Images: Colorado's Dino-Utopia

Dino Hotel

Dinosaur hotel theme

(Image credit: Artist: Cynthia Stipeche)

The owner of the Best Western Southwest in Denver has broken ground on a renovation project to turn the ho-hum hotel into a dinosaur mecca.

Dinosaur Ridge

Sauropod footprints at Dinosaur Ridge

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

The hotel is just minutes away from Dinosaur Ridge, a site which preserves the footprints of a herd of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Prints

Dinosaur ridge footprints

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

A close-up of sauropod prints on Dinosaur Ridge in Colorado.

Dinosaur Imprint

Dinosaur footprint in profile.

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

This footprint is seen in profile in an outcrop on Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado. A dinosaur stepped into mud, pushing down into earlier layers and creating this bulge.

Roof Lizard Lounge

Best Western hotel mockup

(Image credit: Artist: Cynthia Stipeche)

An artist's conception of the renovated Best Western's "Roof Lizard Lounge" with a reproduction stegosaurus skeleton behind the bar.

Hotel Museum

Best Western hotel mockup

(Image credit: Artist: Cynthia Stipeche)

The Best Western Southwest Denver is expected to reopen in April with its dinosaur theme.

Greg Tally

Greg Tally Colorado foothills

(Image credit: Courtesy Greg Tally)

Greg Tally, owner of the soon-to-be Dino Best Western, says he was inspired to create a dinosaur wonderland on a hike near Red Rocks, Colorado, with a friend.

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.