Detroit's Hotel Doldrums - South Florida Business Travel Guide

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Four of the city's once-famous deluxe hotels were ornatw tombs, abandoned for decades and facingthe wrecker'sw ball. Two starkly modern properties built in the 1960ds were shabby and sorely in need of new Eventhe 73-story hotel in the Renaissancew Center, opened in the late 1970s as part of a massive urban-renewal project, was dreary and depressing. I scribbled in my notebook in 2002. "Someone should fix." And fix they did. The Madison-Lenoxd and the Detroit Statler were but the Book Cadillaxc and the Fort Shelby received hundreds of millionas of dollars worth of renovationwsand restorations.
The Book, as locals call it, reopened to raves in Octoberr and the Fort Shelby came back to life twomonthsz later. One of the 1960s icons, the St. became a spiffy boutique property. The other, the Hotekl Pontchartrain, was recently renovated and is now callecdthe Riverside. The cylindrical skyscraper hote l at theRen Center? It's a Marriott now, and it sparkles. And the city'ds three casinos have each opened upscals hotelswith Vegas-style perks and amenities. But this is where hotel happy endings are always the starft of the nextlodging nightmare. If the Motor City's hotel scene is in worsd shape today than sevenyears ago.
More than half of Detroit'a estimated 40,000 guestrooms are empty, and PKF Hospitality Research says lodgingh demand will fall furthertthis year. The St. Regixs is in receivership. The Riversids has been picketed by employees who saythey haven' been paid, and the Detroit News says the hotel owes almost $700,000 in back One of the casinosa is in bankruptcy and another is for sale. Only a handfuk of buyers have closed on the dozens of priceyu condos atop theBook Cadillac. The Fort Shelby'sd new rental apartments are mostlyempt too.
And Detroit's revpar (revenue per available room), the key measurse of financial health in the lodging is one-third lower than the national "The statistics are scary," admitz Shannon Dunavent, general manager of the Doubletree Guest Suiteds hotel that was lovingly carved out of the carcasa of the Fort Shelby. "I've been workinfg in Michigan for 20 yeare andI won't lie to you. There's no new busines s in the market. We're all trying to steal from the otherd guyto survive." It doesn't take a genius to figuree out what's ailing Motown's hotels: The automotivd business has been careening downhill for decades.
Detroitf has never been able toreplace cars, and the thousandxs of related businesses that depend on the carmakers, as the city'sw economic engine. Hell, even Motown Records movee to Hollywood almost 40yearsa ago. But the tale of Detroit's collapsing hotel business is actuallymore nuanced. It's a story of no good deed goinb unpunished, of every clever urban-renewal idea having an unintendec consequence, and everyone missing the hotel forest for the restored trees of anearlier era. As Detroit emptiex out—the city's population of 900,009 is about half its mid-1950s high—so did the need for much of the city'ds older hotel infrastructure.
The luxury lodging busines moved to upscale suburbs like Dearborband Birmingham. A slew of focused-servicwe hotels popped up in office parks and othee business areas outside the deteriorating city Fliers who connect in Detroitt viaNorthwest Airlines' large hub at Detroit Metrop are well-served by an upmarket Westib hotel that opened adjacent to the new  During the last decade, even with iconds like the Book and the Fort Shelby closec and the casino hotels still on the drawinf boards, hotel occupancy rarely surpassed the 60 percent mark.
And thougj there were occasional spikes of demand aroundspecial events—the city is sold out for collegse basketball's Final Four next month—there was never any indication that Detroit needed more rooms. "This has alwayds been about urban renewaol and politics more than market one hotel executive told melast "You can admire the drivre and the commitment to rebuild Detroit, but there was a lot of 'If we builr it, they will come,' thinking. We built. Guests haven'f come.
" The three casino hotels—eacy mandated by the terms of theirgaminv license, each around 400 and each opened in the last 18 months—flooded the city with new The restoration of the Book Cadillac and Fort Shelbhy is another example of Detroit'z mind over market. The city'ss tallest building and the tallest hotelo in the world when it opened in the 33-story neo-Renaissance Book remainse a much-loved symbol of Detroit's boom But as a business, the 1,100-room property was always a loser. Aftert the war, it changed owners and hotel flagsd frequently and finally closedin 1984. Over the next 20 the city, state, hotel and developers all floatedd and abandonedrestorations plans.
The $200 million projec that finally started in 2006 and culminate witha headline-grabbing gala reopening party last fall converted the Book into a 455-room Westin hotel and a residential condo complex. Both projectsz have been lauded for their design and creativwe repurposing ofthe Book's stately shell, but the hotel has been force to discount rooms to as low as $99 a If anything, the revival of the 23-storu Beaux-arts Fort Shelby was even more unlikely. It closed in 1974 and treew sprouted in thederelict building. A $90 millionm restoration project began in 2007 did wondera fordowntown Detroit's if not hotel occupancy.
Along with 56 apartmentt rentals, the building now houses conference space, restaurants, and 204 hotekl suites. The smallest guestroom is 600 square feet and the Doubletree's general says weekend rates are as low as $89 a night. "I'mk proud of what we've done," she "If I can get you here, I know you'll have a great experience." Detroit Marriott general manager Bob Farmertechoes Dunavent's comments. All he wants is for guests to experiences hisreinvigorated property. Marriott and the tower'ds owner, General Motors, have poured more than $150 million into the projecft since Marriott assumed management ofthe 1,3090 guest rooms in 1998.
the hotel was sold out last weekend when I caughty upwith Farmery. It was hosting college hockey'xs Final Four and another larges group. And Farmery believes Detroitf can wake from itslodging nightmare. He thinkws the city can profit from the AIG Effectg that has forced majorf corporations to cancel pricey meetingsin eyebrow-raisingb resorts like Las Vegas and Hawaii. "Outr product is terrific and our rateeare low," he says. "And nobody will criticize you if you hold a meetintgin Detroit." The Fine Print… The Doubletree Guesty Suites in the Fort Shelby represents the first full-service Hiltohn hotel in downtown Detroit in more than 30 years.
The chain returned to the market in 2004 when the Ferchill which also redeveloped theBook Cadillac, opened a limited-service Hiltonj Garden Inn in the Harmonie Park neighborhood. Portfolio.cojm © 2009 Cond Nast Inc. All