Frank Day

My blogging series about the different Boulderado owners and managers had to come to an end eventually, I guess. And perhaps this is the blog post I've been pointing towards ever since I first started sharing the history of these people. Beginning with William Beattie and Hugh Mark, then moving on to the Hutsons, Ralph Hume, and the Howards, and continuing with Louis Winterberger, William Brantmeyer, and Bart Bortles.

Bortles and Dick Dorman sold the hotel to Boulderado Hotel Ltd. in 1980 after just two years of ownership. Sid Anderson stayed on as the general manager. Frank Day became the new managing general partner of the hotel. At the time, Day described the rooms as "threadbare and tatty, but clean and comfortable." He decided to renovate the building from top to bottom.

First to be done were the fourth and fifth floor guest rooms on the west side of the building. Rooms that connected to share a bathroom were converted into large suites. Rooms without bathrooms had them installed in what used to be the closets. Each room received a makeover in time, and the tradition of each Hotel Boulderado room having a different decorating scheme was born. (Each of our guest rooms are individually decorated with their own carpet, drape, and wallpaper.) At the time, the hotel was also full of original antique furniture, but most of them had lost their luster over the years. Every piece of furniture was refinished on the fourth-floor porch, cataloged, and photographed.

Amazingly enough, the Hotel Boulderado remained open during this entire process. While seven or eight rooms were taken out of the rental inventory, the rest remained open to guests. By the time the renovation had been completed, it brought the hotel's room count to 42. With an occupancy averaging 92% almost every night, Day felt confident in expanding the guest rooms at the Hotel Boulderado. First one expansion in 1985 and then another in 1989 increased the hotel's inventory to the current 160 and also added the Events Center in the North Wing.

Without the initial renovation and the subsequent expansion, the Hotel Boulderado may never have recovered the grandeur it exudes today. When you walk into the lobby, the cherrywood staircase gleams, the stained-glass ceiling glitters, and friendly faces greet you at the door and the front desk. This is the Boulderado that I've come to love and treasure, made possible by the people who contributed over the years not only to the hotel, but the hotel's history as well. Boulderado employees are also caretakers of a landmark, and we make sure to hold that duty in as high a regard as we do for our daily tasks.

Live Tweet Transcript from the Murder Mystery

Live tweeting the Murder Mystery on Friday night was so much fun, I wanted to share it with y'all! I've copied the transcript of my shenanigans below for you to read in case you missed out on the live version.

Our Murder Mysteries are part interactive, part show, and every table is given the task to band together and solve the mystery. My table was full of Boulderado employees -- Yuko and I, two bellman, one of our valet gentlemen, a front desk agent, a housekeeper, and a server from Q's Restaurant. What follows is our adventures in Murder Mysteries:

• Woohoo! Livetweeting the Murder Mystery! Some guests are already here . . . 6:26 PM
  
• Nate and Chris just ordered our special "Vintage Drink" -- The Manhattan. "It's good, but it's STRONG" 6:43 PM
  
• Getting to know each other at the table and expressing how much each employee contributes to the Boulderado 6:56 PM
  
• We've been taken into the Evergreen Room, which has been converted into a Radio Station for the evening 7:03 PM
  
• Reviewing the Murder Mystery rules: Out of respect for the dead, don't touch the body! 7:06 PM
  
• Reviewing the Murder Mystery rules: Don't remove or deface the clues, or follow the characters out of the room 7:06 PM
  
• We are in October 30th, 1941 from now on (so ignore the laptop and the tweeting) 7:07 PM
  
• Suspenders and pillbox hats and pocket kerchiefs, oh my! 7:10 PM
  
• RT @death_party: And so it begins... But who shall die? And how? And most importantly, how? 7:16 PM
  
• RT @death_party: Or rather... Why?! And why can't the tweeter write properly? Hopefully it shall all soon become clear... 7:16 PM
  
• @death_party is the troupe we always bring in to perform our Murder Mystery shows. They're funny, engaging, and always keep you guessing. 7:17 PM
  
• "Now I may be mistaken, but outside Chicago, an ice pick is not part of a standard formal dinner setting." 7:25 PM
  
• Uh oh. Someone's dead. 7:25 PM
  
• Our table was taken back to the murder scene first out of everyone else! 7:26 PM
  
• RT @death_party: Oo, just about dinnertime. @hotelboulderado always has deliciousness. Also, dinner and murder always go together. Ruh-roh. 7:33 PM
  
• What's for dinner? Green Bean Almondine, Boulderado Au Gratin Potatoes, and Homestyle Cheese Ravioli 7:34 PM
  
• Some of these actors are on the naughty side! 7:44 PM
  
• Virginia Hills just asked Keith if he has a car with a big back seat! 7:51 PM
• I'm glad other people are asking questions -- I've had two cocktails already! 7:56 PM
  
• "Oh, I like this table more and more!" 8:02 PM
  
• "I am so confused, I don't even know who's who!" 8:07 PM
  
• Back to the Radio Room for the live performance -- Where's Bob? 8:18 PM
  
• Toby never knew when he signed up for our Murder Mystery that he'd become a part of the show! 8:22 PM
  
• Another dead body -- uh oh! 8:23 PM
  
• Someone else just dropped dead -- double uh oh! 8:24 PM
  
• RT @death_party: More death! Oh noez! And guest actors... A little short for a hero. 8:28 PM
  
• Trying out motives and theories on each other -- no one can agree on anyhing 8:34 PM
  
• Back to examine another crime scene -- two bodies, no ideas yet 8:36 PM
  
• My other team members are examining the clues 8:37 PM
  
• "We need a belt lineup!" 8:44 PM
  
• RT @death_party: While there many clues to be had, I don't know that anyone here has any of them. 8:49 PM
  
• Do we have it? Maybe? I have no idea any more . . . 8:53 PM
  
• RT @death_party: Looking at more bodies... Not as exciting as it sounds. 9:09 PM
  
• It's crunchtime! We have to declare who killed who, how, and why. 9:18 PM
  
• Everyone in the dining area has furrowed brows and confused looks 9:31 PM
  
• "It's time to clarify a few things, because you all have no clue" 9:33 PM
  
• OUR TEAM WON!!!!! 9:38 PM
  
• Signing off my livetweet -- Go Team Hotel Boulderado! 9:39 PM