Jeff N.
Yelp
Our experience at the Magnolia Hotel was mixed. While the hotel is part of the Tribute Portfolio Hotel network, where you can take advantage of the Marriott Bonvoy benefits if you're a member, the amenities are underwhelming, especially in the hotel rooms. Despite the hotel's great location and the building's history in the Central Business District (CBD) of downtown Denver, what you need in the hotel is lacking, especially if you're spending more than a night or two there.
The pluses are that the Magnolia is located in one of the first skyscrapers built in Denver in 1910, serving as the home to the First National Bank of Colorado. Much of the building has been restored to its original appearance, giving the hotel a lovely charm. The service from the concierge is on point. Any issues we communicated to the front desk were handled quickly and effectively. They were responsive and friendly. We also enjoyed the complimentary bottles of water.
Being close in distance to all of our major points of visiting, from museums to bars and restaurants to concert venues from the hotel -- even going to Fiddler's Green Amphitheater in Greenwood Village, 25 minutes away without traffic -- helps a lot. It's only a drive coming to and from the airport, but that is situated way out of town by design, so if you give yourself enough time, you won't have issues. I also like the elevators that were the originals restored and work well. The design and decor that goes in line with early 20th-century styles that were aligned with national banks like the First National.
The minuses make the Magnolia not as desirable despite its pedigree. The hotel rooms leave a lot to be desired despite the spaciousness and city views. While the beds were comfortable and the desk was large enough if you needed to work and place multiple personal items, the closets were very narrow and cumbersome. To have only shelf space in the closet where you have the coffee maker, safe, and clothing iron taking that up, and just getting in there if you're expecting to hang clothing up as well, is not convenient. Expected to take the coffee maker out if you want to plug in and use it doesn't help matters.
With the spaciousness of the rooms, especially ours, the hotel could easily place a dresser that could help with putting your clothes in a convenient distance from the bed underneath the flat-screen TV that hung next to the bathroom door, Hell, you could probably just leave the coffee maker on the left-hand side of the desk area. With no dresser drawers available and inconvenient placement of any shelf spaces that's in the narrow closet, you're not going to feel you can get comfortable over a week's long stay even if the bed is comfortable.
It doesn't help that the toilets need an upgrade as their water flush is so weak, I was more comfortable taking the elevator and stairs down to the basement floor to access those bathrooms to avoid needing maintenance to assist. It was not easy to determine how to moderate hot and cold water. You could easily scald yourself if you don't know how to use the nodules.
Overall. the Magnolia worked for what we needed, but it left a lot more to be desired.