HWGeeks

man oh man oh man what a fabulous location.

The rooms are huge (provided you aren't in the main building) the staff is super friendly and the property is gorgeous. I felt like I was living on a country club.

Can't wait to go back again!

In case you don't know which marriot I am talking about here's a link
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...arriott-hotel/

socrates

This hotel has always had a special place in my heart (worked here oh so many decades ago)...the world's first airport hotel (with the hangers across the street at Ford Field, now known as the Dearborn Test Tract) still visible (the hotel is still owned by Ford Motor Land Dev Corp which itself is owned by FoMoCo)

HWGeeks

I had a feeling it was owned by ford because of the little ford history facts everywhere. But I thought they were there simply because I was across the street from ford.

But I was there for a ford event, got to meet their CEO, check out a crash test live, drag race F150's, get a demo of the cars that talk to each other, drove around the test track. Met Ed Begley Jr, and a few other famous peeps.

But I really loved the HOTEL

socrates

The full history of the hotel is

Henry I - built the hotel when he saw a need for it due to his Ford Field (Ford owned an airline back then)...airport closed within a few years of the hotel opening

Henry loved Americana - build replica's of famous American homes (there were suppose to be many more than there current are but war made it difficult to continue construction)...let's see if I can remember them all, Gov Wolcott, Barbara Fritchee, Edgar Allen Poe, Patrick Henry (ugh there's 1 more...total of 5...the rooms out there are terrific)

Henry noticed his employees at the Rouge needed a place to live so he built the dorm which is closed due to asbestos (closest to the pool)

In the 50's and 60's the hotel had the 2 motor lodges added (burbank and mcguffy - while Henry I was long gone these were two people he admired)

Henry I also founded the Edison Inst (now known as The Henry Ford) and transfered the hotel to this non-profit as a way of generating income (not sure exactly when that occurred), the Inst put the property up for sale in the 80's and FoMoCo couldn't let it go outside the family (the company has a full service land develop co in FoMoLandDev) so FoMoLand purchased the hotel and started a reno, during the reno they hired MI to be the management company, MI suggested additional changes be made which FoMo Land agreed with extending the amount of time the hotel was closed

it certainly is an amazing hotel which recently went through another reno which moved the Ten Eyck Tavern, eliminated the Early American Room and the Golden Eagle Lounge (unfortunately the publics wants/needs have changed greatly over the years)

If you ever return - make sure you get a tour, the Alexandria Ballrooms is filled with history (as is most of the property), Pilots Row (first floor rooms where the airline pilots use to stay) etc

BigLar

soc, thanks for the history lesson.AND ... it's a Cat 4, for those of you wondering what to do with those certs. @:-)

socrates

and it's about 2 minutes away from www.thehenryford.com - Michigan's #1 tourist attraction - you could easily spend several days going through it, I highly recommend it

DillMan

Actually they've changed the name to Ford Land (sounds like an amusement park,eh?) and subsequently moved all buildings not occupied by FordMoCo within the Fairlane area in to a JV with Jones, Lang, Lasalle. The only exception is the secondary properties used by the Henry Ford, which FordMoCo donates. The Dearborn Inn and The Henry (former Ritz-Carlton) buildings are technically overseen by JLL with minimum input from Ford Landemployees.

A lot of people expect ford to spin off all these non-core properties and I'd sure hate to see that.

socrates

I'm with you, I too wouldn't be happy to see it (all of Wayne Doran's hard work being sold off) BUT Alan certainly needs to focus on Ford's main purpose - being a world class vehicle manuf for years to come - Ford lost sight of this many decades ago (at one point they wanted to be a world class executive training ground like GE, another they wanted to be a world class conglomerate etc...Alan has certainly grounded them to focusing on 1 thing).....btw the Ritz-Carlton was sold about a decade ago to Host Marriott who sold it last year when it became an AC The Henry, I believe the last 2 hotels in the porfolio are the Hyatt Regency Dearborn and the Inn (the Regency had been up for sale many times in the past but they could never get an offer near where they wanted and when the RZ was sold they took the Hyatt off the market)

Recreation

I stayed there for one night a few months ago. It was a very nice blast-of-the-past hotel in the middle of a not-so-great part of town. I'd never stayed in a place that had an old-fashioned toilet, complete with exposed plumbing, before.

My only complaint about the room was that they mounted the flat-screen t.v. in the middle of the room facing the couch instead of in front of the bed. Had they mounted it on a bracket that allowed you to pull it out and angle it toward the bed, it would have been great. It was a very awkward trying to watch t.v. in bed.

But it was a lovely hotel and the staff was phenomenal. Since I hadn't had an opportunity to eat the day before, I treated myself to a steak breakfast. Enjoyed it immensely. I was expecting a crappy cut of beef, but it was a really nice cut.

socrates

Dearborn is not a bad part of town, the west Dearborn is actually a very very nice part of town (there are parts of east Dearborn that are so so but the entire city is extremely "good")....the parts of Detroit Dearborn butts up against actually are ok too (not Palmer Park or Palmer Woods but still decent neighborhoods)

jspira

I recently stayed at the Inn and, while there were some nice aspects to it, the problems with the Internet overshadowed everything else.

My review as published in Executive Road Warrior magazine is excerpted below:

The Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, Michigan - Review

Review continues here...

Neewbs

As for the variation in the rooms, the back part of the main building, where the concierge floors are located are all new and much larger than the other rooms (part of the original hotel). The 'older' rooms have a much smaller bathroom with a pedestal sink and ancient toilet. Has a slight dormatory feel to it but they did as much as they could to dress it all up while keeping the charm of the hotel.

There is also a seperate building where the rooms are newer and of the larger size. There are a few suites within the main hotel. The real charm of the hotel are the colonial houses which I would consider their 'real' suites. Those are on the back of the property, a very short walk from the main building.

SkiAdcock

Since JW GR unexpectedly went from a Cat 4 to a Cat 5 (), I find myself w/ 2 Cat 1-4 certs to use by end of year. Going to visit relatives in the greater Detroit area for Xmas, and was thinking of going over a couple of days early & use the certs.

Trying to decide between this property & the Novi Renaissance, which has gotten good reviews.

Anyone have any input on either? I'd be there the 23rd, 24th. I'm guessing the lounges will be closed?

I know the Henry Ford Museum will be open, but Greenfield Village will be closed (they're open the eve of the 23rd, but sold out for the 'holiday lights at the village' event. Anything else to do around there?

Cheers.

DillMan

The Dearborn Inn all the way. The Novi Ren is, IMHO, sort of bleh. If haven't been (or even if you have) The Henry Ford is a ton of fun.

Big Mo

The Henry Ford was under serious construction earlier this year. Don't know the current status.