Hyatt Regency in downtown to undergo $20M renovation

CINCINNATI - The Hyatt Regency in downtown Cincinnati will see improvements after it announced plans for a $20 million renovation Wednesday morning.

The renovation will update the hotel located at 151 West Fifth Street and help it meet the demands of business meetings and conventions in the building, said Hyatt Regency’s Director of Sales and Marketing Tracie Person. The renovations are scheduled to start in mid-December and will be completed by summer 2013.

“These improvements will maintain our competitive edge as a premier hotel for upscale business travelers in the state and in the mid-west,” said General Manager Bruce Flyer in a news release. “We are eager to debut our contemporary new look to both first-time visitors and loyal repeat guests, who will find the same level of service that they have come to expect from Hyatt Regency Cincinnati.”

Under the renovations, all 486 guestrooms will be refurbished and one additional suit and four more rooms will be added, creating 491 rooms in the hotel. Each room will get new furnishings, a new flat screen TV and a new mini refrigerator.

To accommodate for convention needs, the meeting space will see a 3,450-square-foot addition, which will cut into the space of Findlay, a hotel restaurant. Also, the hotel’s Regency Ballroom — the largest hotel ballroom in downtown Cincinnati—will get a facelift with some new décor.

Champs restaurant in the hotel is set to undergo renovation and will reopen the full service eatery with a new name and concept, according to the release.

Turner will do the construction for the project and PDSI will oversee the renovations.

The construction will happen in phases so the hotel can remain open for business as renovations progress. Person said the hotel is not expecting the construction to slow down business.

“Hyatt is used to doing upgrades and hiring contractors and going through renovations to make sure our guests have great experiences here at the hotel,” she said.