Hotel planned for Colorado Springs' north side takes aim at high-end traffic

Classic Cos. plans to build a two-story, 40-room boutique hotel as part of The Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs, which will expand the lineup of amenities at the company's upscale Flying Horse development on the city's far north side.

The Lodge at Flying Horse will be built between hole No. 9 at Flying Horse's 18-hole golf course and the club's parking lot. In addition to the 40-room hotel, eight larger guest rooms are planned in four separate, villa-like buildings.

The members-only club - which includes the golf course, an athletic club and spa, tennis, a pool, restaurants and other amenities - is part of Classic's nearly 1,600-acre Flying Horse residential and commercial project.

A longtime homebuilder and development company, Classic has been developing Flying Horse for more than a decade southwest of Colorado 83 and Old North Gate Road. Homes in the area range from about $250,000 to upward of $1 million.

Classic CEO Doug Stimple said the Springs' north side lacks high-end boutique hotels - smaller and intimate facilities with nicely appointed guest rooms.

North side companies such as Progressive Insurance, Spectranetics and Hewlett Packard have told Classic they want high-end accommodations for visiting managers and executives, said Fredo Killing, managing director of The Club at Flying Horse. Some of those businesses send their employees to The Broadmoor hotel on the Springs' southwest side or book them into hotels in south Denver, he said.

The 40-room lodge will have three meeting rooms totaling 3,330 square feet, increasing The Club at Flying Horse's meeting space to about 8,200 square feet, Killing said. Hotel guests could play golf, dine at the club's restaurants and use other amenities, he said.

"There's a lot of companies up here," Killing said. "They don't have a high-end place to put their guests. We've had a lot input from them saying they'd love to have something available that has all the facilities and upscale guest rooms and meeting space."

Classic also hopes the hotel will attract Denver-area companies that want to get out of the city's metro area for their corporate functions, Killing said.

Meanwhile, The Club at Flying Horse hosts 40 to 45 weddings a year, Stimple said, and wedding party members would be likely candidates to use the hotel. Flying Horse residents also have expressed interest in having a nearby hotel for extended family members, he said. About 800 homes have been built in Flying Horse, which translates into roughly 2,500 residents, Classic officials say.

"We think it makes a lot of sense," Stimple said.

The 40 guest rooms are envisioned as four-star accommodations, while the villa rooms - with five-fixture bathrooms, walk-in closets and other extras - are envisioned as five-star rooms, Killing said. Summer rates would be about $225 a night for The Lodge rooms and $325 for the villa rooms, he said. Off-season rates would range from $165 to $265, he said.

Classic is seeking city approval to revise a development plan and rezone a portion of the club property to accommodate the hotel. Those approvals would allow up to 60 guest rooms, but Killing said Classic isn't planning to expand unless there's enough demand and a strong indication that the club could support the additional rooms.

Classic hopes to begin construction this year and open the hotel in spring 2015, Killing said.

Reported by:  Gazette.com