 
Urbanize
Member
Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1748
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007 - 9:45 am: |    |
Any Updates?
Is the project still a go or a bust? |
Dialh4hipster
Member
Username: Dialh4hipster
Post Number: 2120
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007 - 1:54 pm: | |
Take a walk through and find out! |
Rocket_city
Member
Username: Rocket_city
Post Number: 331
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007 - 6:12 pm: | |
I noticed what appeared to be a new porte cochere at the Jefferson entrance of the ground level lobby. It's only steel right now, but I'm sure will be designed to be welcoming and even have the Sheraton name on it. Also, the concrete has been painted a shade of beige. |
Urbanize
Member
Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1749
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007 - 6:57 pm: | |
Yeah, and I realized I spelled it wrong (Pontchartrain). |
Burnsie
Member
Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 1076
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 8:01 am: | |
"Riverside" is a bland name. Too bad they didn't keep the Pontchartrain name. Oh well, at least it was renovated! |
Urbanize
Member
Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1769
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 8:12 am: | |
Yeah, the name "Riverside" seems like it sucks all the history away from it. |
Ramcharger
Member
Username: Ramcharger
Post Number: 370
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 8:22 am: | |
Plus, it isn't even really on the river. |
Thejesus
Member
Username: Thejesus
Post Number: 1621
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 8:57 am: | |
it doesn't matter if there's a street or two between it and the river...the highlight of the hotel is that EVERY ROOM has a view of the river...it was constructed with the staggered design just for this purpose...same with Riverfront Towers...
When people are looking for a hotel to book, they'll know just form the name they'll have a view of the water...the name "Pontchartrain" doesn't tell them shit, and most people could care less about its history...
this was just smart marketing... |
Ramcharger
Member
Username: Ramcharger
Post Number: 372
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 9:02 am: | |
Then they should have called it "Riverview" and not "Riverside". |
Thejesus
Member
Username: Thejesus
Post Number: 1622
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 9:39 am: | |
oh brother |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4853
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 10:20 am: | |
Unlike the Book Cadillac, which always had the same hotel under that name, the Ponchartrain was actually 2 hotels under the Ponchartrain name. One was on Woodward at Campus Martius, and was torn down long ago. Then they revived the name for the early 60's hotel on Jefferson & Washington Blvd. So the historic connectivity is lacking for the Ponchartrain. |
Swiburn
Member
Username: Swiburn
Post Number: 180
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 10:45 am: | |
It was either the original Hotel Ponchartrain or a Russell House Hotel that was torn down when the Statler was built. The first two hotels didn't have bathrooms with each room, as the new one did. |
Burnsie
Member
Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 1078
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 11:09 am: | |
There were indeed 2 hotels with the Pontchartrain name, but the newer location is extremely close to (if not actually on) the actual site of Fort Pontchartrain. That's where the historical connectivity is. |
Irish_mafia
Member
Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 953
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 12:43 pm: | |
If you happen into the Grill Room at the Detroit Athletic Club to grab a cigar and a cocktail, you may notice a painting of a rather attractively rotund naked woman above the bar.
The story that I have been told is that this is the painting that was previously above the bar at the original Pontchartrain Hotel, under which the Dodge brothers used to hold court and run their business. |