Shorehouse Hotel Open Day: Inside BV’s Newest Boutique Hotel – by Carly Winchell

The Shorehouse Hotel hosted an open house on Friday, April 26, giving the public the opportunity to preview the new boutique apartment hotel located in the middle of Buena Vista’s East Main Street. The hotel officially opened its doors on Wednesday May 1st.

CKS River Supply and the Shorehouse Hotel are located at 426 East Main Street. Located above CKS River Supply, the Shorehouse seeks to embrace river culture and everything that makes Buena Vista (BV) unique while tailoring its services to the “traveler” not the “tourist.”

When asked how traveler and tourist were differentiated, account manager Bailey Wilson explained: “This one is a little bit more. You are immersed in the local culture. It’s an education in local culture, and many people who come to visit are here for the adventure. They are here because they know Buena Vista exists.

“They want a boutique place that really speaks to the locality of the city rather than being more of a typical tourist who is just looking for a chain hotel,” added Ashley Celis, senior account manager in public relations. “This guest is really looking to be a part of Buena Vista, visit the local sites and see what the city has to offer.”

“We need things like this to get things moving here,” commented BV board candidate and county commissioner Gina Lucrezi, who stopped by to tour the new business.

Most of the products featured in the hotel are locally sourced. Many pieces of furniture have been “hunted” and refurbished. Each piece presents a list highlighting the people who collaborated in bringing the pieces together.

For example, in the Daisy Chain Room, the cabinets, counters, cabinets and ironwork were made by Moonhill Ironworks in Poncha Springs. Sean Geisler’s iconic stars are visible in the ironwork details on the building’s exterior.

The production of the wallpaper and shower screen was carried out by Frontier Graphics of BV. Glass installation was done by Valley Glass in Salida. Body care products were provided by Sex, Plants and Rock & Roll in Salida.

The rooms

The term “apartment” in “apartment hotel” means that each suite has a full set of amenities, including a fully functional kitchen, washer and dryer, and bathroom. Cleaning products and other items selected by owner Megan Kingman are environmentally friendly.

The Shorehouse has four themed suites, each showcasing the works of different local artists. Three suites are located on the second floor: the Layover Day, Daisy Chain and Magpie rooms. The aptly named throne room occupies the entire top floor.

Each room is designed around a local or river-related “vibe” and features the aesthetic of a local artist, showcasing the artist’s original works as well as views of downtown BV and the mountains surrounding areas.

The artists themselves were selected by owner Megan Kingman. All are female Chaffee artists that Kingman selected based on his own appreciation of their style and their ability to match his ideas for the design of each piece.

Three of the bedrooms are ADA accessible via the elevator. Pets are not allowed in any of the rooms. The kitchens are stocked with pots, pans, and everything a guest would need to call these rooms home for a night (or more).

Stopover day

The Layover Day Room features works by artist Brynn Ronning Sandoval and is ADA accessible. It has a simpler, more relaxed aesthetic that embraces the spirit of a day of layover on a rafting excursion.

Ronning’s painting of a serpent representing the river is featured in the suite’s living room. When guests first enter the room, they are greeted by a welcome piece showing people floating lazily in water.

A layover day, in river terms, occurs when a trip is interrupted to camp for two nights in the same place to relax, and the atmosphere of the piece embraces this idea with a calm aesthetic so that it is d so much easier to sit down. .

The bedroom features a king bed and daybed, bathroom, living room, full kitchen, laundry room, and outdoor balcony.

Daisy chain

The Daisy Chain Room features works by artist Lindsay Sutton-Stephens and is ADA accessible. He has a bright personality, with a 70s feeling and a vibrant color palette.

Bright wallpaper with a repeated pattern of crocodiles immediately catches the eye and finds its way into the bedroom. The titular daisy painting is located in the kitchen. There is an almost Pop Art atmosphere in the living room, with a “disco party” painting and a series of photographs hanging above the television.

Brightly colored clothing hangs on the wall, giving guests the opportunity to put them on and take a photo.

This room has a king bed, 1 bathroom, living room, full kitchen, laundry room, and outdoor balcony.

Pie

The Magpie Room features works by artist Jenny Noreen and is ADA accessible. The theme of the room was inspired by Cockeyed Liz’s pet magpie, a local madam of the historic House of Joy brothel, located next door to where the Shorehouse stands today.

The design of the building incorporates the brothel between the CKS/Shorehouse building and the Buena Viking (a hamburger restaurant). The “hole” in the middle creates an open space for a patio.

Shorehouse website states:

“This history was not something to erase, but rather to embrace and integrate. Working with local architect Steve Carr, this historic Main Street building has opened a new chapter. In river terms, keeping the “hole in the middle” creates an eddy, or a path forward. This historic building became the poetic link we needed to implement our vision. And it doesn’t hurt to have some historical town gossip to tell,” the website says.

An old newspaper article is framed and hangs in the Magpie Room, telling the story to suite guests.

The Magpie Room draws on a variety of textures, including the exposed concrete brick of the elevator shaft. The art in this suite is inspired by nature and animals. It includes various birds, such as a hummingbird in the kitchen, an owl in the living room, and a screen print of a magpie in one of the bedrooms.

This room has two king beds, two bathrooms, a living room, a full kitchen, and an outdoor balcony.

Throne Room

The Throne Room features works by artist Darcie Smith and is not ADA accessible. It is the largest of the four suites and occupies the entire top floor of the building.

The room takes its name from the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Throne Room is accessible by whitewater rafting. It features rocks designed to look like chairs. The aesthetic of the piece is based on the colors of the canyon. The titular painting itself might be missed upon first entering the room, but it hangs in a prominent place above the stairs, directly into the gaze of anyone coming back down the stairs.

The paint was also used to create wallpaper that decorates the back wall of a small bathroom located off the suite’s kitchen.

This room offers the best views of the four options. The added height is enough to see over the tops of other downtown buildings and provide panoramic views of Collegiate Peaks to the west, Sangre de Cristos to the south, and Fourmile to the east. The bedrooms feature large open windows that embrace the view for an undoubtedly beautiful place to wake up.

This room has two master suites with outdoor patios (two king beds, one queen bed, and one daybed). Two bathrooms, a living room, a full kitchen and a laundry room complete the suite.

Details about each piece and their featured artist are available at ShorehouseBV.com.

Local company Cloud Level Media has also produced short video presentations on each artist which are available (or will be available) on YouTube:

The Magpie, Jenny Noreen

Layover Day, Brynn Ronning Sandoval

The Throne Room, Darcie Smith

The Daisy Chain, Lindsay Sutton-Stephens (unavailable at time of writing)

According to the booking site, the standard rate starts at:

$770 per night for the throne room

$385 per night for Magpie

$352 per night for layover day

$275 per night for Daisy Chain

Prices are subject to change depending on the time of year and exact tour dates. The Shorehouse Hotel will begin accepting reservations on May 1, 2024.

Now that the hotel is about to be officially opened, Megan Kingman hopes to spend more time with her kids and enjoy The Narrows (one of her favorite places on the Ark to surf the river).

You will receive a code with which to access the rooms. Although there is no traditional “hotel front desk,” guests can direct questions to employees working at CKS River Supply downstairs during business hours.