Aug

Marriott Embraces Its Target

I had a chance to walk through the new Marriott today and was not surprised. The new hotel, with its gorgeous lobby, does an excellent job of meeting Stormont-Noble’s lofty standards. Raleigh can now be proud that it finally has a downtown hotel that meets national standards.

Previously the focus of critics has been the hotel’s exterior. In person, the building’s exterior is a failure on levels worse than expected. The materials, colors, and window details are vapid. It’s exterior’s role in downtown life is a embarrassment to the Livable Streets concepts prescribed in the city’s original requests. Both the dysfunctional Salisbury Street facade and its service-only Lenoir facade punish interested pedestrians. As predicted, the only ways to enter the building from sidewalks are clustered near the intersection of Fayetteville and Cabarrus Streets, creating a horrible pedestrian experience.

Inside, however, the hotel is outstanding. Dressed with white marble floors and contemporary orange, brown, and tan walls and furniture, the hotel is a welcome, first-rate newcomer to downtown Raleigh. The porte cochere, understated registration desk, and Starbuck’s Coffee store offer a warm, doorstep for voluminous convention traffic in the future. The hotel’s lobby flows spaciously by a slightly underwhelming gift shop and formal sitting areas adorned with multiple high definition televisions into the hotel’s restaurant, Posta Tuscan Grille (preview to follow). Posta Tuscan also has a dedicated Fayetteville Street entrance, so guests having nothing to do with the convention center will have no trouble finding the restaurant.

The west half of the hotel’s ground floor is where one finds the ballrooms and meeting spaces. Unfortunately the corridor that surrounds the central ballroom is lined with a wall of Salisbury street-facing windows. There is no west facade entrance, so those in the hotel can only look out the window at pedestrians who are likely trying to find their way into the hotel. It’s a tragic flaw that could have been easily remedied by placing a small entrance at the building’s NW corner.

The hotel sits atop a multi-level parking garage. The access to the hotel coincides with the hotel’s escalators that access the underground Convention Center connector. This nice piece of design will be a major convenience for conventioneers using the underground garage. The only problem with the hotel’s downward access to the tunnel is that the walls are bare. Perhaps the final phases of decorating are yet to come, as the hotel has still not reached its official opening date.

The City of Raleigh requested, and subsized a facility that would match the impressive function and form of its new convention center. While the delivered product contributes almost nothing to its neighborhood or the city’s skyline, it will undoubtedly impress its target audience, conventioneers staying on-site. That’s a level of success we can all celebrate.

map it

RaleighRob

Pretty much agree…disappointing exterior, but outstanding interior.
And considering the other two major downtown hotels (Clarion and Sheraton) do not have great exteriors either, then it doesn’t bother me too terribly much.
Hopefully the next one will be better though.
http://www.raleighmsa.com Ernest

I agree with RaleighRob… Nice inside, horrible on the outside. Definitely not a design that stands the test of time. Also, I must say the Fayetteville Street side feels great at the ground level – just returned from there – and with the completion of Charter Square it will only feel better. The Salisbury Str side is very disappointing, though
TSnow27604

I haven’t been in yet but I am not all that troubled by the exterior. I’m guessing that any additional costs associated with the facade would have been at least in part picked up by us (the city.) Hopefully one day soon it will be but one small part of a taller Raleigh skyline but I would be interested in hearing an architect’s opinion. And while I think I try not to be closed-minded, that turret of a Clarion should be demolished as soon as possible.
http://www.danamccall.com Dana

TSnow,
Perhaps you’d like to buy a pinata?
http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2008/04/01/just-arrived-the-raleigh-piata/
lee

classic.
Subway Scoundrel

Although not “The Fairmont” or another great hotel on the outside, as I have always said “it is a convention center hotel” and that is what we got. Nice to hear the hotel is nice on the inside. Dana, one question? Do you think it will be a 4star hotel in 3 to 4 years? That is the biggest thing about CC hotels is they start at 4star but go down quickly to 3 1/2 or even 3 star. With marble and other items, maybe not as fast. I have not been inside but plan on going sometime.

The other comment is about the exterior entrances, I wonder if that is not for security reasons. Hotels limit entrances to keep people in and bums and Hos out or to the point they can control the entrances without having to hire an army. Good for the people who stay.

as usual, JMHO
JeffS

Is this really the kind of thing you guys want your tax money to go to?

Sorry, but I’m just not understanding why so many people (especially non-business-owners) in Raleigh care so much about convention centers and hotels.
RaleighRob

^Because everyone benefits from a local economy doing well?
Subway Scoundrel

JeffS because that decision was made 3 years ago and keep crying about it does nothing but create whining. No one likes a whiner. BTW, after the CC was announced, many more businesses opened up downtown and many more are planned.

If tax money was used, you better believe we should be talking about it.

To keep talking about “tax money for the hotel” means it has more to do with an agenda than looking at what is best for the city in the future. There are plenty of website for that agenda. I think this one is talking about the hotel itself and how it serves the local area and CC.
L

I believe the restaurant is the sister restaurant to Antica Posta out of Atlanta, GA. I always enjoyed my meals there, so I’m hoping it is! Look forward to a review of the restaurant.
HW

I checked out the hotel yesterday. It looks nice. I don’t understand the complaints about the exterior. What would people like to see instead?

Looks like a great addition to downtown.

~ HW
Dana

This would have cost very little extra money:
http://tinyurl.com/5loe9d

My whole writeup is archived at:
http://www.raleighing.com/blog/2006/01/marriott-renderings-met-with-t.html
http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2009/01/05/year-in-review/ gogoraleigh.com» Blog Archive » 2008 – The Year In Review

[...] Marriott Convention Hotel Opens [...]

Posted by Dana on August 13, 2008 | Tags: Downtown, Replacements. | ( 13 ) Comments

gogoraleigh.com

Marriott Embraces Its Target

Recent Stories