The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center
If you really want to impress out of town guests or clients in for a special meeting, this Denver-area gem should be your first choice. If you really, really want to impress then, set up an Inverness Golf outing
By Jeff Rundles
Earlier this summer my wife and I were invited to a special dinner party – four couples, we all had cooking assignments, gourmet, of course – and it turned out to be a blast. But about a week before the scheduled date, the host and hostess made the day extra special, at least on the male side, by inviting the men to make up a foursome for a day of golf at the Inverness Golf Course at The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center south of Denver.
Inverness is among my favorite golf courses anywhere. Designed by the famous golf course architect Preston Maxwell, and now open since the mid-1970s, the Inverness Golf Course is truly a classic. It’s a championship course, a tough par 70, 7,026 yards from the tips and just a pleasure to play.
I’m a traditionalist when it comes to golf, and not a fan of the new-fangled, railroad-tie, punitive layouts that have become so popular over the years. Inverness is relatively new, but to me at least it is old-school, in the Cherry Hills or Broadmoor East class of golf courses. A golf course should be beautiful, with excellent views, and offer challenging situations. Inverness has matured into a tree-lined gem, is in a spectacular, quiet setting (except for the airplanes from Centennial), and intricate hazards, such as water on 11 of the 18 holes, offers a challenge all around. Some courses you play and like, but wouldn’t want to play every day because they would bore you, but not Inverness. This semi-private course (there’s a membership and then play is allowed for guests at the Hotel and Conference Center) is one of the very few that just gets better over time. Every day play there would be a dream come true.
I have played the course many times over the years, in tournaments and as a guest, and it is the site of my closest brush with golf’s top achievement, the hole-in-one. About 20 years ago in a charity tournament, I came up to the Par 3 11th hole, and they had one of those contests where you bet $10 to win $20 if you place your tee shot on the green inside of a circle. Also, if you get a hole in one, you’d win a Buick, which was placed nearby in tantalizing fashion. It was playing, as I recall, some 180 yards that day with a little wind, and I whipped a five iron and thought, “Geez; that’s a pretty good shot.” The ball landed about 20 feet short of the pin, dead on line, and rolled toward the whole. First, I knew I had cashed in on the double-your-money bet, and then the ball kept going toward the hole – but didn’t drop. When we got to the green I saw that it ended up, dead on line as I said, one inch short of a Buick and glory. I’ve never gotten that close again, but every time I play that hole my confidence level is high. In 30 or 40 rounds over the years, I’m probably 3 or 4 over at the 11th, total.
Golf, however, is not my only brush with Inverness. While I have never been a hotel guest – I live in Denver, after all – I toured the rooms once and can safely say, with the experience of someone who has traveled on business all over the country and stayed in some of the finest hotels, that I would love to stay there. The rooms are beautiful, the dining options exceptional, and of course, there’s the golf course.
I have also attended a few wedding receptions and not a few business meetings and conferences there over the years, and it never failed to impress me. The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center is large enough to accommodate great meetings and lavish entertaining, yet small enough to retain an intimacy that is lacking at some of the giant hotel/conference centers you find at the major chains. There are 302 guestrooms, recently renovated, including 32 Club level rooms, 18 Club Level suites and 1 Presidential Suite, and the hotel carries a Four Diamond Rating from AAA. There’s also a 4,500 square foot Spa.
For a Denverite, however, where The Inverness really shines is in the Meetings and Events arena. I have attended many meetings there, with groups as large as 200, where we had plenary sessions in a bigger ballroom, and break-out sessions in smaller rooms. Never have I been in a facility that had its operations so buttoned-up: the A/V systems worked to perfection, the breakfast, snack, lunch and dinners provided for meeting attendees were way above average for what I like to call “gang eating.” The food service, with all the different packages offered, is almost mind-boggling in what you can do, but on-site meeting planners can make that part of the process easy and enjoyable. And there are five on-site restaurants for casual to upscale dining, so you can leave the meeting behind and relax.
The Conference Center features 60,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, with 43 meeting rooms, and of course there’s a full-service Business Center, and onsite video production.
If you really want to impress your clients, vendors or staff with a meeting facility that exceeds expectations, the The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center is just about the best Denver-area choice you could make.
If you really, really want to impress them, include a golf outing. Maybe your whole crew can birdie #11.