Denver’s Patterson Inn is so far the only business that has applied for the newly available hospitality license.
It was last month that Denver started to accept applications from people who wanted to open smoking lounges or run bus tours where consumers are able to consume cannabis.
So far just one person has applied, according to Eric Escudero, director of communications for Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses.
Chris Chiari, owner of Capitol Hill bed and breakfast The Patterson Inn is that person.
Chiari is the deputy director of the Colorado branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and has previously invested in a local dispensary.
Speaking to the Denver Post, Chiari said that he first dreamt of turning The Patterson Inn into a cannabis-friendly space about a decade ago when he walked by and saw the address: 420 E. 11th Ave.
The property ended up selling to other buyers, but when it came back on the market in 2018, Chiari went for it.
“What I envisioned then and am working on today,” he said, “is to combine four-star, boutique hospitality with legally licensed cannabis hospitality and consumption.”
According to the Denver Post, if approved for a license, Chiari plans to build out the hotel’s 1,000-square-foot carriage house into a smoking lounge for guests, who will be able to bring their own marijuana and use pipes, papers and bongs provided by the establishment to indulge.
The lounge is expected to open by mid-2022.