Holiday Lighting at the Brown Palace Hotel

Nope. It’s not Christmastime…You are in fact in the dead of flu season, probably nursing a chest cold, like myself, or caring for a little with Strep throat, as we are, or hitting the slopes for the first time in 2020 like my hubby got to treat himself to after a very long hiatus. He deserved a break from us very NEEDY ladies…he has been an absolute godsend this entire winter break where it seems one of us girls has had a fever or cold symptoms, aches, pains and finally capping off the break with a whopper- Strep, which I am warding off like the plague.

But… had I been feeling well and up and at ‘em after this event to kick of last holiday season, I would have been more timely in editing and posting this. We had a beautiful family day in downtown Denver together as a family by celebrating the annual champagne cascade and holiday chandelier lighting at the historic Brown Palace Hotel.

After last years’ invitation and experience, see here, the girls and I were anticipating sweet treats and little nibbles and something to toast the occasion like last year. Unfortunately, this year we were in a general admission bucket, and did not get the V.I.P. treatment. I was also hesitant in writing this because of our drastically different experience than last year, but I wanted to pull together a truthful, and positive post no matter. We were afterall guests, and were awarded comped tickets to attend. I will say, if you consider attending the holiday kickoff event at the Brown Palace, and you have little ones, I would honestly get a baby sitter and go with your date, and definitely go for the pricier tickets. Our general admission did not include any drinks, snacks, appetizers or anything to toast during the event. We had ate a breakfast before hand, but a two hour event before the actual lighting is pretty lengthy waiting without anything to wet the whistle or tame the tummy. I was surprised at this because we are talking about the BROWN PALACE hotel for goodness sakes! A classic hotel built on hospitality and stellar service, otherwise how would it still be in business after all these years. It is a bit preposterous to charge general admission, which is still not affordable for an average family, and not offer so much as a glass of orange juice to raise a glass at the tinkle. Husband waltzed over, the gentleman that he is, and offered to get me a glass of champagne nad when he told me they were charging $14 a glass, and the girls asked so sweetly where the sweets were this year, that’s when I said, we’re outta here….

I am sorry… but we were. The best part of the morning was running into Santa on the way inside.

We went across the street to grab a breakfast at Delectable Egg around the corner on Court and had an even worse experience in the service department! It took FOREVER for food to arrive and when it did it was cold and congealed. It was in fact inedible. We actually told the manager we would not be dining that morning, and we left. I am sounding like we are uber pretentious people over here! Husband and I just want to know, after dining out more over the holidays, what in the heck is happening in the restaurant sector?! Don’t you ever feel like that?! Like we just paid WHAT for THAT?! We seriously need Yelp accounts for some of these terrible experiences. HOWEVER, we have had spectacular hosts and waitresses and waiters and food sprinkled in as well, which is ALSO worth writing and sharing about. We just didn’t get it this warmish day in November!

We decided to bounce back over to the Brown to catch the lighting, and we did! And it was beautiful, of course i was distracted by the fact that the worker/attendee ratio was significantly unbalanced and I felt like we kept getting shoved this way and that which made it hard to enjoy that part. I do not think after this experience I can honestly recommend to a family to attend or pay for this holiday event. I guess we had rose colored glasses last year with the VIP treatment. I think it should be a free and welcoming event, OR if they wish to make it a glitterati event for the mayor and big wigs, then they should make that portion a private event and not invite the public or tout it as such a unique and spectacular event. I felt like we were crashing a private party and was extremely put off by the staff of the hotel from the top down this time.

I feel too many blogs have gone flappy like bologna in the last ten years. I started blogging back in 2007! I pride my writing based on genuine thoughts, opinions and feelings, and understand with that I may not get an invitation back, but I felt like sharing because so many of you do look to my blog for family activities in Denver and I wouldn’t want to stray you on this one. I guess I just don’t understand the draw for families.

BUT, we were all dressed up with nowhere to go after that, so we drove over to Dairy Block and had lunch and played pin ball! Totally made up for the bust of a morning….We continued the holiday parade on over to Denver’s Union Station and we enjoyed ice cream in front of the tree! It was an extremely FULL November day! The best part, holiday dresses and bare legs and no coats! Would have been more romantic with snow and cold….but I have hit my complaint quota for this post.

Here are a few photos!

I am VERY thankful that the event got us dressed up and out the door and downtown for family time. THAT is priceless.

Also…. Happy New Year! May 2020 be filled with joy, blessings, HEALTH and happiness for you and yours, and FAITH, HOPE, PATIENCE. I am NEVER one to make resolutions, and rarely stick to long term goals. I am presently sitting in the, lets-take-it-day-by-day camp…Cheers!

…Glo

Wearing: The girls and I are wearing thrifted dresses. My tights are from Target, as are the girls’ cold shoes.