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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A recent trend in hotels has yet to make it to Colorado Springs, but that may soon change.

According to "Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak," the local convention and visitors bureau, boutique hotels have been in demand for at least the last six years.

Denver and Boulder both have boutique hotels, but there's nothing like it in downtown Colorado Springs.

In fact there is only one hotel in the downtown core at all: the Antlers Hilton.

If you visited downtown Colorado Springs in the 1920s you would have had 24 hotels to choose from, but only the Antlers has survived.

"We have been in this location since 1888," said the Antlers Hilton deneral manager Allen Paty.

The building holding the Antlers Hilton isn't the original Victorian Hotel of the 1800s, but the location is the only hotel downtown to survive more than 100 years.

"The draw for our clientele is our location proximity to restaurants, activities and central location," Paty said.

Now one man named Perry Sanders is trying to restore a bit of the lost history and create some competition for the Antlers. He plans to renovate the Mining Exchange Building and turn it into a boutique hotel.

"The boutique hotel is a unique product in that it appeals to a higher-end clientele seeking a nontraditional stay," said Terry Sullivan, president and C.E.O. of Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak.

"What's unique about boutique hotels is they are often renovated turn-of-the-century buildings," said John Hazlehurst of the Colorado Springs Business Journal (CSBJ).

A good idea with one problem: Sanders would like to be excluded from most of the new sales and lodging taxes the city charges all hotels.

"That fund was created primarily for the purpose of promoting the destination," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said if Sanders doesn't pay the tax, other hotels will try to get out if it as well.

"If you deplete that fund then you inhibit yourself from successfully bringing people to the market," Sullivan said.

While the renovation of the old Mining Exchange Building has begun, Sanders still needs to complete the renovation, get financing and then attract clients.

To read more about this story check out this Friday's edition of the Colorado Springs Business Journal.