A recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer highlighted six new hotels that opened in the Cleveland market in the last 18 months. In addition to providing interesting facts about hotel occupancy and average daily rate, the article includes H&LA President David Sangree’s insight on what’s driving the city’s hotel boom. 

By: SUSAN GLASSER/Cleveland Plain Dealer
Published: November 6, 2014

Cleveland, Ohio — Planning a last-minute getaway or looking for a place to send an overflow of out-of-town guests?

Sometimes even natives need a hotel room in their hometown.

The good news: There are some sleek new spaces to rest your head in the city.

The bad: Several of these places come with a price tag that may seem more appropriate to a city twice our size.

In the last 18 months, Greater Cleveland has welcomed six new hotels to the area, including several brands making their Northeast Ohio debut (click on any of the six below to immediately see more about that hotel):

• Aloft Cleveland Downtown
• The Westin Cleveland Downtown
• The Metropolitan at The 9
• Courtyard by Marriott Cleveland University Circle
• Aloft Beachwood
• Hotel Indigo Beachwood

The properties vary considerably – from the sexy Metropolitan at the 9, with stand-alone showers in the middle of guest rooms, to the hipster-chic Aloft, in both Beachwood and the Flats, with pool tables and Rubik’s Cubes to entertain visitors in the lobby.

The Cleveland metro area – roughly defined by STR, a hospitality research firm, as Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Geauga, Medina and Ashtabula counties – is home to nearly 22,000 hotel rooms, up about 4 percent from two years ago.

In downtown Cleveland, the increase in room inventory is even more dramatic: up 16 percent since late 2012, to 3,945 rooms, according to STR.

Those rooms will come in handy in two years, when the city plays host to the Republican National Convention, which requires 16,000 rooms within easy access of downtown.

David Sangree, president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors, a consulting firm in Lakewood, said it’s no secret what’s driving the building boom: “The new convention center is the No. 1 reason for new hotel development,” said Sangree, though an increasing number of leisure visitors to Cleveland certainly doesn’t hurt.

Whatever your reason for needing a room – to crash after a Cavs game or to stash overnight guests during a holiday crush – you have more options than ever.

Need some help deciding? To read the entire article, click here.