New Hyatt Studios Breaks Ground in Steamboat Springs as Ski-Town Lodging Demand Persists

Even as hotel bookings dipped across the West last winter, demand for quality lodging in ski towns remains strong — a trend now taking shape in Steamboat Springs, where a new Hyatt Studios hotel broke ground earlier this month.

The project is rising at 1801 Lincoln Avenue, a 2.71-acre site formerly home to the Windemere Landscape & Garden Center, which closed in September 2021. According to Steamboat Pilot & Today, the property has since hosted temporary tenants including the Yampa Valley Recycles Depot and Garcia Construction before construction on the hotel began.

A New Extended-Stay Option

The finished hotel will span four stories and roughly 57,971 square feet, with about 114 rooms. Planned amenities include a storage room for skis and bikes, a grab-and-go marketplace with food and drink options, a fitness center, an outdoor patio with two hot tubs, fireplaces and lounge areas, and a laundry room. Every room will include a full-size kitchen, catering to the extended-stay travelers the brand is designed around — a mix of vacationers and workers transitioning into permanent housing in the community.

Kevin Schramm, senior vice president of growth for Hyatt's Essentials portfolio, said the groundbreaking builds on the momentum the brand is seeing with developers like Caliber, and noted that Hyatt Studios was created to serve growing demand for modern extended-stay lodging in secondary and tertiary markets while offering an efficient operating model for owners.

Local and Developer Perspective

Sarah Leonard, CEO of the Steamboat Springs Chamber, welcomed the project, saying the investment brings new jobs, expanded lodging options, and additional tax revenue that helps fund community services and amenities.

While the hotel will operate under Hyatt's brand, it's being developed by Caliber, a real estate management firm that handles financing and development for the project rather than Hyatt itself. The Steamboat Springs property is one of 15 Hyatt hotels Caliber plans to develop.

Caliber CEO Chris Loeffler said the groundbreaking reflects the firm's broader hospitality strategy of delivering extended-stay lodging in markets where demand continues to outpace supply, pointing to Steamboat Springs as one of the strongest hospitality markets in the Mountain West given its year-round tourism, workforce housing needs, and limited extended-stay inventory.

The hotel is targeting an opening in the second half of next year.