Atlman: The view from the top of the Renaissance Center is gorgeous. Not the unspectacular downtown Detroit side, but the side facing the Detroit River and Windsor, Ontario on the other side of the river. On a sunny day you can see freighters traveling up and down the river...in the summer the river and the islands in the middle of it present a lush and green vista. Portman recognized this and faced the glass elevators on the hotel towards the river.

richard: The Seattle building you recall is the Smith Tower. But...the new owner of this building did a dishonorable thing: Although the elevators still have operators, and the old cars and doors are indeed impressive, he replaced the antique manual rheostat wheel controls with a modern pushbutton panel. No fair! That's like putting an engine into a buggy that's drawn by a horse. Use the darn manual controls if your're gonna claim historical authenticity. Heck, the Bradbury Building in L.A. recently had new manual controls installed into their elevators to make them look old, so it's not like you cannot maintain the old components.

I believe the Smith Tower elevators were featured in the movie "Disclosure" - Michael Douglas' attorney had an office in the building.