A touch of whimsy for Ohio Democrats

By David Skolnick

Most of those attending next week’s Democratic National Convention will stay at hotels with familiar names: Sheraton, Marriott, Hyatt Regency and Doubletree.

For some reason, the convention’s committee opted to have the Ohio Democratic delegation stay at The Curtis Hotel in downtown Denver.

So what’s the big deal?

I didn’t think there was one until curiosity got the best of me and I checked out the hotel’s Web site.

“Discover the distinctive flair of The Curtis. Some people describe The Curtis as fun, cool or whimsical. Pick any one or all three ... it all adds up to a radically refreshing and different hotel experience,” the site’s home page reads.

It looks like the Ohio delegation is staying at the most unique and quirky hotel of the 27 booked by the convention committee.

Also, Ohio is among only a handful of states to get its own hotel.

Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota are sharing the Doubletree Denver Stapleton hotel.

It boasts a junior Olympic-size indoor swimming pool and outdoor whirlpool.

The Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast will be the home of the delegations from Alaska, Minnesota, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island. It has two heated pools, one indoors and the other outside.

The Curtis doesn’t have a pool or a whirlpool.

Why bother when the hotel has 13 “funky pop-cultured themed floors?”

Fondest memories

The hotel’s Web site states each floor “has finishing touches from a different light-hearted theme to rekindle your fondest memories of an earlier time.”

Floor 6, called Slinky by the hotel, boasts fun and games. Floor 10 is the “Howard Cossell Floor of Champions.”

There’s a floor dedicated to “One Hit Wonders,” named in honor of Right Said Fred, the group that blessed the world with the pop classic, “I’m Too Sexy.”

The song’s lyrics are about being too sexy for “my shirt,” “your party,” “my car,” “my hat,” and “my cat.” The song doesn’t include lyrics about being too sexy for a hotel.

The other hotels have wake-up call service. What hotel doesn’t.

But at The Curtis, you can choose to get a wake-up call from Elvis or Austin Powers.

The Curtis, and other Denver hotels, are doubling the $200 average room rate for the convention. Also, those coming to the convention are required by plenty of the hotels, including The Curtis, to stay or at least pay for five days.

With a double-occupancy room costing about $2,000, guests deserve to get wake-up calls from actual celebrities.

Some of the Denver hotels provide free parking. The Curtis isn’t one of them.

Overnight parking at The Curtis is $18 a day if you park your own vehicle and $24 if you want a hotel employee to do the parking.

It’s a bargain

But the Web site makes paying for parking sound cool. Instead of labeling it “parking,” The Curtis calls it “Dude, where’s my car?!!!” Paying $90 to park for five days is fine if you reference an Ashton Kutcher movie.

There’s plenty of fine dining in Denver. But can they touch The Curtis’ Corner Office Restaurant and Martini Bar?

The restaurant doesn’t appear to have karaoke. That’s too bad because those at The Curtis will be denied the song stylings of Gov. Ted Strickland.

Strickland took to the stage at a bar during the 2004 convention to sing the Johnny Cash classic, “Ring of Fire,” one of his favorites.