Illinois
Three Chicago boutique hotels recently unveiled renovations. The 52-room The Majestic Hotel updated its 25-person meeting space and both the 55-room The Willows Hotel, located two blocks from Lake Michigan, and the 45-room City Suites Chicago, near the Boystown and Wrigleyville neighborhoods, were also modernized.
Indiana
The five-star Omni Severin concluded a $15 million renovation in 2013, celebrating its 100th anniversary. The Omni offers 17,000 square feet of function space. The property’s restaurant, 1913, is inspired by the hotel’s history, serving dishes that could have been found on a menu back in the early 1900s, prepared with locally sourced ingredients.
The former Canterbury Hotel will reopen this November as Starwood’s Le Meridien Indianapolis, following a $9.5 million overhaul. The 99-room downtown hotel offers 2,500 square feet of function space and is connected to the Indiana Convention Center.
The renovated Crowne Plaza at Historic Union Station offers 55,000 square feet of meeting space, including the historic grand hall. The station is still active, and lodging options include a train car parked on the original tracks.
Michigan
The Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center launched a $30 million renovation in February, planning to update all 1,329 guest rooms and 100,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel’s event capacity is 2,200 guests.
Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, the West Bay Beach Resort in Traverse City completed a $4.5 million upgrade. The 179-room Holiday Inn property includes the 3,340-square-foot Leelanau Conference Center, plus two new meeting spaces, bringing the resort’s total function space to nearly 6,000 square feet.
Wisconsin
The Oneida Casino in Green Bay is scheduled to comlete a $24 million renovation this spring. Enhancing both the casino’s main location near the airport and the Mason Street location, the expansion includes additional gaming in non-smoking sections, a new Vince Lombardi restaurant and a CountryVille Bar & Grill filled with memorabilia.
North of Milwaukee, the Port Washington Historical Society debuted the $2.5 million Port Explorium museum, featuring local history exhibits. The bottom level is designed to resemble a historic three-masted schooner ship.