The Downtown Cleveland landmark, the DoubleTree Hotel, will soon be shutting its doors for good with a scheduled closure date of January 30, according to WKYC’s report. A notice filed with the state of Ohio reveals that the closure will be complete with the layoffs of about 66 employees. This comes amidst "business reasons which are out of the Company’s control," with layoffs beginning on January 28 and completing by the end of the month, as stated in the formal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter sent to officials by Crescent Hotels and Resorts.
Financial woes seem to be a part of the narrative for this downtown establishment, as the hotel, despite its proximity to Lake Erie and key tourist destinations like the Huntington Bank Field and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has experienced declining performance. It seems the pandemic further solidified the hotel's fate, with an occupancy rate plummeting to 27.58% through May 2025, CoStar News reported. The hotel's value dropped significantly, from a valuation of $40 million at the time of loan origination to $16.6 million in February 2024, representing a staggering 58.5% decline.
As mentioned by FOX8, the DoubleTree Cleveland Hotel is owned by Crescent Hotels and Resorts, which filed the WARN notice. The move to permanently close the hotel and lay off its employees stands as an echo to the broader issues facing the hospitality industry, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic and its lingering economic impacts.
Investors are projected to face severe losses due to the hotel's declining financial health, with those holding a $25.4 million loan on the property expecting to lose their investment, as the special servicer assigned to manage the loan continues to market the property, expecting new offers to be submitted soon. In addition to the financial hit, the local job market will feel the sting of this major closure, joining a troubling trend of job losses in the hospitality sector. Efforts to secure a buyer for the DoubleTree have been futile, as the previous sale attempt collapsed when financing could not be secured for the prospective buyer, as per CoStar News. Crescent and the Hotel Group, the hotel's operator and owner, respectively, have not immediately responded to requests for comment on the closure.
