During its 132-year history, the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa has entertained titans of industry, presidents (both foreign and domestic), and the Beatles. Surely its longtime concierge Leewood Grove III knows how to keep your out-of-state relatives happy during their Thanksgiving visits.

Below, his best five tips for hosting.

5280 November 2024
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1. You are the kind of Coloradan who bushwhacks through bear-inhabited forest to find a slice of solitary wilderness. Your guests—especially the ones from Kansas—just want to gawk at a majestic peak, so keep the outdoorsing simple. “The perfect Rocky Mountain view,” Grove says, “is [from atop] Lookout Mountain.”

2. Grove will often survey big groups and break them up based on interests, sending natural spectators to a Nuggets game, for example, and more virile guests to, say, an ax-throwing parlor. Denver has something for everyone; don’t shoehorn everyone into doing the same thing.

3. Two items tourists never pack enough of are moisturizer and lip balm. Grove keeps extras at his desk for unprepared lodgers. Follow his lead by preparing a welcome bag stocked with both, along with sunscreen for the state’s harsh rays and a spare Nalgene to help prevent dehydration in our arid climate.

4. That new speakeasy/tapas bar/petting zoo is all anyone can talk about, but you haven’t had a chance to try it. Now is not the time. Before Grove will recommend a restaurant (a go-to is Uptown’s Coperta), he’ll eat there multiple times to ensure guests won’t be disappointed while dining in Denver.

5. Should tempers flare, “stay positive,” Grove says. He always leaves his desk to sit down with disgruntled guests in order to make them feel like they’re being heard—while also isolating the virus before it infects the rest of the party.