A 1915 railroad-era hotel opposite the Amtrak depot, rebranded as Hotel Maxwell Anderson in March 2025 after a two-year, $5 million renovation that kept the exposed-brick bones and modernised every bathroom, the canyon's most carefully restored small historic stay.
"Seven small buildings stitched into one through a century of additions, then taken apart and put back together in 2024 with the brick left honest and the bathrooms finally working. The Maxwell Anderson is the canyon's quietest historic stay, depot platform included."
The Hotel Denver opened in 1915 at 402 Seventh Street to serve passengers stepping off the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad at the new Glenwood Springs depot across the street. The building is, structurally, a stitched composite of seven smaller properties (the Star Hotel, the Rex, the Denver House, the Denver Rooms, among others) that were joined together across two decades of additions in the 1920s and 1930s. The result is an internal geometry of half-flights, short corridors, and unexpected window placements that gives the property a character no purpose-built hotel of the same vintage retains.
In March 2023 the property closed for a full two-year renovation under new ownership at a budget of approximately $5 million. The reopening in March 2025 under the rebrand Hotel Maxwell Anderson (the sixth recorded name in the building's life) marked the most consequential historic-hotel refresh in the canyon since the Hotel Colorado's lobby works. The renovation kept every original brick wall, salvaged the original transom windows where structurally possible, replaced all plumbing and electrical, refitted every bathroom in subway tile and brass fittings, and installed a full new restaurant operation on the ground floor. Original signage continues to read Hotel Denver in several photographs across town; the property remains widely searchable under both names.
There are roughly 60 guestrooms across the renovated floors, all individual in shape because of the stitched-together construction. Standard queens and kings run small (18 to 24 square metres) but feel larger because of high ceilings, full-height transom windows, and the careful editing of furnishings, a bed, an upholstered chair, a writing desk, a luggage bench, nothing more. The new bathrooms are the property's strongest single upgrade: full-tile walk-in showers in most categories, deeper tubs in the larger rooms, brass and walnut fixtures throughout. Several new suites added in the renovation hold king beds, separate sitting rooms, and the property's best Roaring Fork River views from the rear elevation.
The ground floor holds a small lobby bar, a 70-seat restaurant running a New American menu with a regional bias, a coffee window on the depot side that handles the morning Amtrak crowd, and the property's original brewery (an early 1990s addition that survived the renovation). The position is the building's other defining commercial fact: the Amtrak California Zephyr stops directly opposite the property twice daily, and the walk to the Hot Springs Pool, the Hotel Colorado, and the Sixth Street strip is two to four minutes in every direction. WiFi is complimentary, the new property management system handles mobile check-in, and the corridor signage still reads Hotel Denver in places by deliberate choice. The Hotel Maxwell Anderson is the quietest small historic stay in Glenwood Springs and the right answer for a guest who wants the building rather than the resort experience.
A solo traveller arriving by Amtrak steps off the Zephyr platform and walks fifty yards to the front door, which is the most civilised transit-to-room arrival in the western United States. The smaller renovated queens are the right room here: high ceilings, transom windows, a writing desk that actually accepts a laptop and a notebook side by side. The bar handles a single late drink without ceremony.
For a business trip into the Roaring Fork that does not need an Aspen address, the Hotel Denver is the cleanest base. WiFi is reliable, the work desks in the renovated rooms are functional, the breakfast operation handles an early start, and the depot position means a no-car arrival is realistic from both Denver and Salt Lake. Pre-book one of the new river-view suites for a longer stay.
For a low-key historic-hotel anniversary that avoids the Hotel Colorado's grand-lobby formality, the Maxwell Anderson is the more intimate booking. Take one of the new river-view suites, walk five minutes to the pool, and use the ground-floor restaurant for a single set-piece dinner. Quieter, smaller, more recently renovated, and significantly less expensive than the alternative across the bridge.
402 7th Street
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
United States
Now also known as Hotel Maxwell Anderson (March 2025 rebrand). Directly opposite the Amtrak depot; four-minute walk to the Hot Springs Pool
Approximately 60 rooms and suites
Standard queens and kings from $169/night
Deluxe rooms from $229/night
River-view suites from $329/night
Shoulder rates as low as $139
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Built 1915; full renovation March 2023 to March 2025
Rebranded Hotel Maxwell Anderson, 2025
Exposed-brick rooms with original transom windows
Brand-new tile bathrooms, brass and walnut fittings
Ground-floor New American restaurant
On-site brewery and lobby bar
Directly opposite Amtrak depot
Complimentary WiFi throughout
From $169/night. The river-view suites added in the 2025 renovation are the property's fastest sellouts; standard queens are easier on shorter lead times. November and early December are the property's quietest weeks.
View Rates & Dates →The 1893 Italianate landmark opposite the pool, hosted Roosevelt and Taft.
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