1st snow of the year at Castle Marne Bed & Breakfast in Denver.

Tuesday October, 18th, Denver weather went from warm and balmy 80's to 35 degrees of snow and cold.  We got upwards of 8 inches of heavy wet snow in less than 24 hours.  Check out the before and after photos.  All over the city tree branches heavy with late season leaves broke plunging thousands of Denver residents into darkness.  Luckily the Castle Marne was warm and cozy.

Amazing Group-on Promotion!

Wow, Group-on!  The phones are ringing and our heads are spinning.  We're booking business and we are introducing the Castle Marne to thousands of new customers.  Monday alone we had over 11,000 visits to our web-site and have sold over 300 packages!

Thank you to all of our new friends of Castle Marne.  We are excited to have you joining us this fall and winter.  Consider booking a romantic candle light dinner for two in the formal Peacock Dining Room.  Give us a call and we can go over all the delicious menu options.   The web-site has some great  photos of the dinners.  Operators are standing by.  (I've always wanted to say that.)  303-331-0621 or www.castlemarne.com.

How did the Castle Marne get it's name?

The Castle Marne was named by the mansion's 4th owner following the end of WW1.  Adele Van Cise had purchased the home and was converting it into an apartment house.  She spent a good deal of money on the re-construction making sure every apartment had a kitchen and private bathroom.  She wanted her apartment house to have a great name.  Adele's son Edwin Van Cise, recently returned from WW1 had served in France, fought and survived the bloody Battle of the Marne.  He served in the 3rd Infantry Division.

He told his mother that the stone building reminded him of the castles and manors along the River Marne.  That's how the apartment house became known as The Marne.

More than 70 years later in 1989, the Peiker family purchased the house and turned it into a bed & breakfast.  The building had been empty, abandoned and in severe disrepair.  The Peikers, Jim and Diane, with daughter Melissa and her husband Louie Feher-Peiker needed a great name for the B&B.

Back in the '80's the primary way to find any business was by alphabetic phone book listings.  The Marne would be too far down the alphabet for future guests to find, the Peikers felt.  The building clearly looked like a 'castle' and the letter 'C' came before 'M', so that's how the name "Castle Marne" came to be.

A week with Tiny Tim

It was the summer of 1991 and Tiny Tim (born Herbert Buckingham Khaury in NY) checked into the   Castle Marne B&B.   We had the distinct pleasure of spending 5 days getting to know this amazingly talented and tortured musical artist.  

A local night club known as Ruby Nightclub booked Tim into the Castle Marne.  When welcomed by the owner Jim Peiker, Tiny Tim asked Jim to pick a song from any era and he would sing that song.  Jim said "what was the number 1 hit song in America in 1863", Tiny Tim sung out "Eating Goober Peas"!    Jim than asked for the most popular song the year the Castle Marne was built back in 1889, Tim sang out "Down Went McGinty" w.m. Joseph Flynn.  

Tim proceeded to share his passion for popular music history.  He claimed to have extensive knowledge of classical music as well.  As we got to know Tim, we learned that he had a very big heart.  He was a very gentle soul.

That summer business was very good that year and the Castle was sold out every night that Tim was with us.  Not a single guest that week believed that Tiny Tim was sleeping in the same B & B as they were.  He performed every night at Ruby Nightclub, slept in late and spent every afternoon at one of Denver's many hospitals singing in the various children's wards.  

When performing, Tim would plug his soprano ukulele into an orange construction power extension cord and close his eyes.  He never made eye-contact with his audience.  It was as if he was playing his favorite music for himself and we just happened to be in the room.  He was fabulous!  I have never seen someone who loved his music more.  It was easy at first to laugh at his outrageous out-fit, (he didn't change his clothes once) but the more you listened the more you realized he was serious.

Was it all just an act?  In my opinion, no.  Tiny Tim was a quiet, unassuming man who suffered from an extreme form of OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  

When we met Tim those many years ago, he was wearing a powder blue tuxedo jacket with a toothbrush in the pocket, white tuxedo shirt with the matching blue piping, and black tux pants.  In his hand was a brown paper bag filled with his only other change of clothes (which he took to the dry cleaners), tooth-paste, more tooth brushes, a hair brush and several jars of Este Lauder face cleansers and creams.   While he spoke he would stroke his long, shiny curly black hair.  

The first night he was with us Jim got a frantic phone call.  "Mr. Pike, please get over here quick!"  Jim ran up to his room and found Tim on the bed in the Lang room curled up in the fetal position.  With a trembling voice he told Jim he was desperately afraid of Miller Moths.  That summer Denver was in the middle of one of the worst infestations of Miller Moths ever recorded.  Jim got the vacuum cleaner and sucked them all up.  Every evening while Tim was performing Jim would check his room for moths.  

One afternoon Tim complimented me on how clean his shower was.  He said he should know, he took 10-11 showers a day!  

My husband Louie asked him what would he be doing if he wasn't Tiny Tim.  He told Louie that he'd probably be a messenger boy in mid-town Manhattan.

We have wonderful memories of Tiny Tim.  He was a charming and delightful human being.  We are grateful for the week we spent with him.

Free Rooms for Vet's Sold Out

The Better Way to Stay promotion offering FREE rooms for Vet's and Active Military Veteran's Day has been so successful the Castle Marne Bed & Breakfast is Sold Out.  We are keeping a Waiting List in case someone has to cancel.

Just because we're sold out on the 10th of November, doesn't mean your out in the cold.  Castle Marne offers a 20% discount to all Active Military and First Responders, and 15% for all Retired Military 7 days a week!

We want to thank our service men and women all year long.  Give us a call and we'll assist you in selecting the perfect room for you.  Afternoon tea, late night cookies and a full breakfast are all included in the price.  Several of our rooms have either an in-room jetted whirlpool tub or a private hot tub on the private balcony.  Sorry, no T.V., but we do have free WIFI and free parking.

Unplug just a little, get your R&R here at the Castle Marne Bed & Breakfast.  Call toll-free to  make your reservation.  1800-92MARNE.