[erasercut]

Pictures of them would be nice.

[mobyhead]

http://www.woneffe.com/blogimages/fire/2006-0605-weybossetfire005.jpg

[trvlr70]

The Peninsula
Ritz-Carlton
Four Seasons
Park Hyatt
The Drake

[JivecitySTL]

Chase-Park Plaza www.chaseparkplaza.com
Hyatt Union Station http://stlouis.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp
Ritz-Carlton St. Louis http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/st_louis/
Westin Downtown http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1248

[Steely Dan]

The Peninsula
Ritz-Carlton
Four Seasons
Park Hyatt
The Drake

not being terribly familiar with the hotel industry and the reputations of various brands, is there any chance that the new asian hotel chains coming soon to chicago such as Shangri-la and Mandarin Oriental could join that illustrious group of hotels listed above?

[Avian001]

Right now, in Minneapolis it's probably The Chambers, The Grand and The Graves 601 (formerly Le Meridien). This may change with the new additions of W, The Westin, and The Ivy, now under construction. (Minneapolis also has its share of Hyatts, Radissons and Hiltons, but I don't think these have the cachet of the others mentioned.)

The Chambers:

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/4907/chambershotellobbykz3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1342/chambershotelbathzh5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Graves 601:

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/387/graves601lobby01cp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Graves is the tower on the right

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6404/graves601exterior01ac6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Grand:

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6459/grandhotelexterior01zz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In St. Paul, it's definitely the Saint Paul Hotel:

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4779/stpaulhotellobby01kc8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/7183/stpaulhotel01ii8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Marcu]

Chicago:

Motel row on N. Lincoln Ave.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Hyatt Regency Crown Center

http://images.travelnow.com/hotelimages/s/000000/000918A.jpg

http://images.travelnow.com/hotelimages/s/000000/000918E.jpg

The Fairmont on the Plaza

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/hotelmedia/repository/hotelimages/MKCHA/WELCM_EXTR_06_E.jpg

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/hotelmedia/repository/hotelimages/MKCHA/FEATR_POOL_01_E.jpg


The President Hotel

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9061/presidentix9.jpg

http://www1.hilton.com/ts/en_US/hotels/content/MCIPRHF/media/images/photo_gallery/MCIPRHF_Hilton_President_Kansas_City_gallery_accom_lobby_large.jpg

http://media.expedia.com/hotels/2000000/1360000/1353900/1353812/1353812_11_b.jpg

http://a503.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/44/l_4c710d8ccabcb38a235e43c4c53503f6.jpg


Hotel Philips
http://reservations.usahotelguide.com/images-hotels/10218148/US13415_0.jpg

http://www.hotelphillips.com/ImageGallery/Items/Ho_Outside_Item.jpg

http://www.hotelphillips.com/_store/catalog/Lobby1_1.jpg

The Raphael

http://www.360kc.com/tours/50/Raphael_Full-View_Arrow.jpg

http://e.yimg.com/tr.us.o.yimg.com/imgs/1/116343/116343_EXT_01_J.jpg

[Buckeye Native 001]

Oh good, they renovated the President! It was closed and ramshackle when I visited KC a few years back.

As for Cincinnati, your best bet is the Holiday Inn in Eastgate off of I-275 and SR-32.

[secondson]

Oh good, they renovated the President! It was closed and ramshackle when I visited KC a few years back.

As for Cincinnati, your best bet is the Holiday Inn in Eastgate off of I-275 and SR-32.

And before that, it was the El Rancho Rankin! :haha:

[trvlr70]

not being terribly familiar with the hotel industry and the reputations of various brands, is there any chance that the new asian hotel chains coming soon to chicago such as Shangri-la and Mandarin Oriental could join that illustrious group of hotels listed above?

Absolutely. Shangri-La will raise the bar just as the Pen did. I'm not counting on the Mandarin Oriental because I'm not positive things will work out.

The biggest change in the local industry revolves around the current Ritz-Carlton, which is actually a Four Seasons Hotel. If this property is sold, it may free up the true Ritz chain to develop a new property in the city. Right now, RC is not allowed a hotel in the city. Condo residences are another thing.

I could imagine RC buying and developing an older property, such as the Congress hotel or Chicago Athletic Assoc..

[Buckeye Native 001]

And before that, it was the El Rancho Rankin! :haha:

LOL :haha:

Jesus, I lived in Newtown and went to school with some of the kids who lived at the El Rancho Rankin and even we looked down on them...

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that a Biggs now?

[Avian001]

Oh good, they renovated the President! It was closed and ramshackle when I visited KC a few years back.

When was it closed? I'm pretty sure that was my hotel back in the mid-80's when I used to be a flight attendant.

[Buckeye Native 001]

2001.

[ColDayMan]

For Cincinnati...

The Cincinnatian
The Westin Fountain Square
The Garfield
The Hyatt Cincinnati

For Columbus...

The Hilton Columbus
The Hyatt @ Capitol Square
The Lofts @ Arena Grand

For Dayton...

Studio 6 Motel off 725 in Miamisburg's got some hot ass swimming pool.

[Erieshore]

The Ritz Carlton Cleveland

The Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland

The Renaissance Cleveland Hotel

The Glidden House

Hyatt Regency Cleveland

Embassy Suites Cleveland

Maybe: Marriott Key Center

[MNMike]

Embassy suites? you can't put that on the same list as ritz:) I do like their free happy hours though!

[trvlr70]

^^^^^^^^^^
I agree. If a Marriott, Hyatt Regency or Emabassy Suites are included in your list of best hotels....well then you've got problems.

[Strategery]

Ummm...maybe the Embassy suites and the Marriot...ok...but the Hyatt regency in Cleveland is built into the Cleveland Arcade. http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/cleveland/arcade.html read about it...
http://urbanohio.com/NEOhio/Cleveland/Landmarks/Arcade2.JPG

[Cleveland Brown]

Detroit sadly... :(

Book-Cadillac (closed 1984, re-opens 2008)
Statler (Closed 1975, demolished 2005)
Tuller (Closed 1970s, demolished)
Pick Fort-Shelby (Closed 1970s, re-opens 2008)

Best of the currently open hotels...

The Anthenium
The Omni
??? MGM Grand Casino Hotel may be a hit when it opens in 2008?

[MayorOfChicago]

Chicago:

Motel row on N. Lincoln Ave.

Ha....Amen

[cwilson758]

Indianapolis:

The Conrad
The Canterburry
Malibu Suites
Crowne Plaza - Union Station (some of the rooms are rail cars)
The Omni-Severin
Columbia Club

[trvlr70]

Detroit sadly... :(

Book-Cadillac (closed 1984, re-opens 2008)
Statler (Closed 1975, demolished 2005)
Tuller (Closed 1970s, demolished)
Pick Fort-Shelby (Closed 1970s, re-opens 2008)

Best of the currently open hotels...

The Anthenium
The Omni
??? MGM Grand Casino Hotel may be a hit when it opens in 2008?

Sad is right. For the Detroit area, the best hotels are in the suburbs: Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn and the Townsend in Birmingham.

[skyfan]

The best of Detroit:

Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center

http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/d/dtwdt/phototour/dtwdt_phototour01.jpg?Log=1

http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/d/dtwdt/phototour/dtwdt_phototour03.jpg?Log=1

http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/d/dtwdt/phototour/dtwdt_phototour02.jpg?Log=1

http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/d/dtwdt/phototour/dtwdt_phototour11.jpg?Log=1


The Atheneum Suite Hotel

http://www.reservetravel.com/v4/hotelimages/pegs/XL/28308/re_28308_b1.jpg

http://images.travelnow.com/hotels/DET_ATHE-lobby-1.jpg

http://www.fabulousevents.info/imgs/gallery/6_full_3043.jpg

The Onmi Detroit River Place

http://images.travelnow.com/hotelimages/s/007000/007350A.jpg

http://www.henryford.com/images/vattikuti/home_dearborn.jpg

http://www.enews7.com/michigan/detroit/omni-detroit-river-place-4.jpg

The Ritz-Carlton Deaborn
http://www.kasbah.com/hotel-images/dtwrz_b1.jpg

http://www.henryford.com/images/vattikuti/home_dearborn.jpg


BTW what is it with Detroiters always seemingly including closed buildings on list like this? Just one of my pet peeves becuase it's bascially wallowing in our self pity

[Cleveland Brown]

BTW what is it with Detroiters always seemingly including closed buildings on list like this? Just one of my pet peeves becuase it's bascially wallowing in our self pity

Well sometimes the truth hurts, but if you noticed two of our best will re-open next year. If I were talking about NYC, I would include the Plaza even though it's going condo. I didn't put any of the suburban hotels on the list, nor did I include the RenCen. Despite it's size and views, the RenCen is really nothing special and quite frankly has small rooms. The Book-Cadillac is, without a doubt, the best hotel in Detroit history and since it closed none of the other hotels within the city have come close. When it re-opens it will regain its former glory and finally provide a high-end place to stay within the city.

[DeBaliviere]

Chase-Park Plaza www.chaseparkplaza.com
Hyatt Union Station http://stlouis.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp
Ritz-Carlton St. Louis http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/st_louis/
Westin Downtown http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1248

We stayed at the Westin downtown on my wedding night, and it was absolutely beautiful. We had a huge, loft-like room with an awesome bathroom.

(The Ritz is nice, but there's no way I was staying in Clayton on my wedding night. F--- Clayton, I spend my money downtown.)