After a paint job in 2007 and change in ownership, the Downtown Holiday Inn became the Clarion Hotel. New signage in the middle of March announced the change.
Then, on August 30, 2008, I reported that the sign had once again changed. In fact, the sign had a vinyl pull-over placed over it which simply said, “Fort Wayne Inn”. Â Â This had been the sign placed over the existing signage just after the sale of the Holiday Inn hotel. Â When I called the Hotel to inquire about the change, I was told the sign had been broken and that the Clarion people are very strict about such appearances.
Well, guess what? Â A new sign has popped up at the former Holiday Inn, then Fort Wayne Inn, then Clarion Hotel, and then Fort Wayne Inn again.
It’s too bad the colors don’t match the colors of the building a bit better. Hmmmm, perhaps they’ll repaint the building to something more appropriate to the the new logo? And is that supposed to be our three rivers? Inquiring minds really want to know.
The orange color scheme has to be one of the worst I’ve seen since I lived in Detroit. PLEASE give it a new paint job.
Although it is easy to spot from the Summit Club…
I’ve vacillated over the colors myself. Sometimes, on bright sunny days, it really pops and sets off the city skyline. On other days and depending on my mood, it makes me mad. I think the colors on the sign would make for an interesting building, although keeping it clean would be a huge problem.
Maybe they could update the inside then they might keep the national chain designation. But until then it looks like its the Fort Wayne Inn
When I was involved in convention site selection, if one of the hotels in an area was not part of a frequent traveler program, that site was considerably less likely to get my favorable recommendation. The Holiday Inn was part of the Priority Club, and the Clarion is part of Choice Privileges. The “Fort Wayne Inn?”
I think there’s a bit more to this story, but I haven’t had time to follow-up. Perhaps I will tomorrow.
heard they didn’t get certified to be a clarion so they had to drop the name.
I figure it’s something like that.