Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Detroit's New Inn Crowd: Hotel Pontchartrain is upgraded to a Sheraton « Previous Next »
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 972
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

While I would've preferred they try restoring the Pontch's good name, instead of abandoning it. Still it's great to see so much investment going into existing downtown hotel space.

DETROIT'S NEW INN CROWD: Hotel Pontchartrain is upgraded to a Sheraton
November 3, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Downtown Detroit's rapidly evolving hotel market has welcomed a new player.

This week, the former Hotel Pontchartrain unveiled its new identity as the Sheraton Detroit Riverside. Renovated top to bottom in a two-year, $35-million makeover, the Sheraton offers 367 rooms, including 61 suites.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/BUSINESS04/711030344

(Message edited by eric on November 03, 2007)

(Message edited by eric on November 03, 2007)
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Detroitrise
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Username: Detroitrise

Post Number: 411
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wasn't the Pontch originally a Crowne Plaza Hotel?

It's interesting too because the biggest names in Hotel/Inns abandoned downtown 5 years ago to welcome in new names.
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Rbdetsport
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Username: Rbdetsport

Post Number: 400
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

WOOHOO DETROIT! I think that our doubled hotel stock is going to bring in a lot more conventions and maybe even create a larger push for an expanded Cobo. Our Downtown is going to be booming in 3 years.
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Detroitrise
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Username: Detroitrise

Post Number: 413
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

^^^Hate to down on the topic, but I don't think our downtown will start booming until corporate employers look at our city as a good investment. That still hasn't happened yet.
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Thejesus
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Username: Thejesus

Post Number: 2603
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's some photos

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll /gallery?Avis=C4&Dato=20071102 &Kategori=BUSINESS&Lopenr=7110 20803&Ref=PH
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Viziondetroit
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Username: Viziondetroit

Post Number: 1274
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I stayed there last week and it was an upgrade but the fit and finish was cheaply made. The elevators are spray painted silver on the inside for a "stainless steel" look and the room doors are industrial steel doors with a 1/4 to 1/2 gap at the bottom at the floor.

Nice upgrade, but it needs to be tightened up.
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Mackinaw
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Username: Mackinaw

Post Number: 3923
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 1:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I found the mention of a pedestrian bridge to Cobo rather disturbing. It's really unneccesary. It would really only serve convention visitors who stay there (largely auto show), but isn't it enough of an asset for the hotel to be able to market itself as "right across the street from Cobo." In other words: you might have to walk out in the cold for 30 seconds.

It would be sad to see another pedestrian bridge.
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 973
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 2:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If anything this is overdue with the Sheraton being so close. If it wasn't an asset there wouldn't be so many hotel/convetion centers with similar setups

(Message edited by eric on November 03, 2007)
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Detroit313
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Username: Detroit313

Post Number: 531
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 3:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Downtown will boom again when a major department store returns.

I would really like to see the Monroe Block developed into a medium-rise residential building, and the Hudson Block developed into a major retail chain.

But, seeing the hotel renovated is a sign pointing toward tourist dollars being spent in the region.


<313>
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Kslice
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Username: Kslice

Post Number: 198
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 3:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It would be GREAT to see a Chicago style Macy's or something open up on the old Hudson block. Too bad Detroit lost K-Mart, they might have considered a store there.;)

I just worry these hotels will be for nothing. Like now there's all these hotel rooms and no one to fill them (can you say, Hyatt Flint). I guess these big chains know what their doing and would bother with the D if they thought they would just lose money.

In a New York Minute- Don Henley
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Kslice
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Username: Kslice

Post Number: 199
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 3:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It would be GREAT to see a Chicago style Macy's or something open up on the old Hudson block. Too bad Detroit lost K-Mart, they might have considered a store there.;)

I just worry these hotels will be for nothing. Like now there's all these hotel rooms and no one to fill them (can you say, Hyatt Flint). I guess these big chains know what their doing and would bother with the D if they thought they would just lose money.

In a New York Minute- Don Henley
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Detroitrise
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Username: Detroitrise

Post Number: 415
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 3:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree with K-Slice. I always use Wal-Mart and Target as an example of how K-Mart could have done better with Detroit.

And yes, At this point with all the major convention renovations only occuring in the suburbs and exburbs that these hotels downtown will be for nothing (especially when you consider the nationwide xenophobia of crime in Downtown).

(Message edited by DetroitRise on November 03, 2007)
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 5645
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 4:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Eric I agree that it's a shame that Sheraton didn't keep the Ponchartrain name.

But interestingly enough, the Ponchartrain name as a Detroit Hostelry only ever involved 2 hotels... the 1907-20 hotel on Campus Martius, and the 1963-2007 current hotel.

The 2 hotels were unrelated, except for the Ponchartrain name.

Detroit's greatest 19th century hotel was the Russell House Hotel (located on the former 1907-20 Ponchartrain site, today the First National Building).
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1003
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 4:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

While I would've preferred they try restoring the Pontch's good name, instead of abandoning it. Still it's great to see so much investment going into existing downtown hotel space.

My sentiments exactly.
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Granmontrules
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Username: Granmontrules

Post Number: 248
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 5:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroitrise. For such a positive name you are one of the most negative people on here about the City. You never say anything positive!
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Detroitrise
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Username: Detroitrise

Post Number: 416
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 5:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, I do. I'm just telling the truth about the situation.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 1943
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 5:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"the room doors are industrial steel doors with a 1/4 to 1/2 gap at the bottom at the floor."

That is required I believe by code so as to provide a fresh air intake into the rooms because no one opens windows anymore in high rises.
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Monahan568
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Username: Monahan568

Post Number: 245
Registered: 04-2004
Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 7:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

have any of the big hotel chaines really made any investment in detroit? the answer is no they put their flags on properties but the independant hotel owners invest all the money. so i don't think the big hotel companies care or don't care about the future of the city they have just found another market or source of revenue.
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Rrl
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Username: Rrl

Post Number: 926
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 6:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Monahan-
Very few hotel companies actually own much property anymore. They are all primarily hotel Operators, not real estate owners. It's the way the hospitality industry has moved over the last decade or so.
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 491
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 1:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That yellow color they chose to paint the base of the hotel is hideous! It just screams cheap.
I hope they soon realize how bad it makes the building look and repaint it a nice beige or off-white.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2069
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 7:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"or don't care about the future of the city, they have just found another market or source of revenue."

Whatever the case, the fact that there is a 'market' in Detroit that is good enough for national hotel chains to move in, is a good sign! So wherever the investment money comes from, how much does that matter?
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Renfirst
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Username: Renfirst

Post Number: 140
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 8:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"It would be GREAT to see a Chicago style Macy's or something open up on the old Hudson block. Too bad Detroit lost K-Mart, they might have considered a store there."

Does anyone seriously think that there's any realistic chance of this happening? Honestly, I think you've got to be a little more realistic in terms of retail downtown.

The only chance I see of a large retail chain coming downtown is the old MGM building... there's parking, easy access to the highways, and a top-notch security system in place. I think this is the most viable chance for retail coming downtown, unfortunately it will be in the form of a "shopping mall"...
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2073
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 8:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"unfortunately it will be in the form of a 'shopping mall'..."

Don't be too pessimistic. For the generation Y, that loves the more urban lifestyle, large national retailers are bending to this new generation. There is an 'urban' Lowes home improvement here in Charlotte that is not being built in a sprawling parking lot for example! http://www.bizjournals.com/cha rlotte/stories/2005/05/09/dail y14.html
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 1214
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 11:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroitrise asked, "Wasn't the Pontch originally a Crowne Plaza Hotel?"

Originally, it was an independent hotel and had no chain affiliation.
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Cmubryan
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Username: Cmubryan

Post Number: 484
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 11:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think circa 1990 it became a Radisson for a little bit, then was a Crowne Plaza in the early or mid 90s, lost it's Crowne Plaza affiliation a couple years later, then got it back for less than a year (maybe around 2000) and it was dropped again by 2001 where it resorted back to "Hotel Pontchartain" but kept the "Pontchartain" letters on the building from it's Crowne Plaza days up until a couple months ago.
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Craig
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Username: Craig

Post Number: 523
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 10:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

re: Pedestrian footbridge... why not? That can be a cold, cold walk. Others on/around Jefferson are heavily used in the winter.
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Rob_in_warren
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Username: Rob_in_warren

Post Number: 29
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 10:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good news. All of those business travelers who religiously collect "Sheraton Miles" will not have to stay in the suburbs and commute to do business in the city.
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Craig
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Username: Craig

Post Number: 527
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 10:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rob - I'm thinking the same way. Don't underestimate the power of "frequent flier" -like programs upon the decisions of business travelers.
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J32885
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Username: J32885

Post Number: 53
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 - 1:09 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nice to see that the Pontchartrain is back up and running with a new chain, especially now that they are with Sheraton. Again, the more hotels that in downtown Detroit the better.
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 501
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 - 10:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tax liens, cost overruns threaten new Sheraton's opening
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2101
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 - 11:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"The owners, Shubh Hotels Detroit, LLC, paid the property taxes a month ago after the city misplaced the original check, city spokesman James Canning said Thursday. But the city has not notified the Wayne County Treasurer's Office, which had filed notice that the property would be foreclosed in April 2008 if taxes remained unpaid."

Sounds like a non-event event.
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Rb336
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Username: Rb336

Post Number: 3949
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 - 12:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

From what I understand, it took some major concessions for Chicago to keep the Macy's store downtown. it hasn't turned a profit for a long time
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 1026
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Saturday, December 08, 2007 - 12:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Cost overrun is an understatement, the original reported cost was $12 million it ended up being $26 million. I wonder what happened to cause the price to double?

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