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The new downtown Detroit Doubletree hotel offers business-class amenities — and a nod to history
Looking to carve a niche in the convention industry, the Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby hotel in downtown Detroit will provide meeting planners with flexibility. Leaving large gatherings to their competitors, the $80-million renovation of the Doubletree includes two large ballrooms complemented by 17 breakout rooms.
“The idea is that you can have a large meeting for a technology or automotive firm, and then that same group can break into smaller teams to focus on specific tasks like engineering or technical sessions,” says Emmett Moten Jr., principal of MCP Development in Detroit, and a former economic-development director for the late Mayor Coleman Young.
During a recent tour of the Doubletree, set to open Dec. 15, it was clear the design team had multi-tasking executives in mind. The hotel’s 203 suites are larger than most rooms — 650 to 900 square feet — and offer a separate living room furnished with a large desk, ergonomic chair, and other furnishings. “We’ll have all the latest technology offerings, and there will be a business center equipped with a concierge so you don’t have to run down to the lobby to send faxes or copy material,” says Bill Aprill, the Doubletree’s director of sales and marketing. “We even added ergonomic chairs in the meeting areas.”
Given the hotel’s history — it opened in 1917 at First and Lafayette on the site of a former fort and was expanded a decade later — the Doubletree team kept most of the original meeting spaces intact. One ballroom includes a stage and a projection room, which was restored and outfitted with state-of-the-art audio and video equipment.
Meanwhile, the first-floor dining space will aim to re-create the famed Empire Room, where business moguls and dignitaries from the 1920s often dined. In its place will be a Finn & Porter restaurant offering steak and seafood. The 120-seat restaurant will include two private dining areas, as well as a private wine cellar furnished with a 16-seat table. “We restored the marble in the lobby and preserved the stone-and-brick exterior,” Aprill says. “It will be one of the finest hotels in our network.” In addition to the hotel, the 22-story structure will offer 56 apartments that will be converted to condominiums in five years. 
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Reader Comments:
From what I understand: the Fort Shelby Hotel represents a 90 million renovation. There will be substansial tax credits to the Hotel. The hotel was booked for the car show. Nearly 1,000 guests attended the Grand-Opening Gala at $200 per ticket. The hotel is booked for the Final Four.
What I don't understand: why there are unpaid vendors/subs in regard to the renovation work. Everyone should be paid in full.
"The statistics are scary," admits Shannon Dunavent, general manager of the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel that was lovingly carved out of the carcass of the Fort Shelby. "I've been working in Michigan for 20 years and I won't lie to you. There's no new business in the market. We're all trying to steal from the other guy to survive."
"Something that Aprill is particularly proud of is the Fort Shelby's commitment to local talent and investment".
"Hotel is clean and spacious. Bar and restaurant in facility looked upscale. Room was gorgeous".
"The hotel is very lovely when you walk in the lobby, it is so beautiful and the rooms itself are just perfect".
"The room was beautiful, clean and spacious, and the staff were very friendly.
Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby, 525 W. Lafayette, Detroit. Another one of the city’s refurbished, vintage gems that architecture buffs will want to explore, the Fort Shelby is booked solid for rooms, but if you need a room it’s worth calling or going to the Doubletree Web site, because some blocks of reserved rooms may become available depending upon what teams go to the Final Four".
"The statistics are scary," admits Shannon Dunavent, general manager of the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel that was lovingly carved out of the carcass of the Fort Shelby. "I've been working in Michigan for 20 years and I won't lie to you. There's no new business in the market. We're all trying to steal from the other guy to survive"......The comment made by the manager of the Fort Shelby, it really makes you wonder how low they will go to "steal from the other guy to survive"?????
The comment made by the manager of the Fort Shelby- it really makes you wonder how low they will go to "steal from the other guy to survive"????? "The statistics are scary," admits Shannon Dunavent, general manager of the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel that was lovingly carved out of the carcass of the Fort Shelby. "I've been working in Michigan for 20 years and I won't lie to you. There's no new business in the market. We're all trying to steal from the other guy to survive
Bar and restaurant in facility looked upscale. Room was gorgeous. The hotel is very lovely when you walk in the lobby, it is so beautiful and the rooms itself are just perfect. The room was beautiful, clean and spacious, and the staff were very friendly. Beautiful decor, excellent service from the front door to the front desk! This is a beautiful hotel. It was gorgeous and the staff was VERY helpful. Atmosphere, dining and bar in hotel, absolutely wonderful. "...provides outstanding luxury accommodations in beautifully restored surroundings". “Something that Aprill is particularly proud of is the Fort Shelby's commitment to local talent and investment”.
All the nice comments posted and said about how beautiful the furnishings and hotel is and unfortunately there are some subs who worked on this project that are still waiting to be paid. It appears to me that the "local talent" being paid for work done is not a priority. But I guess it's just the same story different day....the big corporation gets all the money and the little guy is left in the dust.
Funding is being given to help refurbish these hotels...why isn't someone making sure that the vendors or subs are getting paid for doing the work. These Corporations sure are getting the funding but it doesn't seem that they are necessarily passing it along to those who do the work. Big, beautiful hotels...and the ones who worked so very hard to help make that happen, can't even get paid for it. Pretty rotten.