Gov. M. Jodi Rell (fifth from left) and Mayor Eddie Perez (third from right) joined those involved with the development and ownership of the Marriott Hotel Downtown in Hartford for the recent opening of the facility.
It will be easier for business travelers and tourists to find a high-end hotel room in Hartford from now on. The 409-room Marriott Hotel Downtown opened next to the recently completed Connecticut Convention Center last week. The hotel and convention center are part of citywide developments intended to revitalize the community’s downtown area and turn Hartford into a city where people are on the streets and in restaurants and retail establishments 24 hours a day.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International Inc., were among those who attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the $81 million hotel on Aug. 25.
“Hartford is a growing market that has long been ready for a new full-service Marriott hotel,” Marriott said in a prepared statement. “This property is distinctively and stylishly designed, loaded with first-class amenities, and commands an impressive position as the centerpiece of the city’s new residential, retail and entertainment district. We’re confident that [Connecticut-based] Waterford Group will make the Marriott Hartford Downtown one of the brand’s leading hotels for quality, service and a superior guest experience.”
The opening of the hotel was a big step toward the revitalization of downtown Hartford, according to Dean Pagani, a spokesman for the Capital City Economic Development Authority, the state agency that oversees parts of Hartford’s downtown revitalization efforts.
“I would say it’s pretty big because it’s located right next to the convention center,” Pagani said.
The $271 million convention center, which is located on the Connecticut River, is the centerpiece of CCEDA’s efforts, and is attached by a corridor to the Marriott. The presence of a high-end hotel there will make it easier to market the convention center, Pagani said. That is good news, since the state Legislature in June cut the center’s budget by $800,000. CCEDA originally asked the state government for $6 million to operate the center. Gov. M. Jodi Rell later made cuts to the budget that reduced that to $5.5 million and the Legislature and governor’s most recent cuts trimmed that to $4.7 million. In June, Pagani said the $6 million that the organization originally asked for was what was needed to effectively run the convention center, and operating with the further cuts will be difficult.
‘Another Major Step’
CCEDA and the convention center staff have not decided how the cuts will be handled. A couple of possibilities are dropping plans for a bus that would run between the building and area hotels, and cutting some marketing.
But even if the marketing budget is reduced, the presence of the hotel is expected to make the convention center more attractive to businesses and organizations. The hotel already has many bookings, some in conjunction with events at the convention center.
In a prepared statement, Rell lauded the hotel’s opening.
“Today marks another major step in the completion of one of Connecticut’s most exciting and important business and tourism developments,” she said. “It’s one that I’m confident will help make the state even more competitive on a national scale, as well as make Hartford an even more vibrant and thriving business and leisure destination. I share Waterford Group and Marriott’s excitement in opening the Marriott Hartford Downtown.”
Waterford Group owns the hotel along with its partners, local developer Glenn Jette and Michigan-based Slavik Inc.
The 22-story hotel is the anchor of one of the state’s revitalization projects, Adriaen’s Landing. The convention center, along with Adriaen’s Landing – an entertainment and retail center near the Connecticut River – and several other projects are part of former Gov. John Rowland’s “Six Pillars of Progress” that are intended to revitalize downtown Hartford. Hartford 21, a mixed-use residential and retail tower, is taking the place of the old Hartford Civic Center.
In addition to the retail and residential components of the project, there will be 93,000 square feet of office space, 800 parking spaces and a 35,000-square-foot public space with a 50-foot-high atrium and entrance to the 16,600-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, according to documents from Northland Investments, Hartford 21’s developer.
The projects in the “Six Pillars” are coming along well, Pagani said. After some problems finding and keeping a developer for the Front Street section of Adriaen’s Landing, CCEDA is now working with Greenwich-based HB Nitkin to develop the project. Some negotiations are still ongoing, but Pagani expects ground to be broken on the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration, which is part of Adriaen’s Landing, in October. The center is scheduled to open in 2008.
The Marriott had been scheduled to open with the convention center, but faced various construction delays. In May, the state ordered the developer to redo bathrooms in 17 rooms that were supposed to be handicapped accessible, but didn’t meet state standards.
