CityFlats Hotel in Holland eyes downtown Grand Rapids for next boutique hotel venture

Deborah Johnson Wood

The owner of the CityFlats Hotel in Holland plans to transform the former Fox Jewelers building in downtown Grand Rapids into a new 28-room boutique hotel. The announcement last week moves owner Charter House Innovations a step closer to developing the hotel model into a national franchise.

"We still have ambitions for CityFlats to be a franchise, and we're using the Grand Rapids location to show that it can be franchised all over the country," says Sarah Lilly, marketing coordinator.

The 16,000-square-foot building at 83 Monroe Center was on the drawing board as Fox Lofts residential condominiums after Fox Jewelers moved out, but the condominiums idea never took off. Situated in the heart of Grand Rapids' downtown, it has been vacant for several years.

Each room of the hotel will offer a design and color scheme different from the other rooms. Each of Charter House's 13 designers will create a unique design for the guest rooms and the hotel's public areas.

"There have been discussions about finding a creative way to keep the original marquee, but nothing has been determined yet," says Lilly of Fox's signature signage above the main entry.

Charter House's Holland facility will design and manufacture the products used in the hotel's interior, Lilly says. The hotel will be LEED certified, similar to the Gold LEED certified CityFlats Hotel.

"We feel we're offering a unique product with it being a boutique hotel and being LEED certified," she says. "The customer gets a more personalized experience because of the smaller and unique design. A lot of the customers in Holland stay in a different room each time to experience the different designers."

The Grand Rapids location will include a lounge, coffee bar, a fitness center and meeting rooms.

Plans are in the early stages and Lilly says more details will be announced as they become available.

"We're really excited about being a part of downtown Grand Rapids," Lilly says. "We're looking forward to really great things happening."

Source: Sarah Lilly, CityFlats Hotel

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].