H&LA’s David Sangree weighed in on an article published by Cleveland.com on the implications of the closure of the DoubleTree by Hilton Cleveland Downtown. As the article notes, the loss of a large, centrally located, mid-priced property represents more than a single asset exiting the market; it materially reshapes downtown Cleveland’s room inventory, group capacity, and competitive balance. At a time when urban lodging markets continue to recalibrate demand patterns, the closure highlights both immediate operational gaps and longer-term strategic considerations for the city’s hospitality sector.
Published by: Susan Glaser/Cleveland.com
Published date: February 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A large hotel in downtown Cleveland has closed its doors, affecting group travelers and leisure visitors to the region.
The 379-room DoubleTree by Hilton Cleveland Downtown shut down in late January, after a planned sale of the property fell through late last year. The 17-story hotel, at Lakeside Avenue and East 12th Street, has been in foreclosure since 2020.
Officials with Destination Cleveland, which promotes tourism to the region, said they believe the downtown market can absorb the loss of the hotel, which was one of the largest in the city.
“It’s disappointing to lose a hotel property in downtown – especially because it means some of our hospitality colleagues have lost their jobs,” said Gordon Taylor III, chief sales officer for Destination Cleveland.
A total of 66 jobs were eliminated, according to a layoff notice filed with the state last month.
Taylor said downtown Cleveland still offers travelers a variety of hotel options at different price points.
“Those hotels should be able to absorb the visitor overnight stays,” he said.
Built in 1973, the DoubleTree had been in need of significant investment in recent years.
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission sued the hotel’s owner last year after the organization was forced to relocate college basketball players from the property due to poor conditions, including “mold, bugs, broken doors and inoperative elevators,” according to the lawsuit filed in May 2025.
The commission had planned to use the hotel again this March during the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships.
The sports commission is in the process of rebooking those athletes into other properties, according to the organization.
The lawsuit, meanwhile, was dismissed in September because the property is in receivership and the owner, Cami Hotel Investments, no longer controls its operation, according to a ruling from Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John J. Russo.
It’s unclear what will become of the property.
It is still listed for sale on the website of Paramount Lodging Advisors, a Chicago-based brokerage firm. The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com reached out to Paramount for more information.
Industry consultant David Sangree said possibilities for the property include apartments, senior housing or another hotel. “I would think somebody would renovate it for some purpose,” he said.
Sangree, president of Cleveland’s Hotel & Leisure Advisors, said it’s never good news for any downtown when a hotel closes. “When you have big events, every room counts,” he said.
Taylor, with Destination Cleveland, said the DoubleTree was scheduled for fewer than 20 major events over the next four years.
“For larger groups and events, not having the DoubleTree will require us to get creative,” he said. “We’re confident we can satisfy the lodging needs of those larger groups through collaboration with our hotel partners.”
Without the DoubleTree, there are 27 hotels in the downtown neighborhood, with 5,769 rooms, according to CoStar, a real estate data firm.
In the short-term, the closure of the property should act as a boost to remaining hotels in downtown Cleveland, said Sangree. It could also spur additional development downtown.
“When a hotel closes it could open up some other developer to say, ‘We should do something here,’” he said.
Hotel occupancy – that is, the percentage of rooms that are filled — was 62.7% in downtown Cleveland in 2025, up slightly from 62.4% in 2024, according to CoStar. That compares to 58.8% for the state of Ohio and 62.3% nationwide.
The average rate for an overnight stay in downtown Cleveland was $189.22 in 2025, down 3% from the year before. Nationwide, the average daily rate was $160.54, according to CoStar.
Last year saw the opening of the boutique Fidelity Hotel in downtown Cleveland, with 97 rooms in the former Fidelity Mortgage Building on E. Sixth Street. Rooms at the hotel typically rent for $200 and up.
The 141-room Holiday Inn Express Cleveland Downtown, meanwhile, closed last month for renovations in preparation for its conversion into an AC Hotel by Marriott, which is expected to open in 2027.
In addition, work continues on what will become Ohio’s first W Hotel, in downtown’s historic Tower at Erieview, at St. Clair Avenue and E. 12th Street. In addition to 210 hotel rooms, the project also includes 227 luxury apartments, a 38th-floor fine-dining restaurant and renovated office space.
The hotel is expected to open in about two years, according to Cleveland attorney Jon Pinney, who is working with Kassouf Development on the project.
In the meantime, the closure of the DoubleTree has subtracted nearly 400 rooms from the downtown inventory – about 6% overall. However, the impact is greater in the more affordable, midscale segment, said Eric Hansen, a director with LW Hospitality Advisors.
“For hotels in that tier, it’s a 12% hit,” he said. “That is impactful,” he added, particularly for visitors and groups who don’t want to pay $200 and up for a room.
Laurel Keller, an Ohio-based hotel broker and first vice president with CBRE’s Investment Properties group, said hotel properties have economic life cycles.
“Changes in consumer preference, physical aging, and escalating renovation costs can cause a hotel’s closure, when the returns on continued capital investment are not supported by sufficient revenue and value increases,” she said.
Overall, Keller said, the downtown Cleveland hotel market remains solid, with expected demand growth from the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters on Public Square, expansion of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and other investments.
“Recent and upcoming investments are major positives, and we expect there will be growth as a result, which is just on the horizon,” she said.
