Lace Up Your Skates, Denver; the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park is Open!

[llopez]

The weather outside is frightful, but Denver is so delightful!  If you’ve no place to go, head to the Rink, head to the Rink, head to the Rink!

The holidays have hit Downtown Denver, which means it’s the perfect time for ice skating!  That’s right, in case you haven’t heard, Southwest Airlines has partnered with our good friends at the Downtown Denver Partnership to bring the city of Denver a beautiful new ice rink. 

Located at the corner of 16th Street and Arapahoe, the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park is now open for business and will remain open until January 30, 2011.  The Southwest Rink is open on weekdays from noon until 10 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.  Skate rentals are only $2, but if you bring your own skates, you can skate for free!  And if you’re anything like me, you might be thinking, “I can’t skate,” but it doesn’t matter!  REALLY—just go have fun!

The Rink is situated just steps away from the Southwest Porch at Skyline Park, where you can sit back, absorb the “grand illumination” of the lighted trees, watch the skaters, and enjoy a hot cup of cocoa, coffee, or beverage of your choice while listening to holiday music. 

So come and enjoy the beauty of an outdoor rink!  Be sure to dress warmly, but stay awhile, skate awhile, or just hang out and take in the fun and beauty of the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park! 

Southwest Airlines is Dedicated to Denver!

[mccaldwell]

What a great idea!!! What is better than ice skating and Christmas cheer during the holidays?!? If I was in Denver, you better believe i'd be shredding the rink!

[paula_berg11]

I wasn't in town for the opening this past week, but I heard it was a huge success - people lined up to get it! Congrats, guys. I'm considering trading in my skis for a set of skates this season! -Paula Berg Denver, CO

[Anonymous3558]

Rink make downtown look fantastic

[cschneid]

Just read the book "Appetite for America" by Fried. Its about Fred Harvey, and I must say Southwest carries on the tradition of Fred Harvey customer service. I hope Southwest serves all destinations in America.

[stephenfried]

Dear cshneid, your comment about my new book, Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West, came up on my google alert. Just wanted to thank you and let you know I have, recently, been thinking the same thing--I was on a Southwest flight recently during one of the tours for the book (we've been crisscrossing the Southwest since April) and noticed, among other things, that the way Southwest does its drink orders is different than all other airlines and completely mirrors the way Fred Harvey invented in the 1880s for his Harvey Girls to take drink orders. I hope the folks at Southwest find the book--I suspect what they will discover in it is that a lot of their innovations in both customer service and employee training and loyalty programs actually harken back to the first major national service company in America, which was Fred Harvey. Thanks again and, if you're interested, come visit the blog for the book, One Nation Under Fred (www.fredharveybook.com/blog) Stephen Fried adjunct professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

[blusk]

Stephen, One person at Southwest will definitely read your book--me. As regular readers of the blog will know, I am a huge railroad enthusiast. My wife and I have seen the old Harvey Houses at Barstow in California and Las Vegas, Belen, and Clovis in New Mexico, not to mention LaFonda in New Mexico. Brian