Total renovation means new image, new restaurant for downtown Grand Rapids hotel

Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids' Courtyard by Marriott Downtown recently wrapped up a $3 million renovation, bringing the hotel into the 21st Century. The renovation is part of a chain-wide upgrade that Marriott hopes will attract today's business travelers.

The total revamp of the hotel, 11 Monroe NW, includes a new restaurant and bar called The Bistro – Eat. Drink. Connect. The Bistro is an extension of the lobby and offers a casual meeting spot to enjoy a craft beer, or a place to get a tasty wrap sandwich or Starbucks coffee on the go.

All 214 guest rooms were renovated and now have mini refrigerators and a jack pack that connects laptops and iPods to a 37-inch HD flat screen television.

In the lobby, visitors will find staff seated at individual pods, instead of standing behind an imposing front desk. A 55-inch LCD interactive touch screen, dubbed the GoBoard, provides flight information, restaurant locations, news, sports headlines and maps to local attractions. Wireless Internet access throughout the building and work areas in the lobby allow guests to catch up on work without being isolated in their rooms.

"Marriott realized they have been looking for this customer from the '80s and the face of business has changed," says General Manager Mike Donnelly. "So they scrapped everything and started over."

Donnelly says that since July 21, customer satisfaction is up almost 20 percent.

The Amway Hotel Corporation owns the hotel, the J.W. Marriott and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. All are connected by a climate controlled Skywalk that also connects to DeVos Place convention center, the Van Andel Arena, shopping and restaurants.

"The Marriott transformation completes our eleven-hundred-room concept for downtown," Donnelly says. "The Courtyard was the missing link in being able to offer three different price points and three different amenity levels. And that is so appealing to groups."

Source: Mike Donnelly, Courtyard by Marriott

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].