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Creepy eyeballs. A cheese grater. A trypophobe’s nightmare. Whether you welcome the unconventional, porous design of the new Populus Hotel overlooking Civic Center Park or you find it a little, erm, unsettling, we bet the striking building has come up in a conversation or two since construction began back in April 2022.
It isn’t just the eye-catching exterior of this aspen tree-inspired architectural marvel that’s sparking discussion. The Populus also claims to be the country’s first carbon-positive hotel, meaning the company plans to sequester more carbon dioxide than it outputs by investing in practices like regenerative agriculture and zero-waste dining.
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The ambitious hotel opened its doors to the public on October 15 and, like the rest of Denver, we were eager to see if the finished product fulfilled all our biophilic fantasies. So, we spent a night in the trendy new hotel to see if the design, amenities, dining, and sustainability practices live up to the hype. Here are our takeaways.
Design
The verdict: Yes, it lives up to the hype. Intentional, thoughtful design is woven through every floor of the Populus Hotel from the building materials and the interior design down to the smell.
The details: While it’s been widely advertised that the Populus’ fenestration is meant to mimic the bark of an aspen tree, you may not know that this motif continues inside. “We’ve been spending the last 50 to 100 years trying to push nature out of our cities,” says Jon Buerge, president of Urban Villages and developer of the project. “So the entire thesis of this building is we’re bringing nature back into the city.”
In the lobby, a palette of warm browns, sage greens, and pacifying grays pair with natural materials including beetle-killed pine and reclaimed snow fences to make the space feel like you’re wandering through a forest floor. Even the aroma of the building is earthy, and no, it’s not an artificial fragrance they’re pumping through the vents. The smell emanates from a striking art installation hanging above the bar inside the ground-floor restaurant, Pasque. The installation, conceived by Wildman Chalmers Design, is a tapestry of reishi mushroom leather, an environmentally friendly alternative to animal leather.
As you step off the elevator to the guest floors, you’ll notice the hallways are much darker than the light-soaked lobby. The intention is twofold. For one, dim lighting tends to bring people’s volume levels down—a side effect welcomed by those hoping to catch a little extra shut-eye. The darkness is also meant to signal that you’ve left the forest floor and journeyed into the heart of the aspen tree.
The guest rooms opt for minimalism rather than a dizzying assortment of curated artwork. Besides a pressed wildflower framed by each bed, most rooms let the signature eye-shaped window (and either the city or mountain views beyond) serve as the artistic centerpiece.
Finally, emerge into the lush canopy at Stellar Jay, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar. Here, curved forest green banquettes, glossy wooden high-top counters, and a wall of windows behind the double-sided bar that open for unobstructed views of the capitol building make this the literal and figurative crown jewel of the Populus. If you can, request a seat by the back wall made entirely of wood from apple, Siberian plum, green ash, and plum trees that was scorched using the Japanese art of yakisugi.
Dining
The verdict: Yes, it lives up to the hype—if you’re willing to be patient. We received slower-than-average service at Pasque (not uncommon for a newly opened restaurant), but the innovative dishes were worth the wait.
The details: Executive chef Ian Wortham, previously of Tavernetta and Frasca Food and Wine, helms two on-site dining experiences: nature-inspired fare at Pasque on the ground floor and smoky food roasted over embers at Stellar Jay on the rooftop. While you’ll find upscale vibes and veggie-forward dishes at both, book a resy at Pasque for a more formal dinner and head upstairs to Stellar Jay if you’re looking for a livelier crowd.
At Pasque, seasonal produce sourced from local farms shines in inventive appetizers like the savory beignets, a mix of spinach, artichoke, fontina, espelette pepper, and honey fried into bite-size balls. If you have room for a hearty middle course, opt for the rye tagliatelle topped with Colorado lamb ragu and feta. And while you may be tempted by the bison loin or pastured chicken as your main, we recommend the Alaskan halibut. Cooked to flaky perfection and crowned with trout roe, the fillet is covered in a smoked sabayon sauce you might find yourself slurping right from the plate. You know what they say: You can’t rush art, and that’s particularly true at Pasque. We waited roughly 45 minutes between each course, but a steady flow of cocktails placated us.
Before you even step foot in Stellar Jay, a heady aroma of veggies and proteins roasting over a live fire greets you at the elevator doors. The service is much speedier upstairs, but you shouldn’t skip signature cocktails like the prickly pear caipirinha or the Mohawkan old fashioned. Carnivores will rejoice over a robust menu of bison, venison, quail, and pork collar, but don’t be disappointed, vegetarians. In fact, we’d argue that plant-based plates like the roasted beets with shredded smoked ricotta and charred sweet potatoes coated in smoked butter and topped with fried capers are the star of Stellar Jay’s show.
Amenities
The verdict: No, it doesn’t live up to the hype.
The details: Although the Populus provides a unique, beautiful environment for travelers and locals to unwind, there isn’t much to do besides eat and drink (not that we’re knocking a good meal). If you’re looking for a lavish staycation spot with a pool, a spa, and room service, this isn’t it (the hotel doesn’t have those). However, if you’re visiting on a work trip or looking for a place to host a corporate shindig, the property has eight different event spaces to choose from, ranging from the Hollow, which holds 16, to the Stellar Jay Lounge, which can accommodate 40. Guests also have access to a modest gym (with two Peloton bikes), and there’s a Little Owl coffee shop in the lobby.
Sustainability
The verdict: It’s too early to tell, but they’ve laid a strong foundation.
The details: The first thing general manager George Prine does when he gets to work each day is check the trash can. Why? Because there should only ever be a bag or two inside. Populus’ operations are designed to minimize waste and return as many nutrients back to the planet as possible. For food waste from restaurants Pasque and Stellar Jay, that means enlisting the help of the BioGreen360, a machine that converts 100 percent of scraps into compost. “We’ve all heard ‘farm to table,’ but what we’re doing now at Populus is bringing it from the table back to the farm,” says Thomas Hudson, the hotel’s environmental experience manager.
The design of the building itself holds a few sustainability secrets, too. Those signature eyeball-shaped windows each have a “hood” at the top, regulating the amount of light that pours into the guest rooms and reducing the amount of energy needed to keep the suites cool. Throughout the building, recycled materials serve as natural design elements, from the exposed low-carbon concrete ceilings to a massive Rio Grande cottonwood tree that Longmont’s Urban WoodWorks dried in a kiln for 42 days and cut into a one-of-a-kind reception desk. Did we mention the tree returned 243 gallons of water back to the watershed?
Through Populus’ One Night, One Tree program, guests get to play an active role in reforestation just by booking a room. For each night you stay, the National Forest Foundation will plant a tree in either the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests or the White River National Forest. Their goal is to plant 20,000 trees in 2024. The team also partnered with the U.S. Forest service to plant an initial 70,000 trees in Gunnison County during the summer of 2022 to offset their carbon footprint during construction. While these planting initiatives are promising, the trees need to survive into adulthood to remove the estimated amount of carbon from the atmosphere, and Colorado Public Radio reported that roughly 80 percent of these Gunnison seedlings are already dead due to cold weather and drought.
