DENVER — A postcard from 1960 from the La Vista Motel in Denver reads like this:
"Dear Mom and Helen…It’s July 19, 1960, and we arrived here this evening. Wilma said to tell you she was going to drink coffee because it was free. We even see the mountains, Love, Rosetta, and Wilma."
Motorists back in 1960 apparently loved their stop. Decades later, travelers are getting a second chance to stay at the motor motel on East Colfax.
After years of renovation, the 23-room motel is open. Call it vintage charm, but modern in convenience.
"This place has a checkered past," said Nathan Beal, the owner and developer of the La Vista. "It has been shut down by the city numerous times in its history."
From sketchy to super cool.
Beal saw the old motel on E. Colfax Avenue a few years ago, bought it, and had visions of returning it to 1956 postcard charm. And today, it’s open.
Beal wanted people to experience a roadside motel, and they may be stopping by the bus, too. The motel sits next to a future stop of the Bus Rapid Transit system.
We can’t do without technology, but taking a break from it, letting our brains imagine a life like Rosetta and Wilma, is what the La Vista can do.
It’s like a postcard from yesterday that you can check out and in today.
