09/21/2024
The Dino Hotel Almanac - Post #1: There’s a Velociraptor in the Lobby, ‘Prone to Sudden Chaos’
As the leaves begin to change and fall settles over Colorado, the Dino Hotel gears up for something old and new we are creating — Dino de los Mu***os. With the help of our staff and regional artists, we will be celebrating the Day of the Day with the Dawn of the Dinosaurs. (For more information, check out our web page at www.bestwesterndenver.com).
As the countdown to this year’s celebration begins, we’re preparing our altars, our tributes, and maybe even a few fossil-themed sugar skulls. Dino de los Mu***os is our way of remembering those we’ve lost, and celebrating their lives with the kind of humor, joy, and honor that would make even a stegosaurus smile. There’s something sacred in this gathering, a time when the hotel itself feels like it takes on a life of its own.
Like hotelier Conrad Hilton once said, "The buyer must be on guard. Hotels are full of magic, but also prone to sudden chaos." We take that magic seriously, keeping our eyes peeled for opportunities to offer something special, even when things get a little, well… prehistoric.
There’s a rhythm to hotel life, a pulse that changes with the seasons, and right now, the air feels charged with the kind of energy that only autumn can bring. It’s a season of transitions, of endings and beginnings, where we pause to reflect on the past year, and for us, we honor those we’ve lost.
We are behind on painting and prepping our pumpkins for the Dinos de los Mu***os celebration, because we were busy celebrating a life. Ronnie and Dan, the artists preparing our one-of-a-kind artwork for Dinos de los Mu***os… his father just passed in hospice. So we found ourselves last weekend either in a chapel in Illinois, or scattered around the globe on an unruly Zoom, straining to hear over microphone feedback and variable sound, celebrating William Bigelow’s life. He was a man of the cloth, and a lifelong fighter for human rights, peace, art, and human decency. As a young man, he got beaten up demonstrating for civil rights and desegregation. He was sent to preach in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco during the height of the Summer of Love. The Presbytery sent him to preach to the locals, so William did so in coffee houses, and made his own flyers from linoleum cut prints. As an old man, William rounded up books for Palestinian kids to have libraries, and sought an interfaith dialogue for a lasting peace in the Middle East. Rest in Peace, William. Lord knows you fought hard for it.
“Prone to sudden chaos.” Ain’t that life? We will get to the pumpkins in good time, and decorate them over the course of October. Sometimes, it’s also important to just stop, adapt and breathe. As true crime writer Michelle McNamara said before she passed, “It’s chaos; be kind.”
Running a hotel often feels a bit like running an unruly dinosaur zoo. There’s always some kind of controlled chaos, from herding guests to making sure the boards are cleared by housekeeping in the computer system. It’s a whirlwind of daily logistics. There’s always something new around the corner—a giant guest request, a last-minute room change, or perhaps a velociraptor loose in the lobby (we’re still working on that part). Every day is different, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Now, if Old “Connie” Hilton laid out the stakes of hospitality, M.K. Guertin, founder of Best Western, gave us the blueprint for how to quantify it: “In the end, it’s not just about a room, it’s about relationships.” We don’t just want our guests to stay here; we want them to come back, again and again, knowing they’re part of our extended dinosaur-loving family, and can build unique memories with their families.
A hotel’s value isn’t in its bricks and mortar, or its bones, but in the experience it offers. Here at the Dino Hotel, we take that to heart. Each day brings new opportunities to make—or break—someone’s stay. Whether it's ensuring the ice machine's working (no small feat in dino territory) or making sure the continental breakfast doesn't turn into a Jurassic feeding frenzy, every detail matters. But despite this, or maybe because of it, the hotel life is full of possibilities.
The best thing about running a hotel is seeing the ebb and flow of humanity, or in our case, dino-loving humanity. You get to witness lives intersect, stories unfold, and the occasional T. rex inflatable costume wandering down the hall. A good hotel is a home away from home, a sanctuary for weary travelers. In the words of The Hotel Book: "A hotel is more than a place to stay. It's an experience, a temporary haven from the rush of the outside world.” And here at the Dino Hotel, we take that seriously—right down to the roaring good time that awaits at Dino de los Mu***os.
With nine days left, and the decorations soon going up, and in spite of some sadness, we’re getting a little excited. The pumpkin spice latte creamers are already out on the coffee bar. Those decorative pumpkins may have to wait, but when they’re finally painted and displayed, they’ll be the kind of beautiful mess only a hotel like ours could pull off.
In this wild ride of hotel life, Dino de los Mu***os is a reminder that we’re all just here for a little while—guests in the grand hotel of life itself. And while we’re here, we’ll honor those who came before us with laughter, love, and maybe even more than a little dino mischief. William’s photo will have a place of honor this October in our lobby on the fireplace mantelpiece, right next to the allosaurus skull. Dan and Ronnie will get back into the thick of it soon, creating. And we are all reminded in the, “prone to chaos” life of hotel life; “it’s chaos; be kind.” 🦕🌿
Stay Curious.
Greg Tally
Founder of the Dino Feast
(rawr!)- (‿◕)_.·´¯)_.·´¯)\ﾑﾑ/
