For taller or full-service hotels, post-tensioned concrete, steel and concrete deck, or precast hollow-core planks become competitive. We price more than one system because the best answer depends on height, soils and the local labor market.
Acoustics are a guest-experience cost. Wall assemblies between rooms, floor-ceiling assemblies and plumbing chases must meet a sound transmission rating, and a missed detail becomes a complaint on every review site. We build a mockup room before roll-out so the brand, owner and site crews all see the finished module. For the site, we coordinate paving, drop-off and loading with our site utilities package and keep service entries away from guest entries.
Building around guests, crews and traffic
Hotel projects often phase around operating lodging, whether it is a renovation of an existing property or a new building next to an open one. We separate construction traffic from the guest route, fence work areas, control dust and noise, and keep emergency access clear. We also manage deliveries so FF&E trucks, which arrive in a rush at the end of the job, do not block the main entrance.
Crews working at height on exterior walls, roofs and balconies follow a site-specific fall protection plan, and we review it at each pre-task meeting. Mountain sites add cold, wind and snow, so we plan enclosures and heat for winter pours and interior work.
Hitting the brand opening date
A hotel carries a franchise opening window and a loan with interest running, so the schedule is the product. We organize the build into a repeating floor cycle: framing, rough-in, drywall, finishes, then FF&E install, and we aim to complete each floor on a fixed rhythm. When the rhythm is steady, the owner can plan staffing, marketing and training around a reliable date.
Long-lead items include elevators, rooftop equipment, PTAC or VTAC units, storefront and the brand's specified furniture package. We pull these into the master schedule at permit. A developer with several hotels in the pipeline can see in our developer and REIT work how a standard package shortens each new site's schedule.
Hotels in a larger development
Many hotels share a parcel with other uses. They sit beside a multifamily or mixed-use building, share a garage with an office tower or sit at the center of a retail node. When parking is shared, we coordinate the hotel with a parking structure design so the guest route is short and the garage stays within code.
We handle these combinations as one program, not three projects, so that utilities, grading and access are built once.
Looking at a hotel site?
Share the brand, the key count and the parcel. We will return a per-key budget range, a floor-cycle schedule and a list of site risks.
Common Questions
What does it cost to build a select-service hotel in Colorado?
Cost per key varies with brand standards, structure, site work and finishes, so we give a range after we see the prototype and the parcel. Site work, elevators and the repeating-room structure are the biggest drivers. We compare light-frame and podium options to find the lower total cost.
How long does a hotel project take?
A limited-service hotel usually runs about a year from groundbreaking, with a faster pace if the floor cycle is steady and long-lead items are ordered early. Permit review and utility connections can add months before ground is broken, so we start that process during design.
Can you build a hotel in a mountain town?
Yes, and we plan for the conditions. Summit County, for example, requires Class 2 structure hardening for permits applied for after May 4, 2026, and mountain sites carry heavy snow loads, short building seasons and tight laydown space. We schedule for winter and stage materials with those limits in mind.
Do you work with franchise brand standards?
Yes. We read the brand's prototype drawings and design standards at preconstruction, flag conflicts with local code, and build a mockup room so the owner and brand can approve the finished module before we roll it out.
Who handles the parking?
We do, or we coordinate with a parking designer. Surface parking is cheapest, but an infill site or a hotel that shares a parcel may need a structure. We evaluate that choice early because it changes the site plan.
