There will be some life at the former Hotel Syracuse this weekend for the first time in over a decade. Hotel Developer Ed Riley is allowing the the St. Patrick’s parade committee to hold a couple of private events in the hotel’s lobby Friday and Saturday.
“This year it’s just very low key," Riley said. "It’s really for the parade and the parade committee to assist them with maybe raising some money and maybe making sure that continues on as a Syracuse tradition for many years.”
Riley said the historic hotel is already booked a couple of days.
"Within two weeks of our opening in July we already have a weekend that is entirely sold out.”
Beyond that, he said there are already 50 wedding receptions booked, and the convention business is moving ahead.
"We have a couple of bookings through the convention center for groups that will stay here, but use their facilities," Riley said. "We have groups coming here just using our facilities. We have fund raising events that are coming back and community events throughout. So it’s across the board."
Riley said while nostalgia may be driving much of the interest now, one of the reasons Marriott was chosen to run the hotel was the level of service that franchise provides. The former Hotel Syracuse opened in 1924, and fell on hard times in the '80s and '90s. It closed it’s doors in 2004. The $53 million renovation has created 261 state-of-the-art rooms.
