aloft Detroit at the David Whitney (Preview) – Detroit MI
First Look Inside!
1 Park Avenue Detroit MI
Visited December 18 2014
After a long anxious wait, the David Whitney Building has reopened with an aloft by W Hotels occupying the lower floors, with apartments to come soon on the upper floors.
Although a press report indicated that it would not be open for a couple more days, I drove by and saw someone walk in the door….so of course I parked and walked in as well. The reception desk had 4 or 5 employees standing there cheerfully greeting me in the vast multistory lobby. Although I was the only guest in the lobby, I could hear music coming from an open door off the lobby.More about that later.
The spic-and-span lobby with all of the architectural details beautifully restored is amazing. The great clock is again keeping perfect time. The line of lights that frame the massive skylight were not on….I inquired and found out that the owner had just turned them off a half hour before I got there. I guess timing is everything. I will be back once it officially opens and take more photos with the lights on.
I told the manager that I have stayed at several alofts (Tempe AZ, Bolingbrook IL among others), but all of them were new ground up buildings, and was curious about how the concept fits into a historic urban building. I talked my way into a tour of the guest rooms. Although some of the rooms still had a bit of final finishing and cleaning to be done, I was shown several king rooms, double rooms and a couple multi-room suites. I was impressed that the generic interiors that I have seen in their suburban locations had been adjusted here. The finishes had been changed to be more in keeping with the historic building. The wood look laminates are darker and the color scheme for the drapes and accessories bolder. The most impressive change was the photo artwork. The alofts have photos integrated in horizontal panels above the king beds, and a vertical photo integrated between the headboards of the double beds. In the suburban locations these photos are generic record turntables or other non-sitespecific images. Here at aloft Detroit, these photos are black and white historic photos of the Detroit streetscape including the David Whitney Building and other buildings around Grand Circus Park. That is a great touch, thank you aloft for showing that you have personalized this hotel and treated this historic building and location with special design consideration.
The views of Grand Circus Park, Comerica Park, Ford Field, and up and down Woodward Avenue are great – even from the low floors of the building (the suites are actually on the lower floors which have the open corridors overlooking the grand lobby. Above the skylight level there are rooms on both sides of the building wings, with some windows facing the light well).
Once the tour started, it didn’t stop until I had seen the conference room for business travelers, and the fitness center. This is a welcome fresh option for visitors to Detroit, and is already fully booked during the Auto Show next month.
Back in the empty lobby, I walked over to the open door with the music. This is the aloft bar, named “wxyz” (no relation to our local TV station call letters). I should have known that this is where the Detroiters would be. There was a group of people enjoying drinks at the bar and music by a local DJ. There is a pool table, various seating options, and tables for guests with laptops for the influx of young techies for Dan Gilbert’s enterprises.
This hip, more reasonably priced version of the design focused W Hotel group will be a big hit here in Detroit. I can’t wait for the apartments to open…
Traverse360 Hotels 
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