The Brown hails its chiefs.

• Author: BRONIKOWSKI, LYNN
• Position: Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colorado - Brief Article

Teddy Roosevelt ambled into The Brown Palace Hotel on May 8, 1905, after a hunting trip on the Western Slope. An orchestra played "In the Good Old Summer Time." And 2,000 pink carnations, 1,000 American Beauty roses and carloads of apple blossoms scented the entire building.

TR was the first of 13 presidents to visit the venerable Brown. Today, he is one of three presidents who have suites named for them. Brown spokeswoman Deborah Dix said the presidential suites, named and styled after Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, are part of a $6.5-million renovation completed last summer.

Although the names are from the past, the renovation was nothing but modern. "While the renovation maintains the hotel's ambiance," said Dix, "we also added many modern touches."

That means the hotel that opened in 1892 along Denver's then-dusty roads is now wired for the information superhighway. High-speed Internet access is free in every room. Safes in the presidential suites and other "staterooms" on the eighth and ninth floors are big enough for a laptop computer and have a plug in them for recharging. Workspaces in the presidential suites and the staterooms also come with printer/copier/fax, large-screen televisions and cordless phones.

While the presidential suites are wired for business, they're fit for a king and priced for a royal budget. Bathrooms come with long granite vanities, oversized tubs, and separate glass showers; soft drinks and custom bottled water are complimentary in the mini-bar. Prices range from $892 a night for a one-bedroom to $1,245 for a two-bedroom.

The Brown hired interior decorator Deborah Lloyd Forrest to design the rooms. "She's well-known for her work renovating and restoring historic and landmark hotels," said Dix, including the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal, Royal York Hotel in Toronto, The Berkeley Hotel in London, and the Ringstrasse in Vienna. "She studied the presidents, their lives, their work before going to work," said Dix. "She pays a great deal of attention to detail."

In hailing three of the Brown's most distinguished chief-executive guests, here's a glimpse of what Forrest came up with:

THE ROOSEVELT SUITE: Forrest decorated the suite with rich woods, books and hunting artifacts reflective of Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt's estate on Long Island. The estate was named after Sagamore Mohannis, the Indian chief who used the hill as a meeting place and where he signed some land rights over to settlers in the...