The New Marriott Residence Inn

[johnnyboyokc]

as long as there is good money invested(for a better purpose)in the downtown area it is a great thing, lets go back 20 yrs when there was nothing downtown....hail bricktown!!!!!!it started the renaissance..

[Midtowner]

Johnny, it's not at all negative to want better. Is Bricktown a decent development? Sure.

Is it also pretty second rate because of a lack of vision and willingness to invest real money? Absolutely.

Instead of these two-bit motel chains setting up shop on such prime land, we ought to have a 20-30 story Hyatt Regency with convention facilities.

Instead of a bunch of free standing buildings and surface parking, we could have a massive shopping, office, and entertainment complex.

But no.. Kirk Humpheries and his buddies went the cheap way. We had a chance to have something first rate, but we settled for second rate. It's not as good as it could have been, but it's still better than a sharp stick in the eye.

If that's negative, well, I guess I'm negative.

[johnnyboyokc]

what are you putting into it? it takes money to make money. step up. You bloggers have no answers

[Midtowner]

Johnny, Tal had money. He had lots of it. He had a better plan -- an ambitious plan which would really have put Bricktown on the map as far as being a NATIONAL convention hot spot.

Humpheries chose the lesser plan because of personal ties.

As for "answers," what exactly do you mean? "Answers?"

What was the question?

What I'm saying is that we shouldn't make a habit of settling for Marriots when we could just as easily be building a Hyatt Regency or other top of the line hotel.

It may be a blessing in disguise though. When it does come time to build a Hyatt Regency in Bricktown, I doubt anyone will take issue with razing a Marriot.

[johnnyboyokc]

a hotel of any caliber is a great addition to bricktown..... first of all the hotels in bricktown are overpriced for conventions and that is what we need to focus on.....cvb if we are sucessful in bringing in conventions....that will change everything.....it is the monday thru thursday people we need in downtown spending money

[bandnerd]

So you're saying having a Motel 6 or a Green Carpet Inn would be a valued addition to Bricktown?

hahahahahahaha.

[windowphobe]

People at conventions are often as not on expense accounts; they tend not to worry so much about how much things cost.

[Midtowner]

a hotel of any caliber is a great addition to bricktown..... first of all the hotels in bricktown are overpriced for conventions and that is what we need to focus on.....cvb if we are sucessful in bringing in conventions....that will change everything.....it is the monday thru thursday people we need in downtown spending money

How many conventions have you ever been to?

Check that...

How many nice conventions have you ever been to? Think about it like this: What type of conventions do you want to lure to OKC? Would you rather have conventions looking for the cheapest place to have a convention? Or would you rather have a true destination for upscale groups to come and spend a lot of money.

Oklahoma City already has an economy class convention corridor. It's located around I-40 and Meridian, principally in the Biltmore Hotel. It's a very cheap place to have conventions, and frankly, having been in one of those hotels during a Legal Aid convention, and having had to put up with Legal Aid weirdos, I'd rather not have those people in the heart of OKC.

What Oklahoma City does NOT have is a 1st class convention center. Sure, we have the Cox center, and it is definitely top-notch. The problem is that it is still a few blocks away from major hotels.

A Hyatt Regency would truly fill a gap. A Marriot? We already have a good supply of facilities like that. The land in Bricktown is a limited and precious commodity. I'd rather we use it sparingly, slowly and in the best way possible rather than giving it to the first two-bit developer with a two-bit plan which he has already scaled back significantly from what he first offered.

[BDP]

lets go back 20 yrs when there was nothing downtown

Why do Oklahomans always look back and not forward? Do we want to look at downtown in 20 years as choked with second rate hotels and unable to land large conventions because all the prime space was used by small hotels and parking lots?

[metro]

as long as there is good money invested(for a better purpose)in the downtown area it is a great thing, lets go back 20 yrs when there was nothing downtown....hail bricktown!!!!!!it started the renaissance..

Actually Johnnyboy, MAPS started the renaissance. Bricktown only enhanced it. Without the Ford Center and renovations to the Cox Center, which is in downtown NOT Bricktown, then Bricktown wouldn't be near as successful.

And I agree with everything BDP said, why are you looking to 20 years in the past, we need to be looking 20 years into the future. High caliber conventioners demand certain expectations these days, low class hotels, stand alone buildings, and fast food restaurants do not cut it. There are too many other cities that already offer more, to be competitive we need to go that extra distance and provide what they don't have (and that doesn't mean provide just anything we didn't have 20 years ago).

[Doug Loudenback]

Agreed 100%, Johnnyboyokc.

I just don't get it why everyone is (some are) carping over this development ... I like it! Roof color? Who gives a flying f_ _k? Dumb kind of critisisms, imo. I'm looking forward to spending a night there, taking in a Hornets (or successor team) game at the Ford Center, having a stroll back to the hotel and taking in the Bricktown sights, and then crashing on the bed, drunk or sober. In the morning, I'll pig out at the IHOP ... but you dissenters probably don't like that eatery being in Bricktown, either. I do. Then, after I'm stuffed, I'll check out from the hotel and go home, about 1 1/2 miles away.

Sounds like a great overnight, as far as I'm concerned. Those who don't agree ... well ... you don't have a need to book a room, do you? Stay home and enjoy whatever suits your fancy ...

[OKCNDN]

I have been to numberous conventions around the southwest, Phoenix, Albuequerque, Las Vegas, etc.. The average price I paid for a room was $150-175 a night. It is just expected to pay that kind of price. I do not expect to ever pay $60-70 and have a convention in the same hotel.

I do not think that any of the hotels in the Bricktown area have enough convention space to hold a big (3,000+) or even mid-size convention (1,000-2,000).

Walking from a hotel across the street to the Cox Convention Center may not seem like a big deal but, judging from the conventions I have attended, it is not something conventioneers want to do. They would like to avoid going out into the elements if possible. Remember many conventioneers have to carry laptops, presentations, papers, etc.. They would like to go from their room to the convention under one roof, if possible.

I have attended many conventions at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. That place is huge and I have had to walk a longer distance from my room to the convention space than from the Marriot Courtyard to the Cox but it alright since it was all indoors.

Bricktown would have to get better convention facilities, i.e. hotel with enough convention space to compete with other cities.

What are some of the hotels around OKC that have conventions space. I know the Clarion? at I-40 and Reno has conventions space but is way too small for the type of conventions I have attended.

[Midtowner]

NDN:

I agree. Perhaps this could be a part of the Bricktown solution, but I sure hope this isn't something they want to make a habit of building down there.

A 30-story or so Hyatt Regency would fit very well in the area. Such a facility could effectively replace the Cox Convention Center. I wouldn't mind seeing that convention center razed in favor of an arena built to NFL specs. Can you imagine how crazy Bricktown would be on gameday?

With all of the hotels and entertainment in the immediate area, such a facility could be a huge lure for conventions, Billy-Graham-type events, etc. OKC needs to stop thinking so small. If we think small, we'll continue to be small.

MAPS has demonstrated what public investment in our downtown can bring us. Imagine what might have been had our money not been mismanaged by the self-dealing old-money sloths which have dominated OCURA, the OIA (in the past), and other such related "Public Trust" type organizations.

[johnnyboyokc]

hail midtowner you are correct.....finally someone that knows downtown politicts!!! We have to keep growing no doubt what everyone else thinks...........

[writerranger]

I think the hotel has turned out pretty nice. My only (minor) criticism was that there wasn't enough red brick and that was resolved as the project progressed.

I think - again - a lot of this comes down to a generational thing. Those of us here my age and older, who remember a desolate downtown for two decades, see all this and are ecstatic.

Do we need to look forward, be planning the "next big thing," and think big? Absolutely. But, we need to appreciate how far we have come in the past 15 years. It's truly amazing.

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[writerranger]

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double-post error

[BG918]

My biggest complaint is the parking lot out front. The design is fine with me, I just don't like the parking lot along Reno. I hope maybe somehow that lot can be developed someday with shops/eateries along Reno with parallel parking on both sides but then the hotel entrance would be blocked. I guess there could still be access by road behind the retail, not quite sure how that would work, any suggestions? A parking garage needs to built on one side of the hotel to consolidate all parking for Sonic, the hotel, and future businesses into one multi-level space.

I could see some one story brick buildings getting built along Reno with an open space where one could turn into a "circle drive" underneath the green canopy. The remaining parking lot would be concealed behind the new retail buildings along Reno. Making Reno more urban with on-street parking and buildings that come up to the street would really go a long ways in improving Lower Bricktown.

[CuatrodeMayo]

We do have one thing we can all be happy about...this building is only designed to last 20 years or so. So in another 10 years when the good 'ole boys are dying off and downtown OKC has become a world-class destination, nobody will feel bad about flattening a building that only has a few more good years left to make way for real urban development.

[BDP]

good point, Mayo. It's basically a disposable hotel and, hopefully, one day lower bricktown will be worth enough to redevelop it with more respect to the canal and bricktown itself.

[Luke]

In fact, it seems all of Lower Bricktown is disposable. So your plan may work really well over the next 30-50 years.

[TStheThird]

Life goal... tear down lower bricktown and start over.

[floater]

Life goal... tear down lower bricktown and start over.

Hehe. One of mine is to put a bookstore, gameroom, and Oklahoma store there.

The Inn's look is par for the Lower Bricktown course, but I do like its massing, its size.

[johnnyboyokc]

the per space cost of a parking garage is not feasible for that area

[BDP]

Have you guys seen the pool they put in? Oh my god, it's funny. I can't believe they even brought out the shovels for that. They should just put jets in it and make it a hot tub. Too bad this puddle required them to put up a fence between the hotel and the canal. Definately not a good compromise there...

[metro]

Yeah I saw it, I have pics in my gallery. I agree it is a joke, definitely more like a hot tub, and to think of the potential they had with such a prime spot.