Hotel Update: Construction on floors 4 through 8 are progressing well and it appears that the hotel is scheduled to open this winter.  The current unoccupied floors of the Liberty Building, floors four through eight, would become the new home to Hyatt Place Hotel. This would create the first condotel in Iowa where a building is part hotel-part condominiums. Personally, having lived in Florida, condotels were quite common and always some of the most desirable places to live. The residents were extremely happy with the news.

With just under 100 new hotel rooms for the downtown market, this would be Hyatt’s first entrance into the downtown Des Moines market and a first for Hyatt Place in Iowa. The hotel would feature a separate entrance than the current resident’s entrance, a first floor lobby, with small bar and food area. Condo residents would enjoy most of the amenities a hotel brings such as morning newspaper delivery, 24-hour concierge service and even a brand new swimming pool in the basement of the building.

Nelson Development would remain the owner of the building and hotel. Nelson currently owns other hotels, residential and commercial buildings both here in Iowa and other cities in the mid-west.

Here are some pictures of what a typical Hyatt Place looks like.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Hotels | Liberty Condos

There is brand new map-based housing search engine that covers downtown Des Moines. Housing shoppers can find long term rentals, homes for sale, and even hotels on HotPads.com map-based search.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Condos | Hotels | Lofts

Thursday evening, Jake Christensen of Nelson Development and a resident of 418 Liberty Condos met with residents to share some really great news. The current unoccupied floors of the Liberty Building, floors four through eight, would become the new home to Hyatt Place Hotel. This would create the first condotel in Iowa where a building is part hotel-part condominiums. Personally, having lived in Florida, condotels were quite common and always some of the most desirable places to live. The residents were extremely happy with the news.

Construction on the new hotel would begin sometime this coming spring, with construction targeted for completion by the end of 2009. With just under 100 new hotel rooms for the downtown market, this would be Hyatt’s first entrance into the downtown Des Moines market and a first for Hyatt Place in Iowa. The hotel would feature a separate entrance than the current resident’s entrance, a first floor lobby, with small bar and food area. Condo residents would enjoy most of the amenities a hotel brings such as morning newspaper delivery, 24-hour concierge service and even a brand new swimming pool in the basement of the building.

Nelson Development would remain the owner of the building and hotel. Nelson currently owns other hotels, residential and commercial buildings both here in Iowa and other cities in the mid-west.

Here are some pictures of what a typical Hyatt Place looks like.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Condos | Hotels | Liberty Condos

For those traveling to Des Moines that need a place to stay overnight, downtown Des Moines has seven hotels for them to choose from. Those seven are:

• Downtown Marriott
• Embassy Suites
• Holiday Inn Downtown
• Hotel Fort Des Moines
• Quality Inn & Suites Event Center
• Renaissance Savery Hotel
• Suites of 800 Locust Street

Now I’m not in the hotel business but the number of hotels we have downtown seems a little limited. Not only in choices (i.e. no five star hotels) but also in the number of rooms for the size of the city (1,745 rooms by my count) and the events that we are currently drawing. There have long been talks of a new hotel near the Iowa Events Center as well as turing one of the older buildings downtown into a boutique-style hotel, but to-date nothing concrete has appeared. I think we could use a hotel in the Court Avenue neighborhood, and one towards the west-end of the Western Gateway Park as well as a another near the Iowa Events Center that is connected via the skywalk.

I did some research on a lot of different travel sites and complied together in one place some information on our six downtown hotels. Hopefully this will help you or your visitors decide where to stay based on their needs when visiting downtown Des Moines. I think first you should be aware of the “star rating” system that is being used:

These are hotels that offer only the highest level of accommodations and services. The properties offer a high degree of personal service. Although most five star hotels are large properties, sometimes the small independent (non-chain) property offers an elegant intimacy that can not be achieved in the larger setting. They are generally located in the heart of downtown or in resort locations. The hotel lobbies are sumptuous, the rooms complete with stylish furnishing and quality linens. The amenities often include: DVD players, CD stereos, garden tubs or Jacuzzis, in-room video library, heated pools and more. The hotels feature up to three restaurants all with exquisite menus. Room service is usually available 24 hours a day. Fitness Centers and valet and/or garage parking are typically available. A concierge is also available to assist you. Typical National Chains: Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, W. Downtown Des Moines: None

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Hotels | Maps | Neighborhoods | Property Spotlight | Wi-Fi