Boulder Broker Inn

«If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.» That’s what grandma said. So, OK, they have lots of towels in the bathroom and there are fitted sheets on the bed, always a good thing. Oh, and the one bar of soap we were offered was easy to get out of the package. But grandma is no longer with us, so I’ll tell you the not nice stuff.
Do not stay at this hotel! It’s dangerous. There are huge fire hazards in the stairwells. There are rolls of carpet and bits of construction material to stumble over. Oh, and the mercury-​laden compact fluorescent lights are not protected, so if they break, guess what you’ll be breathing as you try to escape the building.
If there’s no fire, there are other things to deal with. It doesn’t seem as if the carpets have ever been cleaned, so there’s a general stink. Indeed, the first room we were offered smelled as though someone had died in there last week. The (really very nice) desk clerk said, «oh, someone else said the same thing about the room next door.» A clue?
The room we ended up in had an amazingly small window (it didn’t open) so the place was very dark and dingy, not helped by the dreary 1960s décor. The air conditioning unit was painfully noisy and didn’t seem to change the temperature much.
As others have noted, the wifi sucks even when you can get it. Which isn’t often.
If you live through the night, the free breakfast will not restore you (see reviews by others), nor will the fact that the hotel people apparently got a bulk deal on one particular French painting. It’s on every wall everywhere, randomly interspersed with pictures of famous sports people. Odd. Very odd.
Tonight, we’re at a Hampton Inn, where it’ll be all 5 star. What a relief!

This place is in need of an episode of «Undercover Boss.» There is no way that the current owner can be such a dimwit to have allowed his/​her hotel to get to this condition.
I was very aware that the place was quite dated but, for some reason, I felt that the hotel must have done something to make the historical feeling mesh with a functioning hotel… I was wrong.
I’ll start off with the good:
–The front desk staff has been friendly, although they did somehow misplace my driver’s license and credit card during the very short check-​in process.
Now the bad:
–I leave for work at 8am, and have yet to have a drop of hot, or even warm water during a shower. (Which is odd considering some reviews have complained about not getting any cold water.)
–The first morning the «Continental Breakfast» was only a dispenser of frosted flakes. There were a few store-​bought pastries the next morning.
–The TV is ancient, and has a buzzing sound louder than the volume output of whatever show is being watched. Luckily, there IS a remote. The remote is fortunate because the buttons on the TV itself have been smashed into the frame of the TV.
–I was hoping to be able to work from the hotel a bit without having to use my mobile hotspot for internet access, but unfortunately the «free wifi» exists only in the sense that you can connect to the hotel’s router. The router is not connected to the internet, so I guess, theoretically, that is «wifi.» When I asked about the lack of internet access the blame was placed on my computers (work laptop, and personal laptop) which both must have just happened to have stopped working during my stay.
–Not to beat a dead horse but the musky smell mixed with febreeze throughout the hotel just screams rotten, old, roach-​infested nastiness.
Pay an extra $ 20 a night for the next best hotel in the area, the peace of mind is worth it.

Look, I’m not mad at this place… It came through for me and provided a convenient affordable place to crash for a week while I completed training at UC Boulder, a mostly-​comfortable bed, functioning TV, free plentiful breakfast, and pleasant helpful staff who let me have all the coffee I wanted, always changed my money for bus fare each morning, and watched my luggage on my last day. As I sat here waiting for my shuttle (secretly writing this Unilocal review), I was offered a bottle of water and they kicked up the A/​C to cool me off in this dreadful summer heat. Although the décor looks like someone threw up the back of an antique store in here, the dark rooms and hallways were still a-​ok by me. The place has personality, with it’s stained glass canopies. The lobby has sofas and curtains that my gramma may have owned before I was born, and directly in front of the reception desk is a pretty cool giant fancy globe and football memorabilia — the logic behind this combo is baffling. The name «Broker Inn» (or is it the Roadway Inn, as I booked it online) is quite appropriate. If you’re BROKE, this is a the right place to crash. The hallways are Fabreezed to mask whatever odor, but again, didn’t matter because I smelled peaches and cream one day, and a garden another. The free breakfast consisted of juice, coffee, choice of cereals, oatmeal, fruit, bread and pastries. There is a little beauty shop next door (the Fuzzy Peach LOL) for anyone needing a Brazilian wax pronto, and plenty of eateries nearby, including a Sprouts grocery store for the health conscious folks. There is a bike shop in walking distance, and is right by the 225 and 204 bus. Lots of nice, normal bodies around. Some of them may have been ghosts, as this place has the furnishings and makings of a creaky old haunted house. Bottom line is that I enjoyed my stay here, it was clean, and people were friendly and easy going… down to the lady watching over breakfast. Gotta run… here’s my shuttle!

This place is a dump. It used to be nice back in the day. Now the AC didn’t work, the carpets are stained, the hallways reek of pot (not that I am against it, but this isn’t a dorm). The staff doesn’t seem to care about any of it. I would never stay there again.

We stayed one night at this hotel and were not impressed at all. We could have looked past the ancient décor if it had been clean and better kept, but that was not the case. In the room, there were cobwebs, splashes of who-​knows-​what on the walls, and the bed felt like it had crumbs on the sheet. Eh. The location is decent. It’s about two miles from Pearl Street and not far from Chautauqua Park. There is free wifi and a limited free breakfast consisting of dry cereal, store bought pastries, coffee, and one fruit option. I would not stay here again, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

Ehhh? It was ok. Decent bathroom, although the shower is just a trickle and takes three times as long to get you clean. The whole place has a musty smell that would be cured if only they’d replace the carpet. When checking out, the hotel desk clerk was rude. There is a bell on the desk that is attached to the counter. It looks antique and I asked if she’d mind if I rang it. With a rude tone she responded, «Go ahead. Knock yourself out». She needs an attitude adjustment.

This place is the Boulder Broker by name only. At one time, The Broker Inns in the Denver area were the epitome of excellence in food and service. Now, the name has been sold, the name remains outside, but the name is all that remains. Oh, that and the last remodel done by the Broker. This place is dated! Although it says «Broker» outside, it really is the Rodeway Inn and Suites, and here is my review of that place:
I don’t want to be mean, or take business away from anyone, but this place is a total anachronism — it’s from another place and another time. It’s not very well kept, either.
In our room, there were spots and stains all over the walls, a variety of cob webs, popcorn ceilings, poor plumbing, and a heater/​air-​conditioner that didn’t work. The remote for the TV didn’t work very well, either. Fortunately, we only planned on staying here one night, New Year’s Eve, as a way to avoid the drunks on the road. We would not have stayed any longer than that.
We went to the bar that night, and found the ubiquitous cob webs there, too. I was really wondering if anyone ever did any maintenance on the place. This whole place needs a good scrubbing, and another coat of paint. I did, however, like the sports memorabilia collection in the lobby, and in the bar. There are a lot of football helmets and jerseys leftover from when this place was in its heyday.
On the bright side, it only cost $ 50 for the night, $ 63 after taxes, and you just can’t beat that anywhere. Oh, and they are right across the parking lot from Carelli’s Italian Restaurant, a liquor store, and the William’s Village College Dorms.
If you want a very cheap, no frills place to stay during a short visit to Boulder, this is your hotel. If you want something a little nicer, move on down the road. There are a lot of good, fairly priced hotels in Boulder, but this isn’t one of them.
One more thing I remembered while checking below. You do get free wi-​fi, but my computer would not connect. I suspect the only free wi-​fi is in the lobby somewhere.

This place is on the edge. It could be so much better with just a few tweaks, maybe, and get a higher rating. The hotel is dated, kind of a Victorian western décor vibe, and it does look like the carpet is newer (5 years, maybe?), the walls are clean, and it’s quiet. Wifi was good.
My sisters’ and my room was with two queen beds. We did not have a fridge and microwave, even though our dad’s room did, so make sure you request that if you want/​need it! The water was, as mentioned previously, hot and hotter. Good luck getting a cool drink from the tap here.
Pool and hot tub looked really nice and inviting… we just didn’t have time. There looked to be a nice gas grill on the patio that guests can use too.
Breakfast was horrible. Horrible. It had more offerings than most hotels, and the cut melon was appealing. But that was it. What the heck is with the styrofoam?! Especially in Boulder! Styro plates, bowls, cups… oh, environmental hell here. Luke warm scrambled eggs in a chafing dish were obviously powdered and reconstituted. Disgusting. Why offer that? Oatmeal, prepackaged pastries, cold cereal… processed hell. Nothing remotely healthy. They did have «wheat» bread fortoast, but it was the store brand caramel colored type of wheat… not real. So beware. And the juices were disappointing too… very sweet, reeking of high fructose corn syrup. Luckily we had enough of our own food to skip this one. Yuck.
If I return to Boulder and have a choice in booking my room next time, I’ll try to find somewhere else (the Silver Saddle was affordable and much nicer).

If there was ever a place that needed to learn the word «upkeep», this was it. I guarantee this place was THE hotel/​bar to be at about thirty years ago… and that’s the problem: I’m not sure they have put a penny towards upkeep/​renovations SINCE thirty years ago!
Everything is old-​timey looking. Kind of a quirky, cool thing to have for a hotel… if they kept it all together. Everywhere you looked, however, things are just falling apart. Starting in the pool area. When you turn on the bubbles for the hot tub, it looks more like a champagne glass — tiny fizz that only comes out one side and dissipates before it reaches the middle. The umbrellas on the tables are old, ripped, dirty and, in some cases, mildewed! When you look around at the outer walls from the pool (the hotel does a kind of U shape with the pool in the middle), virtually every section of wall needs re-​painted. Some of these areas look like they have been re-​painted… and that’s the problem, you can see definite differences in colors of paint!
Going into my room, there was the distinct smell of marijuana from the previous guests (or our neighbors). There was no mistaking it. When I turned on the light to go to the restroom, two cockroaches skittered across the floor. Our «ironing board» had no pad on it… it was just the frame, so if I had tried to iron my shirts on it, I would have had a nice waffle iron pattern across my chest. Our beds had these gold looking frames for a head board. However, with a couple of the bars, the outer «gold» part was missing, revealing the gray metal bars underneath. The TVs were from about 20 years ago and several of the channels were not useable (including the premium channels they advertise) because all you get is a loud buzzing sound for audio. The switch that turns for the reading lights between the two beds did not work. In order to turn them on, I had to push in and turn ten to twelve times just to get one click… if I wanted both lights on, I had to then unplug the light, plug it back in and turn another ten to twelve times. If I wanted to have one side on, I had to repeat the process… and again for the other side and again to turn them back off. Takes about 5 minutes to turn off the lights.
Continuing with the theme of the hotel not spending a dime on upkeep and overhead in general… the «hot breakfast» consisted of a pile of disgusting eggs that sat there for three hours and a loaf of Kroger-​brand white and wheat bread sitting next to a toaster. Their coffee tasted like muddy water. After the first day, I decided I would rather walk a few hundred yards and pay for McDonalds coffee than drink the free «coffee» in my room.
On top of their lame excuse for «hot breakfast,» don’t expect the «room service» to be anymore accommodating. They do have it… as long as you are hungry between the hours of 430pm and 9pm. That’s it. No lunch, no afternoon snack by the pool, no late night munchies. Their bar? It opens at 3pm and closes whenever they feel like it. 9pm, 2am. You never know.
As there were a ton of us in town for a wedding, we were not the only ones to stay here. These are just my complaints. Others agreed with everything listed above, but also had some personal experiences of their own… those on the upper levels complained of a musty smell on the elevator, a/​c units that sounded like chainsaws, a bed whose frame busted and fell to the floor when a 100lb girl sat on it and one couple even had their room given away and had to sit and fight with the front desk for an hour after a cross country flight in order to get their already paid for room.
I have stayed in hotels more than 90% of the country. I even lived in a long-​term one for three months while doing a semester away. My father was a controller for several Marriott hotels. The work I do now deals with dozens of hotels across the country. I say all of this because I want to emphasize how bad it is that I have NEVER seen a hotel care so little about upkeep and all the little things. It’s completely baffling. Have I had a worse time in other hotels? Yes, but it’s normally because of one glaring problem while other things are great… there wasn’t one redeeming quality in this entire place. While one of the cheaper places to stay in Boulder during the summer, $ 70/​night plus taxes and fees is far from chump change.
To put it bluntly, if I had a time machine, I would go back to right before I clicked «Confirm Reservation» and punch two months ago me square in the face.

I keep trying to give the Broker a chance, but I just can’t do it anymore! I ordered the prime-​rib sliders last night, and I swear they brought me beef jerky on a roll… yuck.
not to mention, they don’t ever have the heat on and it’s freezing in there!

Beware if you have food allergies! They do not care! We were very disappointed with the Broker. My husband and I were going for our anniversary. I called a head and asked if we needed reservations. I was told they were recommended, but, not necessary. I have no idea why they take reservations. There was only two other couples in the whole restaurant. After waiting 5 minutes to be seated, we walked further into the restaurant to find someone to seat us. We ordered ice tea which tasted old. Before ordering our meal, I told the waiter about my food allergies that include peanuts. He cam back after talking to the chef and told me that almost everything on the menu included peanut oil. They could not tell me which items had peanut oil in them because they use it in all the sauces. I asked to see a manager. For a fine dining establishment you would think the manager would be dressed nice and would know what was going on in the kitchen. She came over in a t-​shirt and not looking like she wanted to talk to us at all. I asked her is she could tell me which items had peanut oil in them. She said she did not know, but, she could see if the chef could tell her. We told her we were surprised they used peanut oil in everything and she said «I was unaware about peanut allergies». Needless to say, we left without eating and gave our restaurant certificate to another couple. I informed the manager that I would be giving the Broker a bad review and she said «do whatever». What a disappointing restaurant experience. We will not recommend the Boulder Broker to anyone.

About 3 – 4 years ago this place was serving amazing Sunday brunch buffet with live music entertainment, Bango the balloon guy, Magician and absolutely amazing food and champagne. Today when we went back the only thing that left from all of the above is location. The variety is at its absolute minimum, it is all in the room which was in the past designated to dessert alone. Sad! And the quality of the food is at its lowest — dry pork, tough beef, no shrimp, and one champagne glass per person. Desert menu is limited to 3 dishes and the highlight of those is hot chocolate chip cookies. At first we thought it is all a big joke, but after talking to one of the chefs we realized that this place has new owner and is going downhill at speed of light.
Do not come here if you are hoping for sophisticated and delicious Sunday brunch, planning to wow your mother for mother’s day.
BTW, we also had
$ 25 certificate for dine-​in which the owner did not honor at all. I guess the new owner (the guy at the front door) is trying to cut corners and does not care about reputation and quality.
Oh, and reservations are not needed any more– the place was only ¼th full.

I had read the reviews before I stayed at the Broker Inn, and it seems like the other guests and I stayed in two different places. Other reviews characterize the Broker as «classy,» «well maintained,» etc. In my opinion, the hotel is mediocre in almost every sense — and I travel a lot for business. The desk staff were terse. My hotel room lacked the usual travel items such as a pad of paper, pen, and information about the local area. The gym mentioned on the internet was non-​existent. The wireless was the slowest I’ve dealt with in years. The free breakfast was awful. You get the idea.
One bright spot is the evening bartender, Matt. Quick, helpful, and just an all around great guy.
My Boulder hosts asked about the hotel — they’d never used it to house guests before. I recommended that they look for alternative lodging for out-​of-​towners.

NOTE:
This review is now obsolete: the Broker’s restaurant has changed hands, no longer features roast beef, and is a shadow of its former self.
dw
There is something about a Sunday champagne buffet that calms me. Helps me think that at least something is right with the world. Such is the weekly spread at the Boulder Broker Inn.
A huge slab of prime rib to start off? Or a more traditional omlette made to order. (Don’t tell anybody, but one Sunday after a particularly trying Saturday night I asked the guys behind the line to make me a «Kentucky Benedict» which I made up on the spot: on a bed of split bisquits, a slab of prime rib, topped with a poached egg and doused with hollandaise sauce.)
I had to take a nap.
There is an ample salad bar but I seem to be the only one who visits it, as the massive desert-​go-​round flanks it, along with a wall of shrimp on ice.
Weekly staples include traditional breakfast items (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, bisquits and gravy), the ever-​present prime rib plus a food theme for the week such as «Mediterranean» or «Sea Food.» I have to admit that I generally stick to the basics but when the «Italian» theme rolls around I trough seriously.
The attentive wait staff is uniformly generous with the champagne (and orange juice if you’re a lightweight). There is even junk fare for your fat and obnoxious kids (corn dogs, etc.). There is just no way to go away disappointed from this reasonably priced feast.
It’s a Sunday tradition with me, and if you see me requesting a «Kentucky Benedict,» you might just want to try one.

We just stayed over ninth at the Broker nice rooms well maintained the staff was very nice and the Sunday brunch was wonderful.

Two words: lunch buffet.
This is a classy place with great atmosphere and great food. The lunch buffet is one of the best deals in town, considering the quality of the offerings. They’ve even got a really, really cool bar. I’ve been there nights drinking beer and watching the game with the guys while a wedding party takes over the banquet room and casual diners and families mingle in the dining room.
Never stayed at the hotel, but I’ve heard it’s nice.