SYRACUSE — The Jefferson Clinton Suites at 416 S. Clinton St. in Syracuse’s Armory Square area is transitioning into operation as the Best Western Syracuse Downtown Hotel and Suites. The hotel is working on interior renovations that will likely continue for a few more months, says Stephenie Jones, general manager of Best Western Syracuse Downtown […]
SYRACUSE — The Jefferson Clinton Suites at 416 S. Clinton St. in Syracuse’s Armory Square area is transitioning into operation as the Best Western Syracuse Downtown Hotel and Suites.
The hotel is working on interior renovations that will likely continue for a few more months, says Stephenie Jones, general manager of Best Western Syracuse Downtown Hotel and Suites. Jones spoke with CNYBJ on Aug. 11.
The hotel includes 68 total guestrooms, 40 of which are suites.
Visions Hotels, which is headquartered in Corning, bought Jefferson Clinton Suites in December 2019 from the previous local ownership. Visions Hotels buys hotels and has them join national brands, according to Jones.
“You get more visibility. You get the brand backing as far as marketing and advertising,” Jones says in explaining the reason for a hotel to join a brand name hotel group. She says she wasn’t involved in choosing the brand.
Visions Hotels, which started as an independent company with three or four hotels, now owns more than 50 hotels, primarily in upstate New York, but also some in Pennsylvania and New England, according to a hotel listing on its website.
Visions owns the hotel at 416 S. Clinton St. but Syracuse Hospitality Developers operates the hotel and will have a d/b/a of Best Western Syracuse Downtown Hotel and Suites, Jones notes.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Best Western Hotels & Resorts is a privately held hotel brand within the BWH Hotel Group global network, per its LinkedIn profile. It has 18 brands and about 4,700 hotels in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide.
When Visions bought Jefferson Clinton Suites, the company set aside funding to conduct renovations. However, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, all the renovation plans were put on hold. Jones went on to tell CNYBJ that in order for the hotel to get the new branding, it had to have certain criteria in place.
Visions Hotels has its own construction operation that handled the renovation work at the Jefferson Clinton, which is ongoing.
The last time the hotel had any renovation work done was 2015, Jones notes.
The project work focuses on the hotel’s lobby area, with an effort to keep the original marble from 1927, Jones says. Lobby renovations include furniture, lighting, and breakfast-area updates. The project also involves adding a market.
“We’re still keeping that historical boutique feel … all the awnings will be replaced,” she says.
In the rooms, almost all the furniture is gone, Jones tells CNYBJ. The hotel is donating the furniture to area organizations.
Crews are also replacing all the tile work in the rooms with pergo floors. The work is also targeting the tile work in the bathrooms as well. Rooms will also have all new kitchen appliances.
The renovation work started in mid-February but “due to the quirks of working with an old building,” crews ran into some difficulty. The work was targeted for completion in July but will continue through October or November, Jones says.
Originally built in 1927 by Gustavus A. Young, the hotel was fashioned in the Beaux-Arts style and is one of the last remaining hotels from that era in the area.