What Denver Hotel Parking Actually Costs
Overnight parking at a downtown Denver hotel runs roughly $45 to $70 a night, and the rate is almost never shown next to the room rate when you book. A city-run public garage charges $23 for the same twelve to twenty-four hours. On a three-night stay that difference is around $100 — enough to be worth ten minutes of planning, and enough that you should price the room and the parking together rather than being surprised at checkout.
How much is parking at downtown Denver hotels?
Published rates from the hotels' own websites, as of August 2026. Self-park where offered runs $45 to $57; valet runs $60 to $70. Several downtown properties offer valet only, which removes the cheaper option entirely.
Two caveats worth knowing before you budget. First, these are the published nightly rates and taxes are usually additional. Second, oversized-vehicle surcharges are real and specific: the Sheraton adds $10 and LimelightBook adds $16 for anything over seven feet, which catches a lot of rental SUVs with a roof box.
The Rally HotelBook currently publishes $60 a day on one page and refers to a $54 valet fee on its Park and Rally offer page. Both are live on its own site, so confirm at booking rather than assuming.
| Hotel | Self-park | Valet |
|---|---|---|
| $57 | $67 ($77 oversized) | |
| $57 | $67 | |
| $45, in-and-out | Not offered | |
| Not offered | $66, in-and-out | |
| Not listed | $64 ($80 over 7 ft) | |
| Not listed | $62 | |
| Not offered | $60 | |
| Not offered | $70 |
Is a public garage cheaper than the hotel?
Substantially. The city-operated Denver Performing Arts Complex garage charges $23 for twelve to twenty-four hours, against $45 to $70 at the hotels — a saving of roughly $25 to $50 a night. Its rate card is published, which is more than most hotel parking pages manage.
One trap in the fine print: a new parking day begins at 4:00am, and a car that exits after 4am picks up additional charges. If you are coming out at six in the morning for a flight, you are paying for two days.
The trade is convenience and weather. Walking four blocks to a garage in July is nothing; doing it at eleven at night in February with luggage is a different proposition. For a stay where the car sits unused for three days, the garage is the obvious answer. For a ski trip where you are in and out daily, in-and-out privileges at the hotel — The CurtisBook and The Brown PalaceBook both offer them — may be worth the premium.
| Duration | Denver Performing Arts Complex garage |
|---|---|
| Under 1 hour | $7 |
| 1 to 2 hours | $9 |
| 2 to 5 hours | $13 |
| 5 to 8 hours | $17 |
| 8 to 12 hours | $19 |
| 12 to 24 hours | $23 |
| Event rate | $18 all day Saturday and Sunday, and two hours before large events |
| Early Bird | $11, in by 7:30am and out by 6pm |
Which Denver hotels have free parking?
None downtown — we checked nine on their own brand sites and every one charges. Genuinely free parking means Lakewood, Arvada, Aurora, the Tech Center or Central Park, and there are eight properties we could verify. Airport-area parking is cheap rather than free, at about $12 to $20 a night. The full verified list is in our free-parking guide.
Note the Embassy Suites at the airport: the parking is cheap and the shuttle is not free. That combination is common enough out there that it is worth reading both lines before booking on the basis of one.
If you are leaving a car behind while you fly, book the room you are actually sleeping in. Park-and-fly packages require a real stay, and cars left in hotel lots without one get towed.
| Hotel | Self-park | Airport shuttle |
|---|---|---|
| avid hotel Denver Airport Area | $12 | Complimentary, 24 hours |
| Atwell Suites Denver Airport | $15 | Free, 4:00am to 11:30pm |
| Embassy Suites DEN | $19 | $8 round trip |
| Embassy Suites Denver Tech Center | $20 | n/a |
Reasons to leave the car parked
You are paying $42 to $70 a night for that space either way. These do not need it.
1h 30minVan Gogh: The Immersive Experience Ticket Denver
3hDenver Beer Spa: Colorado's Most Unique Spa Experience For Two
8h 30minPikes Peak and Garden of the Gods Small Group Tour
2h 30minThe Best of Denver: E-Bike & Bicycle Tour of the Downtown Sites
Can you skip the car entirely?
In LoDo, Union Station, downtown and RiNo, yes — and it is usually the cheapest answer. The A Line runs from the airport to Union Station in about 37 minutes for a $10 Airport Day Pass, which covers the rest of that day's RTD travel too. Three nights of downtown parking costs more than a week of transit.
The calculation flips the moment your trip includes the mountains, Red Rocks or anything in the suburbs. Red Rocks has no scheduled transit service most of the year, and the ski areas are a car or a booked bus. If half your trip is mountain and half is city, one honest option is to stay downtown without a car and rent one for the days you need it — Denver has plenty of downtown rental counters and a daily rental plus a day's parking often beats five days of parking you did not use.
Price the room and the parking together
A $45 to $70 nightly parking charge is a third night on a three-night stay, and it is almost never shown beside the room rate. Compare these with the parking number from the table above already in your head.
Downtown
Where the $57 self-park and $67 valet rates cluster. Worth checking whether in-and-out privileges are included if you are driving daily.
rooftop sunsets with mountain views
Near DEN
Published parking runs about $12 to $20 a night out here. Check the shuttle separately — some charge for it while the parking is cheap.
clean, spacious suites near the airport
massive resort with water parks and stellar service
steps from your gate, premium prices included
convenient airport stay with friendly service
Common questions
How much is overnight parking in downtown Denver?
At hotels, roughly $45 to $70 a night as published on their own sites — $45 self-park at The CurtisBook at the low end, $70 valet at the Embassy Suites Convention CenterBook at the high end, with $57 self-park and $67 valet typical at the big convention hotels. A city-run public garage charges $23 for the same twelve to twenty-four hours.
Is hotel parking included in Denver hotel rates?
Almost never downtown, and it is rarely displayed beside the room rate when you book. Since the FTC's fee rule took effect in May 2025 and Colorado's own pricing law on January 1, 2026, mandatory fees have to appear in the advertised total — but parking is generally treated as optional rather than mandatory, so it can still surprise you at checkout. Price it in yourself.
Can I park somewhere cheaper and walk to my hotel?
Yes. The Denver Performing Arts Complex garage publishes $23 for twelve to twenty-four hours, versus $45 to $70 at the hotels. Watch the 4:00am rollover: a new parking day starts then, so an early-morning exit costs you a second day.
Do Denver airport hotels have free parking?
We could not verify a single one that does. Published rates at airport-district properties run about $12 to $20 a night, which is a fraction of downtown but not nothing. Check the shuttle separately — some airport hotels charge for it, including one that charges $8 round trip while parking is $19.
Do I need a car in Denver?
Not if you are staying downtown, in LoDo, at Union Station or in RiNo and spending your time in the city — the A Line from the airport, the free 16th Street FreeRide and short walks cover it. You need one for the mountains, for Red Rocks, and for anything in the suburbs. Renting for the days you need it often beats paying for parking on the days you don't.
Also worth knowing before you book
Still deciding where to book?
The full neighborhood breakdown covers who each part of Denver actually suits, what it costs, and who should skip it.
Where to stay in Denver →How this guide got made
A mix of things: Google ratings and review counts, weighted so a 4.5 with two thousand reviews beats a 5.0 with eleven; walking distances routed over real sidewalks rather than measured as the crow flies; and a decent amount of opinion from someone who lives here and has been in most of these lobbies.
Hotels move, though. Rooftop pools close for the winter. Parking that was free in March costs $50 by June. A dog policy grows a weight limit. Everything here was checked in August 2026, and we go back through it every quarter — but the hotel is the only one who knows what's true today. So if one specific detail is the reason you're booking — the pool, the shuttle at 4am, whether the dog comes — take ninety seconds and call them. Then go enjoy Denver.
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What will it cost on your dates?
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