Colorado hotels add bunk beds to save money for families, groups of skiers and more

The next time you book a stay at a Colorado hotel, you may see a new room option among all the double-queens and kings: rooms with bunk beds.

No, they’re not hostel-style bunk rooms shared with strangers (though plenty of those exist, too). They’re private guest rooms like you’re used to, with the added bonus of one or two bunk (or lofted) beds.

Designed for families and groups of people traveling together, bunk beds are becoming big business at several new and newly renovated lodgings throughout the Centennial State. Like a vacation rental, they allow groups to stay together comfortably all in one place, instead of splitting off into separate rooms. They can also make travel more affordable and, frankly, more fun, especially for little ones.

If the last time you gleefully called “dibs” on the top or bottom bunk was years (maybe even decades) ago, you’ll feel just like a kid again at these Colorado hotels.

The Wyman

When Shane Fuhrman and Haley Morgan bought a 1902 building in downtown Silverton in late 2016, they had their work cut out for them, and spent the next 2½ years renovating and restoring the property, which reopened as The Wyman Hotel in May 2019.

Among its 15 rooms, the hotel has two suites that incorporate bunk beds: one with a king bed and two twin extra-long beds lofted above it, and the other with a king bed, an adjacent set of twin extra-long bunk beds and an extra-long daybed. (The Wyman also has a shared bunk room with 10 beds.)

They added bunks to the suites — which also have kitchenettes — to help bridge the gap between a traditional hotel room and a vacation rental. Silverton is off the beaten path in southwest Colorado and it’s tiny (home to roughly 500 residents), so there aren’t many options for groups or families coming to ski the expert-only terrain at Silverton Mountain or drive off-road vehicles in the San Juans.

“We just wanted to maximize the capacity and the utility of the building,” said Fuhrman, who is also Silverton’s mayor and owns two hotels in nearby Durango. “We thought there was a better way to do double-queen rooms and be a little more fun and creative, a little more design-forward.”

The Wyman Hotel, 1371 Greene St., Silverton, 970-799-4952

Kinship Landing

Kinship Landing has room layouts and options you won’t find at a traditional hotel. (Case in point: It has an outdoor “camp deck” where guests pop their own tents and sleep outside, plus private and shared bunkrooms.) That’s because the boutique hotel’s goal is to help travelers connect with Colorado Springs residents and have authentic experiences in the region, not spend all of their time (and money) hidden away in their rooms.

To that same end, Kinship Landing has six rooms that include one queen bed topped with a lofted twin. They’re designed to be just the right size for small groups or families, who still have plenty of room to spread out in the hotel’s light-filled common areas and beyond.