Armory Square has added another national business to downtown Syracuse with the July 30 opening of two new Marriott hotels.

The Marriott on West Fayette Street will be the first newly built hotel in downtown Syracuse since 1927 with the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, said Lisa Romeo, a Downtown Committee of Syracuse representative.

The seven-story contemporary lodging is dual-branded with both Marriott’s Courtyard and Residence Inn. It has 180 rooms and serves as the only hotel in downtown Syracuse with an indoor swimming pool, said Jim Wefers, the hotel’s general manager. Nightly rates are subject to change, but can go up to as much as $204 for a stay, according to the Marriott’s website.

The building’s construction cost slightly more than $27 million, Wefers said.

He said he hopes the hotel can accommodate all visitors and provide potential business opportunities for downtown Syracuse, along with a place for parents of Syracuse University students to stay and experience the city.

Although the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center on University Avenue is the closest hotel to campus, Wefers said he believes visiting Armory Square is an essential for visitors.

 

“You can stay closer to the university, but I think it’s important for people to visit downtown Syracuse,” he said. “People should experience the local businesses and local restaurants. They should see what the Salt City is all about.”

Armory Square has been focusing its energy on redevelopment in recent years, hoping to change the area into a more business- and tourist-friendly region. The addition of a new hotel only benefits downtown Syracuse’s makeover, said Romeo, the Downtown Committee of Syracuse representative.

“Many parts of downtown Syracuse are the highlights of Syracuse itself,” she said. “I think that to allow more visitors to stay in the area is extremely exciting. The development taking place is definitely making it more of a visitor’s destination.”

The business district’s resurgence is part of the reason why the hotel landed in Armory Square, Wefers said.

“With all these businesses that are thriving in the area, it just makes sense to put a hotel in for support,” he said.

The hotel can also accommodate for the heavy traffic downtown Syracuse experiences during large conventions and events at the nearby convention center on South State Street, Romeo said. She mentioned the 2018 U.S. Bowling Congress Open Championships and various music acts as examples of these events.

Sean O’Key, the Oncenter director of sales and marketing, said more hotels in downtown Syracuse always help the center attract more conventions to the area.

“The Marriott’s a move in the right direction. Many of the large-scale events we host, attendees want to stay at a close proximity,” he said. O’Key added that a big selling factor of bringing the bowling championships to the Oncenter in 2018 was the amount of hotel property nearby.

“Anytime you’re able to offer more hotel rooms, it’s definitely a positive, so there’s a lot of exciting events that the convention center has been able to secure now,” Romeo said. “There’s an enormous amount of people coming, and to have another hotel accommodate, it’s an awesome amenity to offer visitors that will be coming.”

Published on August 20, 2013 at 10:25 pm

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng