We don't, I believe it's 43 rooms and we didn't add any hotels under 50 rooms, we decided not to go the Bed & Breakfast Route.  Might add it to the 7-county because some of the other counties have only Bed & Breakfasts.

Hello UO! Clevecane mentioned his brother a couple posts ago. Well I am he. I’ve actually been lurking around here for quite a long time, just never got around to posting until now. First of all, I’d like to say thanks. Although I had never posted previously, I’ve found UO to be a highly informative and entertaining place. So thank you to everyone who contributes here. Secondly, sorry for making this so long, especially for my first post. I just wanted to be able to give those interested an idea of how I did what I did. I'm rather verbose to begin with, but I'll try to be much more succinct in future posts! Now onto the meat and potatoes…

 

Just as an exercise in curiosity, I put together a spreadsheet of every major hotel in the seven county region. Included is the hotel name, number of rooms, address, and Walk Score for each location.

 

I’ve also included a hotel class rating and price rating as best I could. These last two measurements are obviously somewhat arbitrary, but I’ve tried to glean data from the most reputable sources I could gather. Most hotel class ratings are taken directly from the latest AAA Guide whenever possible. If AAA was missing a property, I moved on to Forbes Travel (the old Mobil Travel Guide service). Next I’d use the TripAdvisor.com rating which is actually provided by a third party company named Northstar Travel Media. Finally, if I struck out with all three sources above on a property, I would “fudge” it as best as I could. This was done by looking at as many user reviews as possible at sites like TripAdvisor.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, etc.

 

The new Aloft, Courtyard UC, Kimpton, Westin, and renovated Holiday Inn on Euclid are all included. Ratings & price range data are obviously unavailable for these properties, so again I just kind of estimated it by looking at same brand properties in similar markets. As an example, I looked at the Westin Convention Center Hotel in Pittsburgh among others to get a feel for our new Westin Convention Center Hotel. My bro had mentioned that I wasn’t including B&B’s or tiny motels in the data, and for the most part that is true. But with some places like Geauga County not having a single true hotel that I could find, I broke down and eventually did include a few B&B’s and motels.

 

I then ran a quick and dirty property analysis on each county as well as the seven county region. Just to get an idea of total room counts, average rooms per property, etc. all broken down by hotel class rating. I know this isn’t scientific in any way, shape, or form and I’m OK with that. Again, one could argue that even the best ratings systems like AAA are quite subjective. I just wanted a rough idea of where we stood as a region.

 

My bro tried to aggregate the data into ArcGIS, but the results weren’t as “pretty” or interactive as I’d hoped. So instead I called upon the always handy batchgeo.com. Each property is listed with all the data I have on it, as well as its straight line distance from the dead center of Public Square. A link to the result will be below, as well as a screen print to give you a taste for how it turned out.

 

If anyone is interested in the actual Excel data file, I’ve put it in my public Dropbox folder. I’ll include a link below. You are welcome to download and modify it as you see fit. So if you believe I am missing a hotel in your area, or I included one that you happen to know has since closed down, or if you just feel that my class or price rating was off base for a property… please feel free to go ahead and fix it! Additionally, if you have any ideas on other interesting ways to break the data down, I’m all for it.

 

Sorry again for the long windedness. Hope you enjoy it, and find some creative ways to utilize and improve upon it!

 

The Map: http://batchgeo.com/map/neohiohotels

The Data: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9637795/Hotels.xlsx

 

Welcome CLEbertarian

Fantastic stuff. Thank you and welcome!!

Wow - that must have been a ton of work!  Welcome to the forum...

 

Just a couple additions:

There is a Value Place in Avon @ 1610 Moore Road by the Rt 611/I-90 interchange. http://www.valueplace.com/extended-stay-hotels/locations/Ohio/Cleveland-OH-Avon/

 

In Geauga County, you could add Punderson Manor - http://www.pundersonmanorstateparklodge.com/

Thanks buckeye1. Both properties have been added to the spreadsheet as well as the map. For those that are interested in the seven county numbers so far here they are:

 

Rating

Total Properties

Property % By Rating

Total Rooms

Rooms % By Rating

Rooms Per Property

Five Star

1

0.43%

27

0.10%

27.00

Four Star

11

4.68%

1,403

5.29%

127.55

Three Star

110

46.81%

15,678

59.13%

142.53

Two Star

97

41.28%

8,654

32.64%

89.22

One Star

16

6.81%

752

2.84%

47.00

Total

235

100.00%

26,514

100.00%

112.83

 

Should do breakdown by county as well

Interesting article!

 

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Mobile/Articles.aspx?id=8015

 

 

 

Thanks.

Each time I read about Kimpton execs speaking about the Schofield Bldg, that's good.

Just waiting for the official announcement...

Cleveland’s renaissance attracts hoteliers

20 April 2012 9:32 AM

By Alissa Ponchione

Editor

[email protected]

 

CLEVELAND—While the Industrial Revolution has come and gone, many Rust Belt cities have struggled to maintain relevancy in an ever-changing hotel environment.

 

Cleveland, for one, is attempting to add new development and attractions to lure more travelers—and hotel investors along with them—to the once-thriving city.

 

New projects in downtown Cleveland include the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center, Greater Cleveland Aquarium and the Flats East Bank project, a $500-million waterfront development opening in spring 2013 that will include restaurants, apartments, nightclubs and the 150-room Aloft Cleveland Downtown by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.aspx/8015/Clevelands-renaissance-attracts-hoteliers

Last sentence in that article.....“Now’s the time to go to Cleveland.”

 

Isn't that the truth!

Random question, but with all the new rooms, does anyone know if we will have enough hotel rooms for a Dem/Rep 2016 convention?

^No

Found an article about Charlotte getting Democratic convention this year - and DNC requirement was 15,000 rooms within 30 minutes of convention - and access to another 15,000 rooms. Growing area aside, Charlotte is considerably smaller than NEO... so they either have significantly more rooms per capita or CLE could play creatively and cobble together the # needed, too... (Add in Stark Tuscarawas, etc... - just an hour or so to downtown - and you've probably got another 3,000-5,000 rooms)

Thanks!

 

Well, we are getting closer

^We are making progress with smaller hotels, no doubt.  But we still need a 600-700 room anchor hotel (at least); most likely connected with the Med Mart convention center.  I'm still holding out hope that Dan Gilbert can influence new rooms in the casino area ... at some point.  There's still a gaping hole over the rapid/parking area to the west of the Renaissance Hotel where an addition could be added to that historic hotel.

^We are making progress with smaller hotels, no doubt.  But we still need a 600-700 room anchor hotel (at least); most likely connected with the Med Mart convention center.  I'm still holding out hope that Dan Gilbert can influence new rooms in the casino area ... at some point.  There's still a gaping hole over the rapid/parking area to the west of the Renaissance Hotel where an addition could be added to that historic hotel.

 

Um, hello! Parking lot on Public Square! Puts it in the middle of the Casino-MM/CC action. Location, location, location!

^ you mean like one of these?

^ you mean like one of these?

 

Yep. That'd do it! ;)

can we do better than that would do for freakin public square?

 

that setting deserves excellent architecture.

 

we have waited this long, lets not fall to temptations to fill it with bulky mediocrity

or underwhelming structures like what jacobs had proposed just before the economy went down.

 

 

The scale is more of what I was thinking. And I didn't have a problem with the Ameritrust tower, although the top of it was kinda weird. And that project would have had a Hyatt Hotel -- just to keep this thread somewhere near its topic!

^We are making progress with smaller hotels, no doubt.  But we still need a 600-700 room anchor hotel (at least); most likely connected with the Med Mart convention center.  I'm still holding out hope that Dan Gilbert can influence new rooms in the casino area ... at some point.  There's still a gaping hole over the rapid/parking area to the west of the Renaissance Hotel where an addition could be added to that historic hotel.

 

Agreed.  I would love to see a new building on the site of the current county admin building.  The lower portion of the new building could be the 2nd phase of the medial mart.  This would consist of trade and meeting space above ground with a connection to the CC at grade or below.  A hotel could be atop.

We could dust off this old design and use it! :-D (Plus it was supposed to take up the lot next to Key Tower anyway)

We could dust off this old design and use it! :-D (Plus it was supposed to take up the lot next to Key Tower anyway)

 

Sweetie, I don't think that rendering is that great, sans the height.  When I worked at BP, I would have had to look at this building!

 

Also, there is no lot next to Key Tower.  This was to be placed on Public Square, in between the CEI Building (yes that is what I still call it) and the Renaissance Hotel.

We could dust off this old design and use it! :-D (Plus it was supposed to take up the lot next to Key Tower anyway)

 

I remember someone here posted a picture of another city which had a building that looked just like this by the same architect. Can somebody post that picture?

Chifley Tower

 

^ While I love the rendering, I kinda hate how that building turned out. I think its the color....I like the white.

It would have had some interesting angles.

 

And the top looks much better than what was proposed for public square.

We could dust off this old design and use it! :-D (Plus it was supposed to take up the lot next to Key Tower anyway)

 

Sweetie, I don't think that rendering is that great, sans the height.  When I worked at BP, I would have had to look at this building!

 

Also, there is no lot next to Key Tower.  This was to be placed on Public Square, in between the CEI Building (yes that is what I still call it) and the Renaissance Hotel.

Yeah I know that's the parking lot I'm talking about and geez I was kidding around, but I don't think the rendering is bad at all.

Chifley Tower

 

Looks fine to me but I wish it would have still been built in Cleveland would have looked nice in the skyline

The Key tower is still one of the top 20 tallest buildings in the country. However, we need another building close to it/of competitive height to put it in perspective and give a denser look/feel to dowtown. A 50 story hotel (bottom 10-15 floors) and office (top 35-40 floor) combo on Public Square or mall would sure help...

Mixed use hotel/residential... I don't know if a market would exist for new Class A office space with all the empty space downtown; though it would be reat to see

I really think a truly mixed use building would work.  Large hotel, class A office space and apartments together could make 50 stories possible.  Vacancy for apartments is practically zero, class A is around 11-13% and asking rates increasing (and very few spaces with at least 20,000 sq feet available) and hotel occupancy and rates increasing.  Dreaming...but things are finally moving in the right direction to see that kind of height again.

I really think a truly mixed use building would work.  Large hotel, class A office space and apartments together could make 50 stories possible.  Vacancy for apartments is practically zero, class A is around 11-13% and asking rates increasing (and very few spaces with at least 20,000 sq feet available) and hotel occupancy and rates increasing.  Dreaming...but things are finally moving in the right direction to see that kind of height again.

 

Cosign. I just hope Jacobs can hold off for that type of development to occur and doesn't see $$ signs and throw up a building similar to what was being considered back in 2007/2008.

^The only $$$ Jacobs has been seeing for the 20 years is parking lot $$ and no signs that this will change any time soon.

The Key tower is still one of the top 20 tallest buildings in the country. However, we need another building close to it/of competitive height to put it in perspective and give a denser look/feel to dowtown. A 50 story hotel (bottom 10-15 floors) and office (top 35-40 floor) combo on Public Square or mall would sure help...

 

Considering the logistics of building anything of that size in downtown Cleveland, the ROI of a denser look/feel to downtown (from a distance) is highly questionable.  We need a lot of things to improve the downtown experience and making the views of it from Edgewater or the 480 bridge is way down the list.  However, if the momentum keeps building and the need for a massive influx of (whatever use) space is both called for and (what is so often ignored here) economically viable, the Jacobs lot is the prime lot in downtown for new construction of a tower.  Sadly, I think we are a long ways off.  If a convention sized hotel gets built, I would shocked if it is not on the site of the current county administration building.  Whoever builds that hotel (and whoever funds that construction) is going to want/demand direct connectivity to the CC/MM, no matter how much people on this board dismiss that incentive.

The Key tower is still one of the top 20 tallest buildings in the country. However, we need another building close to it/of competitive height to put it in perspective and give a denser look/feel to dowtown. A 50 story hotel (bottom 10-15 floors) and office (top 35-40 floor) combo on Public Square or mall would sure help...

 

Considering the logistics of building anything of that size in downtown Cleveland, the ROI of a denser look/feel to downtown (from a distance) is highly questionable.  We need a lot of things to improve the downtown experience and making the views of it from Edgewater or the 480 bridge is way down the list.  However, if the momentum keeps building and the need for a massive influx of (whatever use) space is both called for and (what is so often ignored here) economically viable, the Jacobs lot is the prime lot in downtown for new construction of a tower.  Sadly, I think we are a long ways off.  If a convention sized hotel gets built, I would shocked if it is not on the site of the current county administration building.  Whoever builds that hotel (and whoever funds that construction) is going to want/demand direct connectivity to the CC/MM, no matter how much people on this board dismiss that incentive.

 

Agreed!  However, the Convention size hotel doesn't have to be connected to the CC/MM, however, it would make sense the first Convention sized property be attached to the CC/MM.

While I agree that the skyline is all out of whack... I also agree that we're more likely to see a convention hotel on the county admin site, and I can't imagine that something like that would get built without a direct CC connection.  I also can't imagine a skyscraper worth of $2000 apartments showing up in the near future.  I would still reserve the Jacobs space for something truly grand, and solve the residential/hotel shortage via construction in the 20-stories-and-below range.  Plenty of room for that.  And before you know it, maybe we will actually need a new giant tower.

^The only $$$ Jacobs has been seeing for the 20 years is parking lot $$ and no signs that this will change any time soon.

 

What I'm saying is I hope Jacobs doesn't jump the first time they project they'll make more money from a tower as opposed to a parking lot and put up something like what's going up in the Flats. Keep the land in reserve until something huge would make sense there.

Snapshot of new Cleveland hotels:

 

2011: (COMPLETED)

 

1) Double Tree Hotel (University Circle) -- 11-story Tudor Arms (Circa 1931) Restoration  -- (157 rooms) $22 million http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/08/tudor_arms_renovation_is_bring.html

 

2013: (OPENING SOON)

 

2) Courtyard by Marriott (University Circle) -- 8-story new construction -- (153 rooms) $27 million http://www.universitycircle.org/news/2012/01/university-circle-breaks-ground-on-courtyard-by-marriott

3) Aloft Hotel (Downtown/Flats) -- 8-story new construction -- (150 rooms) $48 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/08/clevelands_flats_east_bank_hotel_will_carry_the_aloft_brand.html

4) Westin (Downtown) -- 22-story Crown Plaza Hotel Renovation into 4-star hotel  -- (472 rooms) $64 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/crowne_plaza_in_downtown_cleve.html

5) Kimpton Properties Hotel (Downtown) -- 14-story Schofield Building (Circa 1902) Restoration  -- (161 rooms) $40 million http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2012/01/hello-cleveland-kimpton-headed-to-ohio.html

6) Le Meridien hotel (Downtown) -- 7-story John Brown Hartness (circa 1886-1912) Restoration -- (206 rooms) $55 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/11/investors_plan_55_million_hote.html

 

Under Renovation:

 

Hampton Inn (Downtown) (194 rooms) http://www.universitycircle.org/news/2012/01/university-circle-breaks-ground-on-courtyard-by-marriott

Holiday Inn Express (Downtown) (166 rooms) $1.5 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/part_of_rosetta_center_office.html

^Great list as always.  I'm not sure I'd keep 5 and 6 in the same category as 2-4 though. I think Kimpton's still waiting for the construction $ to come through and Le Meridien still seems to be in proposal stage.  Mostly I don't want them to be jinxed by the list!

FWIW, I do know that Hilton is scoping out the Cleveland metro market for its new Home2 brand (essentially an aloft/Hyatt Place competitor). Nothing announced yet though.

Good list MuRrAy HiLL. Our room count numbers jive with a couple of exceptions:

 

1. The old Crowne Plaza was 472 rooms. But everything I've found indicates the Westin, after renovation, will include 481 rooms.

2. You have the Tudor Arms DoubleTree at 157 rooms. I had them at 154. I ran a web search and it seems half of the Internet is listing 157, and the other half is convinced 154 rooms is correct. So I called, and the nice fella at the front desk said he "thought" they had 158 rooms. I can't find anything to support his "thought" but your number is closer than mine was. So your 157 wins out. I'll have to update my spreadsheet and map this weekend.

 

So thanks for the fact check!

The Crowne Plaza was a mess. They didnt take care of the property. Only had 100 usable rooms, and one working elevator. The Westin will be a great addition.

^Agreed, I had to sit through a couple of conferences in their ballroom and they only could get about half the bulbs working in the lights, the carpet really showed its age, and the elevator situation was pretty pathetic considering the stairwell was dingy and cramped too. A renovation there was long overdue.

^^^ For the most part, Crowne Plaza is a brand where once higher-end hotels go to die. They have a serious problem with substandard hotels and lack of consistency across the brand since most of these properties were conversions from Sheraton, Marriott, etc. This was not unique to the Cleveland market.

New photos of the Renaissance guest rooms and club level on their website. Anyone know why the awnings were taken off the outside of the hotel?

 

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/clebr-renaissance-cleveland-hotel/

 

^ Oh wow! Those awnings NEED to return!

^ Oh wow! Those awnings NEED to return!

 

I suspect they were removed for the exterior cleaning. Now that the cleaning is long since completed, I agree that they need to be brought back.