Book Cadillac renovations will include a new restaurant

[TheDapperMaleDetroit]

According to The Detroit Free Press, The Book Cadillac Hotel will get renovated starting in January till the summer and add a new restaurant in the former Michael Simon's Roast location. How I miss their happy hour burger!

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...y/69683323007/

[Gistok]

Thanks for the update... but gawd is that ugly. They are going to squeeze every last bit of historic charm out of the hotel...

[1953]

I'd like to second what Gistok said and go one further - those "design" choices are terrible.

[Satiricalivory]

Have you guys been inside the hotel? Those renders look a lot better than the dated late 2000's aesthetic it has right now.

There's nothing historical about the current reception area.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...etroit/photos/

[401don]

Have you guys been inside the hotel? Those renders look a lot better than the dated late 2000's aesthetic it has right now.

There's nothing historical about the current reception area.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...etroit/photos/

Yeah, I think the days of hanging out in the lobby, people watching and reading the paper are long gone.

[Jimaz]

... reading the paper....

They still sell those things?

[401don]

They still sell those things?

No. Hence the long gone.

[Burnsie]

From what I could tell, except for the Grand Ballroom railings & small Michigan Ave. entrance staircase, everything was gutted to bare concrete & steel anyway before the 2008 reopening. As Bob Ross would describe it, there are "indications" of somewhat recreated original interior detail in a few spots, but that's it. The exterior was restored much more faithfully, excepting the 4th & 5th floor window lite arrangement. I get that the 2008 budget was on pins & needles, but a few more 1924 touches could have been made. Like putting little Cadillac crests back on the elevator doors as they had originally. The emphasis, though, was on the Westin logo everywhere. And beige & brown!

[401don]

From what I could tell, except for the Grand Ballroom railings & small Michigan Ave. entrance staircase, everything was gutted to bare concrete & steel anyway before the 2008 reopening. As Bob Ross would describe it, there are "indications" of somewhat recreated original interior detail in a few spots, but that's it. The exterior was restored much more faithfully, excepting the 4th & 5th floor window lite arrangement. I get that the 2008 budget was on pins & needles, but a few more 1924 touches could have been made. Like putting little Cadillac crests back on the elevator doors as they had originally. The emphasis, though, was on the Westin logo everywhere. And beige & brown!

I don't get to many mid/high end hotels any more [[more of Hampton Inn guy) but I did stay at the Cadillac a couple of times after the renovation and was really disappointed with how sterile everything was. I didn't expect it to be like the original but there was nothing impressive, including the upgraded executive room we were given one night.

[Gistok]

I can understand that some things that are gone beyond repair were not replaced. But the ornate gilded lobby ceiling survived 50 years being above a drop ceiling, only to have it ripped out for the renovation. So instead of having one of the fancier details repaired... [restorers are adept at replacing old plasterwork using molds] there is now a flat plaster ceiling.

[Burnsie]

Seeing photos of that gilt lobby ceiling is always painful. Did any of the architects or construction crew even bother to photograph it or measure it before throwing it all in the dumpster?!

There was still a fair bit of marble around the lobby as late as the mid-2000's, photo from nailhed.com. Wolverine Marble uncovered and restored much of it during the Radisson remodeling of 1978.

[Richard]

Is this the same “Book” as in the Book Cadillac?

Built in 1911 for James Burgess Book Jr., and designed by renowned architect, Louis Kamper, the mansion is modeled after Marie Antoinette’s Palace, The Petit Trianon, in Versailles. Filled with incredible detail to design, the almost 15,000 square-foot pièce de résistance is looking for a new owner to bring back the majestic standard it once had.

Read More: Unique Marie Antoinette’s Palace Inspired Mansion in Detroit | https://wcrz.com/marie-antoinettes-p...edium=referral

[Gistok]

Yes... that would be the house of one of the Book Brothers... they were J. Burgess Jr., Herbert and Frank Book.

The Book Brothers are one of those Detroit royal families [[besides the Fords, the Dodges, and Fishers) that left Detroit with a treasure trove of buildings and businesses back in the day... along with the Buhl family

[royce]

I saw that the 24 Grille is returning to the Indigo hotel across the street. Is anything being put in its place?

[Trumpeteer]

Yeah, I think the days of hanging out in the lobby, people watching and reading the paper are long gone.

My long passed Mom and Dad used to tell me how they went to the bar there in the late 40's, the Motor Bar?, to have a beer and watch the out of town baseball players come in.

[EastsideAl]

Is this the same “Book” as in the Book Cadillac?

Built in 1911 for James Burgess Book Jr., and designed by renowned architect, Louis Kamper, the mansion is modeled after Marie Antoinette’s Palace, The Petit Trianon, in Versailles. Filled with incredible detail to design, the almost 15,000 square-foot pièce de résistance is looking for a new owner to bring back the majestic standard it once had.

Read More: Unique Marie Antoinette’s Palace Inspired Mansion in Detroit | https://wcrz.com/marie-antoinettes-p...edium=referral

My mother worked in that house during the many years it was converted into office space. The entrance hall was beautiful and you could still see a few architectural details in other rooms that were not covered by the '60s sheetrock and drop ceilings. I went to nursery school across the street at Jefferson Presbyterian.

[EastsideAl]

My long passed Mom and Dad used to tell me how they went to the bar there in the late 40's, the Motor Bar?, to have a beer and watch the out of town baseball players come in.

My parents used to date at the Motor Bar when my mom was working in the wine shop at the hotel.

[401don]

I went there in the late 60's with my parents. I used to think it was cool how kids could sit in the bars in the U.S., something not allowed in Ontario. The bar was on the main floor, along with a drug store with a lunch counter, barber & beauty shops, etc. You took the staircase up to the expansive lobby.

[Burnsie]

The Motor Bar opened on May 1, 1936 at the Shelby/Michigan corner of the hotel. It stayed open until the 1984 closure although I don't know if it was still in its original spot.

[Airforceguy]

Real estate and hospitality investment company Oxford Capital Group LLC said Thursday that it has signed a lease for Sullivan's Steakhouse — the restaurant chain's first location in Michigan — with a projected opening in mid-2023.Sullivan's Steakhouse will join Starbucks Reserve and a to-be-announced third tenant on the ground floor of the downtown hotel at 1114 Washington Blvd.
Chicago-based Oxford said in a news release that it plans to renovate the 8,500-square-foot interior of the restaurant space and add an outdoor patio.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/restau...ans-steakhouse

[401don]

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/restau...ans-steakhouse

This place is, as expected, pricey. Similar to Morton's, with steaks in the $60-90 range.

[Satiricalivory]

Sullivans sounds extremely generic.

God, do we really need another steak house? They can just go to Prime and Proper or London Chop House if guests want some overpriced cow meat.

High end sushi place would have been so much better, maybe seafood or something Korean.

[EGrant]

Despite not being very exciting, a steakhouse in a hotel that will cater to a lot of business travel is a no-brainer. Business travelers love steak they can expense to the company card.

[detmsp]

Sullivans sounds extremely generic.

God, do we really need another steak house? They can just go to Prime and Proper or London Chop House if guests want some overpriced cow meat.

High end sushi place would have been so much better, maybe seafood or something Korean.

Then don't go. Problem solved.