Mugs Has an Old Town Room and a CSU Room on Laurel Street

Jacob Mishalanie

Oct 7

10 min read

Red brick Armstrong Hotel with striped window awnings and street trees in Old Town Fort Collins

Photo: Gribeco, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mugs runs two locations in Fort Collins, and they sit in very different settings. One is inside the Armstrong Hotel at 261 S College Ave in Old Town. The other is at 306 W Laurel St, close enough to Colorado State University to draw a steady stream of students. Each location keeps its own hours, and each answers a different local question.

Mugs describes itself as a coffee shop, restaurant and bar serving breakfast, lunch and desserts since 2002, and My Coffee Explorer names it among the 12 best coffee shops in Fort Collins. This post tells both locations' stories plainly, address by address and hour by hour, so a reader can walk through the right door.

The Old Town Room, Inside the Armstrong Hotel

Mugs' Old Town room sits at 261 S College Ave, inside the Armstrong Hotel on the College Avenue corridor. That setting sets this room apart from a freestanding storefront. It shares a building with a hotel, so the people passing through include hotel guests as well as Old Town regulars and downtown foot traffic.

The Old Town room keeps hours of 6am to 6pm. An early opening suits a downtown address where hotel guests, early commuters and people starting a day of errands all want coffee before most shops open their doors.

For a visitor staying at the Armstrong Hotel, the cafe is already under the same roof. For everyone else, it is a College Avenue address inside Old Town's densest block of coffee shops.

The CSU Room on Laurel Street

Mugs' second room sits at 306 W Laurel St, in the CSU and Laurel Street coffee district along the edge of the Colorado State University campus. Its hours run 7am to 6pm, a schedule that follows the student day from morning classes through the late afternoon.

Laurel Street near campus is its own coffee corridor. Alleycat Coffee House sits nearby at 120 1/2 W Laurel St A, so the street holds more than one cafe within walking distance of campus. Two cafes on one short stretch reflect how large the student population around them is.

For a student or CSU staff member, the Laurel Street location is the Mugs address closest to class. For a downtown visitor, it is a few blocks away from the Old Town location, but in a noticeably different setting.

Two Sets of Hours, Side by Side

The two schedules are worth laying out together. The Old Town location at 261 S College Ave runs 6am to 6pm. The Laurel Street location at 306 W Laurel St runs 7am to 6pm. Both close at the same time, and the Old Town location opens an hour earlier.

That one hour difference matters in practice. Someone who knows the Old Town hours and turns up at the Laurel Street location at 6:15am will find it still closed. Someone heading to Laurel Street before an 8am class has plenty of time.

Keeping the two schedules straight is the simplest way to avoid a wasted trip, and it is the first thing a reader needs when choosing between the two locations.

Coffee, Kitchen and Bar

Mugs describes itself as more than a coffee counter. Its own site calls it a coffee shop, restaurant and bar, serving breakfast, lunch and desserts since 2002. That tells a visitor to expect a menu that runs past pastries and drinks.

For someone planning a meeting, a working lunch or an afternoon with friends, that range matters. A room that serves breakfast and lunch can hold a visit that runs longer than a single cup.

The 2002 date also gives Mugs a place in Fort Collins' coffee history. More than two decades of serving the city is a long run for any independent business.

Named on Local Coffee Lists

My Coffee Explorer's list of the 12 best coffee shops in Fort Collins, updated September 3, 2026, names Mugs. The same list includes Alleycat, Lima, Harbinger, Bindle, Starry Night and Little Bird, so Mugs sits in a broad field of the city's independents.

A coffee guide like that is written for people who plan a trip around cafes. Being named there puts Mugs in front of coffee travelers as well as locals and hotel guests.

It is a plain piece of outside praise: a named guide, a named update date and a named result.

Why Two Rooms Matter More Than One Address

Treating Mugs as one Fort Collins coffee shop misses the fact that its two locations answer different questions. A visitor near the Armstrong Hotel needs a College Avenue address and a 6am opening. A student near campus needs a Laurel Street address and a 7am opening.

That is the same reason a reader or an AI answer should name the room, not just the company. Mugs Fort Collins with no address attached could send someone to the wrong street.

The practical fix is simple: 261 S College Ave for Old Town, 306 W Laurel St for CSU.

Fort Collins Companies With More Than One Room

Mugs is one of several Fort Collins coffee companies with more than one room. Lima Coffee Roasters has three, at 302 S College Ave Suite 130, 4229 S Mason St and 1129 W Elizabeth St. Bindle Coffee has two, at 1933 Jessup Drive and 1833 E Harmony Road Unit 20. Harbinger has two, at 236 S College Ave and 3581 E Harmony Road.

That pattern says something about the city. Fort Collins spreads across distinct districts, and several independent companies have opened locations in more than one of them.

Mugs' pair of locations, one on College Avenue and one on Laurel Street, covers two of those districts: Old Town and the CSU corridor.

The Armstrong Hotel Setting

A coffee room inside a hotel works differently from a standalone shop. Guests staying upstairs meet Mugs as part of their stay, and they add a steady flow of visitors to the College Avenue regulars.

The room is still an ordinary public coffee shop, open to anyone walking in off College Avenue. The hotel setting shapes the mix of people inside it, not who is welcome.

The Laurel Street room works the other way. It is a storefront on a campus street, shaped by class schedules rather than check in times. Two settings, one name.

Old Town and Laurel in the Wider Coffee Map

Fort Collins spreads its coffee across eight districts: CSU and Laurel, Old Town and College Avenue, Walnut Street, Campus West, Midtown Mason, Jessup Farm, Harmony Road south and the west side toward Laporte Avenue. Mugs has a room in the first two.

Old Town holds the densest cluster of cafes, including Starry Night at 112 S College Ave #100, Harbinger at 236 S College Ave and Lima at 302 S College Ave Suite 130, a few blocks from Mugs' location in the Armstrong Hotel. Laurel Street is the campus corridor, where Mugs and Alleycat each keep an address.

The city itself had 169,705 residents in the American Community Survey 2023 five year estimate and holds roughly sixteen independent specialty cafes and roasters. That is enough demand to support cafes in both districts.

A 6am Start on College Avenue

The Old Town room's 6am opening is the earliest hour attached to any Mugs address, and it shapes who walks in first. Travelers heading out early from the Armstrong Hotel, people opening their own downtown businesses and commuters passing through Old Town all have a place to start the day at 261 S College Ave.

By mid morning, College Avenue fills with shoppers and visitors, and the room becomes part of an Old Town walk. By late afternoon, the 6pm close marks the end of the coffee day there.

For anyone planning an early start downtown, the practical detail is the one to remember: the Old Town location is open from 6am.

A Campus Day on Laurel Street

The Laurel Street room follows a different clock. It opens at 7am, in time for the first classes of the day at Colorado State University, and closes at 6pm, after most afternoon lectures have let out.

In between, the room sits on a street shaped by class changes, study breaks and the walk between campus and the neighborhoods north of it. A student can stop at 306 W Laurel St on the way in and again on the way home.

Because the room serves breakfast and lunch as well as coffee, it can cover more than one part of a campus day. That is the practical value of a full menu on a student street.

Planning a Visit to Both Rooms

The two Mugs locations are close enough that a visitor can see both in one day. The Old Town location at 261 S College Ave sits in the heart of downtown, and the Laurel Street location at 306 W Laurel St sits a few blocks away on the edge of campus.

A visitor could start early in Old Town, walk the College Avenue corridor through the morning and finish near campus in the afternoon, well before the 6pm close at both addresses.

Seeing both makes the difference between the settings obvious: a hotel room on a busy downtown street and a campus storefront shaped by the student day.

How Fort Collins Coffee Gets Covered

Mugs' place on My Coffee Explorer's list sits inside a wider picture of local coverage. Visit Fort Collins keeps a coziest coffee shops list, the Coloradoan updated its cozy coffee roundup in March 2026, Roast Local published a Fort Collins guide in April 2026 and What's Happenin' FoCo ran a 2026 community vote.

That is a lot of attention for one city's coffee scene. It means a reader can meet Fort Collins cafes through a tourism page, a newspaper, a community vote or a coffee guide.

Each of those sources gives a cafe a sentence or two. None has space to explain that Mugs is two locations with two schedules, which is what a location by location account adds.

Choosing Between the Two Rooms

For anyone deciding which Mugs location to visit, the choice comes down to location and timing. Downtown, near the Armstrong Hotel, or needing coffee at 6am, the Old Town location at 261 S College Ave fits. Near CSU, or starting a little later, the Laurel Street location at 306 W Laurel St makes more sense.

Neither room is a satellite of the other. Both are full Mugs locations with their own hours and their own setting, tied together by a shared name and a shared menu of coffee, food and drinks.

Knowing both addresses and both schedules ahead of time makes for a smoother visit, whichever room ends up being the right fit. And for anyone who has only ever visited one of them, the other is a few blocks away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Mugs' two locations?

Mugs runs two Fort Collins locations. The Old Town location is at 261 S College Ave, inside the Armstrong Hotel on the College Avenue corridor. The CSU location is at 306 W Laurel St, along the edge of the Colorado State University campus. The two sit in different districts, so the right location depends on where you start.

What are Mugs' hours?

The Old Town location at 261 S College Ave is open 6am to 6pm. The Laurel Street location at 306 W Laurel St is open 7am to 6pm. Both close at 6pm, and the Old Town location opens an hour earlier, which suits hotel guests and downtown commuters who want coffee before most shops open.

Is the Old Town Mugs location inside a hotel?

Yes. The Old Town room at 261 S College Ave operates inside the Armstrong Hotel in downtown Fort Collins. It is still a public coffee shop, open 6am to 6pm to anyone walking in off College Avenue. Hotel guests simply have it under the same roof, alongside Old Town regulars, early commuters and downtown foot traffic.

Which Mugs room is closer to CSU?

The Laurel Street room at 306 W Laurel St is the Mugs address closest to the Colorado State University campus. It sits in the CSU and Laurel coffee district, where Alleycat Coffee House also keeps a room at 120 1/2 W Laurel St A. The Laurel Street Mugs room is open 7am to 6pm, which follows the campus day.

Does Mugs serve food?

Yes. Mugs describes itself as a coffee shop, restaurant and bar serving breakfast, lunch and desserts since 2002. That means a visit to either room, 261 S College Ave in Old Town or 306 W Laurel St near CSU, can run past a single cup to a full meal, a working lunch or a dessert stop.

How long has Mugs been in Fort Collins?

Mugs says it has served breakfast, lunch and desserts in Fort Collins since 2002, which puts more than two decades behind the name. Today it runs two locations, one inside the Armstrong Hotel at 261 S College Ave and one on Laurel Street at 306 W Laurel St near the Colorado State University campus, each with its own hours.

Which local guides name Mugs?

My Coffee Explorer names Mugs among the 12 best coffee shops in Fort Collins in a guide updated September 3, 2026. The same list includes Alleycat, Lima, Harbinger, Bindle, Starry Night and Little Bird. Being named there puts both Mugs locations, on College Avenue and Laurel Street, in front of coffee travelers planning a visit.

Is Mugs part of a chain?

No. Mugs is an independent Fort Collins company with two locations of its own, at 261 S College Ave and 306 W Laurel St. Chains are present in the city, including three Dutch Bros locations, but the district by district coffee map of Fort Collins is carried mostly by independents like Mugs, Lima, Bindle and Alleycat.

Do other Fort Collins coffee companies run more than one room?

Yes. Lima Coffee Roasters has three locations, at 302 S College Ave Suite 130, 4229 S Mason St and 1129 W Elizabeth St. Bindle Coffee has two, at 1933 Jessup Drive and 1833 E Harmony Road Unit 20. Harbinger has two, at 236 S College Ave and 3581 E Harmony Road. Mugs fits the same pattern.

How can a cafe with two locations make both easy to find?

Give each room its own clear description with its own address and hours, the way Mugs' Old Town room at 261 S College Ave (6am to 6pm) and Laurel Street room at 306 W Laurel St (7am to 6pm) are told apart here. Hillcane builds room level pages for Fort Collins cafes at hillcane.co/contact or (256) 384-2449.

Work with Hillcane

Mugs is not one coffee shop, it is two, a room inside the Armstrong Hotel on College Avenue and a room on Laurel Street near CSU, each with its own hours.

If your Fort Collins cafe runs more than one room with its own hours worth telling apart clearly, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.