BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — A small group of employees chanted “Sí se puede” — the motto of United Farm Workers of America — on Thursday across the street from the Hotel Boulderado, a 117-year-old staple on Boulder’s popular Pearl Street strip.
As suitcases roll in and out of the luxury hotel, and wait staff sets patio tables, the employees across the street are setting up a movement.
“We all feel very strongly that it's not going to change unless we do something to change it,” said Maggie Roesink. She’s worked at Hotel Boulderado for nearly two years.
She said her first year at the hotel was “fantastic.” Year two, however, wasn’t the same. She says new ownership — when the hotel was taken over by non-local owner AJ Capital Partners — changed her experience.
“I went from [working] five days a week down to two days a week, or back up to three, back up to four, like they're really just yanking me around,” she said.
Roesink wasn’t alone. She found several other employees in the same situation. Front Desk Supervisor Birdie Smart found themselves surrounded by fewer and fewer people.
“I was coming in with a manager there, with at least another desk agent — if not two — so we could get full support for everything that we needed to do,” they said, recalling their first few years on the job. “Slowly, over the last year or so, our numbers have dwindled.”
Other employees told Denver7 similar stories of cut hours turning into lost wages.
With the help of UNITE HERE — a hospitality labor union with over 3,000 members in Colorado — they started to organize.
Wednesday, the group went to management with their intent to unionize. The hotel is managed by Shulte Hospitality Management Group, which manages hotels for chains like Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt.
“We went in there and we were like, we feel unheard, we feel we feel used, and we feel like we're not representing the community or serving the community to the best of our abilities,” Roesink said.
Those are skills the employees will need in the coming months with Sundance Film Festival coming to Boulder in January.
“On the one hand, we're really excited, because that does mean a lot of people coming to the hotel, staying at the hotel, frequenting the restaurants,” Roesink said. “On the other hand, we need our pay to reflect what the cost of living is going to look like.”
In 2025, Sundance reported $196.1 million in economic impact in Utah when over 85,000 people bought tickets to festival events.
UNITE HERE has worked with Shulte-managed properties in the past. A spokesperson from the union says they’ve followed union contracts in the past, and they’re hopeful the management group will allow employees to organize without interference in Boulder.
Denver7 reached out to both AJ Capital Partners and Shulte Hospitality Management Group. Neither responded to the requests for comment.
