Holiday Inn Express Dtown Closed?

[cmubryan]

[marcwigle]

So, with the Ramada Leland going all apartments, this news with the Holiday Inn, and the closing of the Riverfront Hotel, does that mean we have no more discount hotels in our CBD?

We stayed at the Milner... it could use some upgrades but, for the price, we'll be back. Great location as well.

[Al Publican]

Patel No Tell Motel.

[French777]

We stayed there for the 2010 fireworks. It was nice, nothing special. The continential breakfast was really well done, and the pool on the top floor was interesting.

[Knocturnal]

I just confirmed my reservation for next Friday, January 14th. I've stayed here several times, and have never had a bad experience. I personally think that it's a great location, despite most people's perceptions. Easy walking distance to everything downtown.

[NorthEndere]

Did no one see this in the New, today?

Renovated downtown hotel tries out new name

Tim Devaney / The Detroit News

January 06, 2011

The former Holiday Inn Express in downtown Detroit ushered in the new year with a new name.


The hotel temporarily changed its name to The Downtown Detroit Inn & Suites after completing $3 million in renovations, hotel General Manager Jay Benitez said Wednesday

Here's to hoping they can snag the franchise. Most cities don't have too much success with independently run hotels unless they are upscale to begin with.

[401don]

I don't think it's too smart to announce an intention to negotiate a deal with someone before it's completed. Also, Best Western franchises vary in quality quite a bit. I'm not so sure that they have a better corporate booking record than HI Express. I'd bet they lost their HI franchise. As long as they get some respectable chain name, that's the main thing.

[DetroitDad]

Holiday Inn Express next to the Westin Book Cadillac just made it seem like a joke.

[401don]

If some of the auto show journalists didn't notice the Pontch was empty, this Broderick Tower style ad will show them.

[lincoln8740]

That Detroit news article was such a puff piece. I would expect that type of crap journalism from Crains but the News? 3 million in renovations--really? The property is worth about 1-2 million. So the owners spent more on renovation than the property is worth?

Next-- Best Western is HUGE step down from Holiday Inn Express. For a limited service hotels they are the kings in terms of reservations, advertising and revenue. So that leads me to believe that the place lost its flag and is scrambling to find a new franchise. They may get a Best Western flag but that is the first step in the process of going belly-up.

[Rocko]

Here's the full text of that Detroit News article:

January 06. 2011 9:02AM

Renovated downtown hotel tries out new name

Tim Devaney / The Detroit News

The former Holiday Inn Express in downtown Detroit ushered in the new year with a new name.

The hotel temporarily changed its name to The Downtown Detroit Inn & Suites after completing $3 million in renovations, hotel General Manager Jay Benitez said Wednesday.

The plan is to attract more upscale customers by negotiating an agreement to switch its name to Best Western, Benitez said.

Best Western has more than 4,000 hotels in 80 countries. Michigan is home to 40 Best Western outlets, with eight in Metro Detroit and none in Detroit, according to the hotel chain's website.

The Detroit hotel market made a rebound last year, according to STR, a Hendersonville, Tenn., hotel research information company.

But industry analysts have said downtown still has a glut of rooms.
The rise of hotels at each of the city's three casinos has shaken Detroit's market, along with unstable financing deals that hit the industry and the aging condition of some properties.

The Downtown Detroit Inn & Suites is on Washington adjacent to the high-end Westin Book Cadillac, which opened in October 2008 after a $200 million restoration.

The hotel has 453 rooms and 63 residential units.

Analysts have declared the Westin Book Cadillac one of the winners in the downtown hotel market. It is one of three hotels in Detroit to receive AAA's coveted four-star rating, which reflects upscale lodging with high-quality service.

At the beginning of this month, the former Holiday Inn Express covered up its sign at the front entrance and temporarily changed its name, Benitez said. The new signs were expected to arrive Wednesday, he said.

The Detroit hotel is hoping to make a permanent switch to Best Western once an agreement is negotiated, Benitez said.

"It's the largest hotel chain in the world right now," he added. "So that's a plus."
tdevaney@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110106/...#ixzz1ASggqKdH

[Rocko]

Having the closest hotel to the world's finest Auto Show completely empty, and having been that way for several years, really says something. At least Mercedes will dress it up for a couple weeks. Hope it doesn't get too windy!

[cmubryan]

The Pontch has been shuttered for only a year and a half [[not several years). Lets hope someone picks it up within the next couple of years before its physical condition really becomes deteriorated. It's such a shame because they did a full scale [[albeit cosmetic) renovation in 2008 with new furniture, carpet, hallways, lighting, bathrooms, pool, fitness center, lobby, restaurant.

Looks like Holiday Inn ripped their name off of their long-time Troy hotel, near I-75 and Maple as well. Not surprise as their lobby and common area amenities were really looking run-down last time I visited the hotel. It's now a Quality Inn.

Also, it seems as if Holiday Inn is building a brand new hotel near the airport at 8400 Merriman Road in Romulus? Had no idea about this until I went to their website: http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/...ms/hoteldetail

One other weird thing, Holiday Inn opened the Holiday Inn Livonia off of I-275 near Laurel Park Place decades ago. Probably about 5+ years ago it became a Radisson but now it looks like it's about to go back to the Holiday Inn name as of 2/15/11: http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/...ln/hoteldetail

[rooms222]

WSJ article today. Slideshow on wsj.com

JANUARY 10, 2011
Hotel Mirrors Detroit's Woes
As Auto Industry Recovers, Shuttered 'Pontch' Underscores City's Long Road Ahead
By JEFF BENNETT

DETROIT—The auto show that begins this week gives Detroit the chance to show off a hometown industry on the mend and a downtown flush with upscale hotel rooms.

Fully renovated in 2007 then shuttered in 2009, the steel-and-glass former Hotel Pontchartrain stands across the street from the Cobo Center convention hall as a conspicuous symbol of Detroit's stunted redevelopment efforts.


But many conventioneers' image of Detroit may be shaped by the dark and vacant former Hotel Pontchartrain, directly across from the Cobo Center convention hall. Fully renovated in 2007 then shuttered in 2009, the steel-and-glass hotel stands as a conspicuous symbol of Detroit's stunted redevelopment efforts.

For 18 months, the hotel known as "the Pontch" has been in limbo. A 2009 bankruptcy filing staved off a bank foreclosure, just as the hotel's lender itself went into receivership. Since then, its owner, Shubh Hotels LLC of Boca Raton, Fla., has been battling a court-appointed receiver over unpaid utility bills and security bills, which were only sorted out earlier this week. A white piece of paper with the words "Temporarily Closed Due to Repairs" is taped on the windows near the entrance of its two lobbies.

On Tuesday, Shubh will ask a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Florida for permission to borrow up to $5 million to make repairs on the 357-room hotel and reopen it as soon as March, said Susan Lasky, Shubh's attorney. "They had hoped to be open in time for the auto show but it didn't work out," she said. If the judge denies that request, the property will likely be foreclosed on, making a sale possible.

If it reopens, the Pontch would face a far tougher market now. Detroit has seen a surge of new upscale hotel rooms over the past two years. The Westin Book Cadillac, with 488 rooms, and the Doubletree Guest Suites, with 203 rooms, both opened in late 2008 following restorations of derelict buildings. Both are a few blocks from the Cobo Center convention hall.The city also has three new casino-hotels, with about 400 rooms each, in and around downtown.

Despite recovery by the auto makers and more hiring, Michigan still struggles with double-digit unemployment and a soft hotel market. The state's unemployment rate of 12.4% in November was the second highest in the nation behind Nevada at 14.3%. Of the top 25 major hotel markets in the U.S., the Detroit area was among the worst when it came to room rates. The average room rate, according to Smith Travel, has fallen 5.8% to $74.80 through November 2010 from the same period in 2009.

The dynamics of the hotel market mirror the zero-sum pattern of Detroit's recent redevelopment efforts. While the downtown core has managed to attract its share of new projects and jobs, largely through heavy incentives, the gains tend to come at the expense of properties elsewhere in the city and suburbs. Amid a stagnant market, outlying office hubs like Southfield, Troy and Livonia are struggling with rising vacancy rates and depressed rents.

"For the last 20 years it's been musical chairs for downtown Detroit and the surrounding area," said Todd Szymczak of NAI Farbman who is the real-estate agent for the Pontch hotel. "Landlords spend their time fighting for the same tenants."

While the new hotels are poised for a bonanza as the auto show opens to the media Monday, the Pontch will bring in just $15,000, said local attorney David Findling, the hotel's court-appointed receiver. Its terrace, which faces Cobo, is being rented by auto maker Saab for an event while the hotel itself is being draped from top to bottom with a Mercedes-Benz advertisement.

The 25-story Pontch, built in 1965, was once a luxury landmark in Detroit. Its location and the view from "the top of the Pontch" made it a popular destination for partiers, as well as an attractive investment for thrift boss Charles Keating, who owned the hotel in the 1980s.

Shubh acquired it in 2006, spent $35 million on renovations and reopened it in 2007 as the Sheraton Detroit Riverside Hotel. But Sheraton quickly withdrew its brand after Shubh stopped paying its franchise fees, according to court documents. By mid-2009, with the loss of its national brand and an economic crisis gripping Detroit, the Pontch struggled to pay its debt and staff and maintain services.

Ashley Tester, 28 years old, of Philadelphia, remembers arriving at the hotel on Memorial Day weekend 2009 for Detroit's annual electronic-music festival, and seeing about 100 irate travelers waiting in the lobby.

"When we got to the hotel, we noticed that there were a lot of windows opened and you could see the drapes blowing in the wind," she recalled. "We later learned it was because the hotel had no air conditioning. When we finally got to the front desk, we were told there were no clean rooms."

The crisis came to a head in the summer of 2009, during the National Baptist Convention, when the hotel was booked to capacity and the air conditioning failed again. "It was a total nightmare for our delegates, the organization and the city," said Marsha DuPont, who handled accommodations for the convention. "At one point we had 300 people crammed into the lobby. The staff was yelling and screaming in the corridors because they hadn't been paid."

The hotel closed in August and a bankruptcy filing followed in October. Shubh currently owes about $30 million on the property, said Ms. Lasky, its attorney. "They want to reopen this property and pay back the bank every penny," she said.

But for now, the main sign of life at the Pontch is in the lower lobby, where a guard stands watch 24 hours a day to keep out squatters.

[BrushStart]

In regards to the article about the Pontch... there hasn't been a game of "musical chairs" among downtown and the surrounding area.... There has been a straight vacuum from downtown to the surrounding areas. It is only within the last few years that the tide of significant outflow of businesses from downtown to the suburbs has begun to curtail. It's going to take time to realize the benefits of having a vibrant downtown. A vibrant downtown will eventually be a magnet for business, investment and population, but what's happened here in SE Michigan is going to take time to reverse. The effect of shifting businesses back to downtown from the surrounding areas is a necessary, albeit painful, step towards making the region more attractive for investment. Furthermore, not every venture downtown is going to succeed with flying colors. Some businesses, like the Pontch, will surely fall flat on their face. That's our system. The longer the sentiment that businesses should not relocate downtown for the sake of preserving a suburban business hub, the longer we prolong our overall problem- that we do not offer what people and businesses want in a region.

[Planner3357]

My friends just stayed at the Holiday Inn on Friday...

[Atticus]

My friends just stayed at the Holiday Inn on Friday...

Any updates on this? I cannot even find a website for the hotel now, and have heard nothing further on it becoming a Best Western. If they don't latch onto a chain soon, I don't see how this hotel will make it. Its a shame too, because I just stayed there this past summer and it was undergoing a significant renovation. Actually, it was a pretty good place for being a mid-value hotel.

[river rat]

Great! Some of the thread participants are quick to blame Intercontinental Hotels Group for the closure. This is the Detroit way; blame a corporation. I stay at IHG establishments wherever I travel and I expect them to have standards. This establishment did not meet Holiday Inn Express levels demanded by IHG. If that is why they are closed, I applaud IHG.

[softailrider]

The Ponch was a pit for 20 years before it closed. I know they renovated, I seriously doubt that 35 million figure though, I don't think they spent half that amount.They had an escalator in the motor lobby that kept breaking down, finally they tore it out rather then replace it.The bar and restaurant were run like a bad joke. In spite of this the hotel was kinda busy most weekends.

These days most travellers want some type of a suite with more amenities then just a bed and a chair. The ponchatrain wasn't built that way.

[Atticus]

Great! Some of the thread participants are quick to blame Intercontinental Hotels Group for the closure. This is the Detroit way; blame a corporation. I stay at IHG establishments wherever I travel and I expect them to have standards. This establishment did not meet Holiday Inn Express levels demanded by IHG. If that is why they are closed, I applaud IHG.

As someone who also frequents IHG hotels on travel, I echo your sentiments. The strange thing is, when I stayed here this past summer, the hotel was being renovated to [[what I thought at least) meet the new IHG standards. They must have come up just a bit short. Sad too, because a Holiday Inn Express is a great fit for downtown.

I know many on here want the high end Westins or Marriotts, but having hotel diversity is critical. Many business travelers can't or won't spend the $$$ anywhere to stay at a Westin, or Marriott, or MGM, but they would be able to afford a stay at a Holiday Inn Express. Without the mid-range hotels, downtown will be missing out on a whole spectrum of business, and I don't think many people see that.

[Jimaz]

This is the Detroit way; blame a corporation.

I have nothing against IHG but that comment struck me as shockingly unusual. Are you actually confessing publicly to being a corporatist in the current political atmosphere?

Sincerely.

[river rat]

Yes, Detroit was a great city that was growing and making thousands of jobs that paid workers well when it was friendly to corporate structures. I am a staight-up corporate capitalist. I hire the best people at the best wages, provide them benefits and expect [[and get) high level performance and productivity. Not one employee has left in the last four years.

Yes, I confess, I am a corporatist.


River rat

[Jimaz]

Yes, I confess, I am a corporatist.

Okay. Fair answer.

I was under the impression that the vast majority of corporatists were trying to lay low to ride out the storm of opposition. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe you're a rare exception.

[cramerro]

I have to say that my experience with Holiday Inn Express locations is better than Holiday Inn or Best Western, usually competitive with Hamilton Inn and Suites or Hampton Inn [[as in Midland and Cadillac). Those are newer buildings, though.

In more interesting news, the downtown location now has a "Holiday Inn Express Coming Soon" official banner tied up on the front door awning. Breakfast was very full this AM around 7 o'clock.

[Gannon]

...I seriously doubt that 35 million figure though, I don't think they spent half that amount...

Don't forget, a minimum of 10% off the top was skimmed over to Daddy Bernard, and another good chunk had to go towards 'approved contractors' for the return skim back to Daddy Bernard during that time.

Plus, the City Council had to get their take...and the Building Department head...and probably George Jackson, too.


Ya gotta use third-world accounting estimates for anything done during the Kwhyme adminstration...