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St Julien Hotel and Spa
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Valet
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
27 reviews for St Julien Hotel and Spa
I have eaten and stayed at the St. Julien as well as worked there in the salon. This review is ONLY for the spa and, very specifically, for the pedicures. Aimee is great. She will give you the best spa pedicure in town and does an excellent polish. The metal tools are autoclaved but the files are reused. I'd like them to change that and give the files to the client to take home. As a licensed industry pro, I know it is the only thing to do.
The rest of the hotel is basically overcharge and underdeliver. When they do it well it's really good but there is little consistency.
Considering the last few reviewers on this hotel, and my own recent experience, I'd like to take this opportunity to put forward an open memo to the owners of the St. Julien Hotel:
If you do not hire and train better staff, you will go out of business.
Period.
I took a friend of mine to high tea at the St. Julien. She's a younger girl, and this was her very first experience of having afternoon tea. We dressed for the occasion, in silk and expensive sunglasses, and were thoroughly tickled by the very idea of taking a Saturday afternoon to sip tea and eat delicious finger-foods.
They took our excitement and stomped all over it.
I simply cannot abide bad service, especially when I'm paying an arm and a leg for the privilege of experiencing it. When I go to a high-scale hotel, I expect to be greeted cordially and escorted to my seat. What I got was a (I grant you, perfectly nice) freshman in college who told us, "It's in here," handed us our menus, and left us to find our own seat in the dining room. No word about whether tea was available on the patio as well. No instructions. No "your server will be with you shortly." No "enjoy." This after I'd made reservations - which no one bothered to check, even though I gave them my name.
Nope. She just dumped us and scooted off. To be perfectly fair to her, I'm betting she was actually a waitress in the restaurant and not a hostess. That said, I've seen the prices at Jill's. I want better service than I get at my local sports bar, which is about the level I got from her. Friendly, matter-of-fact, but strictly hands-off. You're on your own.
We waited fifteen minutes for a waiter to notice us. Hardly surprising, since there was evidently no communication from the girl who seated us to the waitstaff who manage the tea service, and since tea is served in the hotel lobby, the waitstaff might have legitimately thought initially that we were just waiting for our room to be ready.
When the waitress arrived, she was again: nice, perfectly polite, and totally void of anything like high-quality service. She asked us what kind of tea we'd like and disappeared. No explanation of the teas, no discussion of the food we were about to be served, nothing. Very take-care-of-yourself, again. Same with the other waitress. It was like putting in an order for a latte at a coffeehouse. For this I wore heels?
I would like to take a moment to note that one of the servers, Christian, was the only employee of the St. Julien we encountered who delivered the quality of service we expected. He was constantly alert for anything we might need, very helpful, ready to explain, and knew exactly how full to fill the teapots so that the amount of water was juuuust sufficient to fill a teacup. He also knew how to say please, thank you, and excuse me, which is a lesson in common courtesy that evidently everyone else skipped. He was perfection.
Only problem? We weren't his table. He was just being good at his job.
So three cheers for Christian. Someone get that guy a raise. If you wanted to make him manager, O Owners of the St. Julien, you could do far, far worse. And considering the quality of your current upper-level staff, you don't need me to tell you that.
P.S. The sandwiches, scones, and desserts served with tea were excellent. My compliments to the chef. Half of high tea is the experience of high tea, and you utterly failed to deliver it.
Unfortunately Yelp limits reviews to 5000 words. Long story short:
After receiving a ($350 a night) room that had a broken armoire, broken outlet, broken AC, broken tub and a kind of broken faucet, all we asked was that we had a functioning AC so that we could have a comfortable room on our wedding night after tossing and turning the night before our wedding and only getting a few hours of sleep.
When this basic request that I asked to be completed twice prior to leaving for the wedding ceremony did not get completed, I complained and was poo-pooed, called a liar, mocked and was given an ultimatum of either accepting a 25% discount for my "trouble" or they were going to call the police and have us removed.
I was promised by the staff twice that the AC would be repaired and it wasn't. I was promised by the management that a new room would be ready and waiting along with a bottle of champagne for our trouble for our wedding night and it wasn't.
St Julien's is not in our budget range. This was a special splurge to make our wedding memorable. It was humiliating that my concerns were not taken seriously and was threatened with an ultimatum when I was justifiably right to be angry after a string of broken promises. St. Julien stole what should have been a once in a lifetime memory.
On the morning we left we finally found a manager (the manager of their restaurant Jills) who assisted us with having our horrible experience comped.
I've paid $50 a night for hotel rooms that blew this place out of the water.
If you want to stay in the area and not be treated like dog shit, I recommend the Boulder University Inn.
Service in this hotel is more about their ego than your needs! I have never been so frustrated as a guest as there.
So my story is not like the rest. I was in Boulder for a few days doing a press tour for this movie that was screening at college towns across the country. I'm freelance and the studio I was working for just paid for hotels rather than have me get reimbursed on them later.
So I arrive in Boulder, having driven from Tucson, AZ and I was rather eager to get to do all the usual hotel things a traveler does. I get to the front desk and this horrendous twit behind the desk tells me that my room is reserved, but no payment has been sent in. I check my email on my phone to verify that someone had confirmed that payment had been received there earlier in the day. The girl refused to look for it or offer any assistance. I was baffled as to why she wouldn't just go look for this fax that had the studio's credit card number on it. I couldn't determine if she was utterly lazy or fucking autistic. So I decided to go grab dinner and mellow out.
While walking to dinner (with luggage in tow) I call the assistant from the studio who assures me that she had in fact spoken with someone at the hotel to confirm that the fax had been received. I get food and a drink and a sense of balance comes back to me.
I lug my bags back to the hotel and the same girl is still there. I tell her I spoke with my office and that someone at the hotel confirmed payment was received. Still nothing from the brightest girl Boulder can hire to get you a room key in an alleged four-star hotel.
My patience is quickly diminishing as I call the assistant again, who at this point is more worked up that I am. She puts in a call and somehow, magically, the girl finds the fax...stapled to the sheet of paper that was right under her nose the WHOLE TIME. So when I go back the girl offers some half-assed apology saying that she couldn't have known that someone had stapled the fax to this other info sheet from our studio that had my name on it. I had no tolerance at that point and said I would only accept an apology from the manager in the morning.
I get upgraded to a suite for my 3 hour inconvenience. I get to the room and try to answer a few emails before bed. The internet connection is so bad I can't even send email. I decide to turn in and watch a little TV in bed before I fall asleep. No cable signal. If this was a practical joke, these guys would be geniuses. However, they're rates and ego reflect something different.
Morning comes and I ask for the manager. I get the front desk manager, a faux-hawked young metrosexual with an ill-fitting sportcoat just looks at me like I'm taking him away from his manicure.
So I leave the hotel wishing the staff would have been taken out and beaten. A few days later I learn that these scientists put a $70 charge on my card. I call them and noone but the accounting office can figure it out. No one answers in the accounting office on a few attempts. Finally I called my bank and had the charge disputed. So with all that, it's safe to say I would sleep in a bus station before I would go back to this pompous and self-important shithole.
I'm writing the review only for the spa. We have not stayed at the hotel. But man, the spa is incredible. One of the finest I've ever been to in a city setting. Sure, some of these destination spa places are incredible, but for a regular, everyday place, this spa is incredible. Also, the front desk people are surprisingly helpful. I highly recommend this place.
We recently spent 3 nightsand our overall experience couldn't have been more mixed. The physical state of the hotel is lovely--the location, view and décor couldn't be better. Unfortunately, the quality of the staff couldn't be worse. Our experience with reservations, check-in, front desk inquiries and check-out were extremely frustrating. The staff does not come close to the level of customer service now expected from top notch hotels. 1) they don't smile, 2) they are uneager to please, 3) they are quick to say "sorry we can't do that", 4) there seems to be an overwhelming sense of incompetence and confusion. We had requested additional bedding for our toddler that was not delivered, we requested adjoining rooms when we made our original reservation 3 prior and it was not noted. Additionally, it was a daunting task to change the credit card on file to a new credit card for check-out. It took 20 minutes and I was asked 3 times if it was actually necessary????? Really????
Another disappointment was Jill's restaurant. We had room service 2 times and breakfast once. Our room service was marginal at best. The sandwich was mushy, the fries were cold and the pizza crust was burnt. At breakfast I had to ask for ingredients that were listed on the menu but forgotten on the dish. We waited over 20 minutes for my son's smoothie and had to ask for our side of potatoes 3 times. Jill's does not come close to the quality or service at Q's in the Boulderado.
On a positive note, the valet/bell person team couldn't have been better. They were efficient, professional, personable and GREAT.
After twenty too many at Brasserie Ten Ten, a group of us decide to camp out across the street at st Julien's. I've been dying to stay here so this was the perfect excuse.
We had a nice room, a bit away from the elevator (which was fine by me) and the bed comfortable.
I was a bit disappointed that the windows were not clean but on the upside, it was on the outside versus the inside. (Not sure what the heck was going on outside to leave those kinds of streaks.....)
The staff seemed a bit too pretentious but then again, so did most of the guests.
I wouldn't mind going back without the drunken entourage to give it another shot and try out the spa.
We stayed there overnight once after a failed camping trip. It's a beautiful hotel. It just didn't overwhelmed me with its poshness, though it charged me on par with other upscale spa hotels in Colorado. For the money, I can do much much better (like Sonnenalp in Vail). The service could have been friendlier, too. I think this place just rapes you for being the only one of its kind in Boulder.
I guess the thing I was most amazed with is their policy against pets. I didn't have a dog along with me so it didn't matter, but a swanky hotel in Boulder that doesn't allow dogs?? Wow, someone doesn't know their market well...
I am actually not hating on the place at all. But if I ever get the itch to spend an expensive romantic night somewhere close to home, I'll be going somewhere else.
Having left Boulder after 4 years at CU in 2002, I was totally blown away at the sight of this rather sexy looking hotel. It's location can't be beat for any purpose you might require a hotel room for. It is right on Pearl St. and it is a short drive to the University. It would be perfect for a business traveler, or parental unit visiting their CU student.
It is clean, fresh, new. They gave us a pretty decent walk-up rate of $210 for a king balcony suite w/ views of the Flatirons. I like the soaps and shampoos they provide in the bathroom, and while I'm on the subject: the bathrooms frickin' rock!! Although they can work on the shower heads. They kind of suck.
I did not get any services at the Spa, but it looked lovely. The work out room is minimal, but clean. The pool is very nice. Great temperature. The spa is a little too big--reminds me of the old people in Cocoon.
The service at Jill's (restaurant/bar attached to hotel) is sloooowww....but you have plenty of restaurant options on Pearl St. to choose from
I'll definitely try to stay here again next time I'm in town!
Michael at the front desk was probably one of the most professional people I know. I will be the first to admit that it takes a very special type of person to deal with me at 9:00am if I haven't slept the night before. To be honest, it's probably a good thing Bob S. hadn't written his review when I was trying to decide where to stay because someone at another hotel would have likely mismanaged my sleep deprived state of mind and sent me into a state of terror.
There's no doubt about it, this has become the best place to stay in Boulder. It's a Preferred Hotel, so you won't be getting Marriott Points or anything by staying here, but you'll be glad you chose this great hotel.
This hotel is where you want to be. If you're traveling to Boulder, its probably because you want access to the outdoors, while being able to take in the fun of this college town/cultural mecca.
The St. Julien is located one block from Pearl Street and is the newest hotel in town. Its decor fits with Boulder, and if you reserve a room on the West side of the hotel, you get a nice view of the Flatirons. You're close to most bars/restaurants/attractions Boulder has to offer as well.
The service was excellent during my stay, and I'm really glad to see that Boulder finally has a modern 4 star hotel. The Hotel Boulderado for years was the only choice for such accommodations, and if you're like me the antique vibe didn't really do much for you.
The St. Julien has a great bar as well as a wonderful Spa. The pool and grounds are gorgeous, and they let guest ride bikes for free.
You'll love your stay here and perhaps most importantly, you'll really get the 'Boulder experience' sans Patchouli...
it's been awhile......been traveling....time to crank it up
sj julien is still the best place to stay in boulder. period.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/10/2007
i was really surprised at this place - really nice rooms, great spa stuff (think bath salts, cant… Read more »
I am scared even getting on this hotel for anything knowing that they might have an optimizer or viral marketer watching all the blogs and waiting for someone to say something....
But I think it overextends the level of service people expect in Boulder? Maybe the argument is to redefine it, but I am not sure about that market anymore. Has it become more affluent in the last 7 years?
It has the hands down most stunning view of the Flat Irons as anything has ever had. The property itself is stunning. Very well done, in my opinion. Haven't been back to operations in a bit, so I am not sure how it exists now. Sounds like they are doing a fine job!
The hotel is beautiful and very clean. The beds are comfy. The spa is top notch as well. I would stay again.
I wanted to like this hotel more than I did. It's a nice hotel, but the service could have been much better. A lot of the staff is young and not very experienced with proper 4-star hotel customer service. The staff didn't go the extra mile...and the toiletries could have been better too.
Oh, and don't eat breakfast there. There are many other places in Boulder to enjoy good food.
Hands down the best hotel in Boulder! It's central location to Boulder makes most of downtown walkable, while outlying enough to offer breathtaking views. The rooms are first class and the bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. The room service was good. The concierge was super friendly and helpful. I could not have asked for a better experience except for maybe trying out the spa services.
My husband and I stayed here on our wedding night and could have not have been more pleased with our room and the service we received. We were greeted promptly at the front entrance where they immeadiately put our bags on a trolley. When we checked in, since one of the best rooms was unoccupied (a gorgeous sw corner suite), they upgraded us without hesitation. Granted, this was not their typical room, but it was absolutely the best hotel this globetrotter has ever stayed in!
We had a large and comfortable living room with a flatscreen tv and a balcony looking out over Eben G. Fine Park and the Flatirons. We had another balcony with the same view in the bedroom. The four-poster king bed was so comfortable I didn't want to check-out the next morning. Also, I could see the Flatirons perfectly framed in a window at the foot of the bed. And the bathroom! Beautiful marble everywhere with a double size bathtub with a separate shower with a great showerhead (I'm very picky about showerheads) and plenty of hot water. And the whole suite was immaculate.
For out-of-towners the location is unbeatable as you are right in the heart of Boulder and can enjoy the Pearl Street Mall with all it's restaurants, galleries and shopping, or go for a hike, all without the need to get in your car.
PS. I book all the travel for my office and whenever we have clients coming from out of town I try and put them up at the St. Julien! No better way to impress!
A great spot for happy hour with friends. A relaxing atmosphere, good food and live music made for an enjoyable experience.
This hotel is really 5 star material. Of course I never stayed here during my formidable college years in Boulder, but on subsequent visits back (of course splitting the cost of the room with 3 of my friends) I don't really want to stay anywhere else!!! It isn't cheap, but it is absolutely worth it.
The location is stellar, if you're staying in Boulder you really need to be staying on Pearl Street- and I'm not a fan of any of the other hotels down there. The service is FABULOUS, we ordered chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne to celebrate one afternoon, and they even brought Cosmos up to our room late night- and never turned their noses up once! The spa is great- we had massages and nobody was disappointed in the least. And the rooms are perfect all around stylish, clean and the beds are comfy!
Bottom Line- it's like a W Hotel sitting in the perfect location, in the perfect little town at the base of the Rockies. Don't miss it!
Check out the lobby and lobby bar with happy hour eats. Comfortable fireplace and soothing tunes make you moody for a nice dinner.
Of all the Colorado hotels east of the divide, this is the nicest one I've visited.
I was there for 3 nights for a work off-site and I enjoyed every aspect of staying there. The rooms were big and nice, great bathrooms, beds, decorations, and a warm feel overall. They have a great turndown service, and may leave you a few chocolate covered oreos!
The lobby and lobby bar are very charming, they also have a very nice gym and lap pool.. It's right at the foothills of the flatiron mountains, so the views are really pretty.
It's a block from Pearl street, so easy to walk over for a bite or some shopping. They have $15/day valet, go ahead and splurge on it.
The room service was friendly and good, they have free interent access as well - something I like!
I didn't hit the spa, but it looked quite nice.
Haven't been here since they opened- went for drinks the other Friday night, had a VERY good yellow cake martini- definitely YUMMY-
other than that, the bar was the usual overdressed, overpriced, pretentious scene which you usually don't see in Bldr... but then again it's nice to have a place like that so all of those type of people can congregate in one spot and leave the rest of the town to us locals. Wouldn't go back, still bitter about how they knocked down the locally owned companies to make Boulder more like Aspen- boo, hiss, boo
If you're staying in Boulder, this is the place to be. For very reasonable rates you get a beautiful and comfortable room, gorgeous views, great food, and a fabulous spa. A massage here is a must. The location is also perfect and so central to Pearl Street. I will only stay at the St. Julien when I'm in town.
The St. Julien spa is one of the best spas in Boulder. I purchased a day package for my mom last Mother's Day, and she loved it.
The facilities are nice and clean, very soothing, relaxing. And it's also located in the best hotel I've ever stayed in. And after your treatment, make sure you stop in at Jill's for a snack.
Springtime. Supposed to mean vacation, right? So why are you still chained to your desk, depressed that the only "glow" you'll get this year is from the odd toxic rays from your computer?
Before you resignedly drag your exhausted self through yet another week of long commutes and non-stop chores, allow us to present you with an alternative - a nonstop weekend of S&M at a posh boutique hotel (that would be Spa and Mountain air.)
The destination for this mini-break of sorts is the luxe and eco-chic St. Julien Hotel. Located in Boulder, this high-style, one-of-a-kind hotel comes with all the trappings of any top-notch getaway (read: stunning mountain views, custom-made beds, oversized slate bathrooms, world-class dining), but the real story here is the spa. Ten thousand square feet of absolute bliss. You can wash the winter doldrums away with one of their Pinon and Pine Body Scrubs or maybe try their exclusive Bali Boreh Spice Massage, designed to increase circulation and relieve all your hard-earned aches and pains.
Once you're fully relaxed, make your way lobby-side to grab dinner at St Julien's award-winning restaurant, Jill's. Or, skip dinner altogether and opt for a liquid-martini-diet at the uber-chic T-Zero bar. Then, all that's left to do is head back to your hotel room, pull out the prairie dog (their mascot and their version of the "Do Not Disturb" sign) and marvel at just how relaxing a weekend of S&M can be.
For more information visit:
For more information visit the St.Julien at 900 Walnut St. Boulder or online at http://www.stjulien.com. Reach them by phone at 720.406.9696.
Beautiful hotel in a great location. Some rooms have gorgeous views of the Flatirons. We were greeted by a friendly valet and each encounter with staff was pleasant and prompt. The indoor pool and spa are beautiful too! I can't wait to stay here the next time I am in Boulder.
Yes please. One of the nicer hotels I've stayed at in quite sometime. Hit up the bar for a night cap or 5. They know how to make good drinks... well stong enough that is.
Don't mean to be a big ol' hater being that no one has reviewed this place yet but.... ok, here goes my fair shake. I first called the St. Julien in summer of '05 to book a room for my boss. The exchange with the woman I spoke with was not very pleasant, prompting me to send emails to higher-ups. The higher-ups reciprocated my complaints by giving my boss a free room upgrade and by being very nice, as I've come to expect of the folks out in Colorado. This summer, 2006, I took a friend over there for cocktails, we wanted fancy pants, which is why I picked the St. Julien. We perused the drink menu, which looked pretty cool, but I wanted a Sidecar, a classic delicious cocktail. The bartender, most unenthused, didn't know how to make it. We asked if he had a bartenders guidebook. "They keep getting stolen. " he said. Most unresourceful of him. So, I ordered a rose extract vodka martini, garnished with rose petals. "Um, we're out of rose petals." he said. They did have an orchid, though, which was quite nice. A few sips later I decided I'd had my share of rose extract, afterall, I wasn't with my lady, so I wasn't feelin all googly eyed and romantic, you know? So, at this point, the bland, unresourceful bartender went on a break and a big burly guy took his spot for awhile. Well guess what? Big burly guy totally knew how to make a sidecar! And it was fantastic! I was so happy, I was ready to run to Yelp and write a decent review. Ok. So by the time I finished my Sidecar, Mr. Humdrum No Fun was back behind the bar. I told him that other guy had just made me a great sidecar and that maybe he could ask him how to make the next round? Guess what Mr. Ennui said? "Oh, um, that guy went home." - !!! Needless to say, we left after that. Extra points given for the spa services though. I've had two friends go and say it's top notch.
