WELCOMING GUESTS: Crowne Plaza Hotel General Manager Marlin Keranen has been busy overseeing the massive $20 million renovation to his hotel over the past eight months. The Crowne Plaza exemplifies the revitalization of downtown Tulsa as a result of the BOK Center, scheduled to open in September. The Crowne Plaza renovation is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 15.
DAVID JONES for GTR Newspapers
With the opening of the Bank of Oklahoma Center on the horizon, Tulsans are looking forward to the new luxury hotels that will, it is hoped and suspected, surround it soon.
By focusing on the future, Tulsans might be overlooking what is happening now. By Aug. 15 downtown Tulsa will have a bright, shiny, like-new landmark when the last workman has left the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 100 East Second St. The hotel, which is adjacent to the Performing Arts Center, is becoming a centerpiece in the development of the hub of the city.
A five minute stroll from the BOK Center, the Crowne Plaza has been brought thoroughly up to date after a massive $20 million renovation.
Originally the Westin Hotel in the late 1970s, then the Adams Mark, the hotel was renamed prior to being purchased by Ascension Hotels of Louisiana. With four hotels in Louisiana, the Crowne Plaza became the first of the company’s hotels to be outside the Pelican State.
Eight months ago, Marlin Keranen was brought in to be the hotel’s general manager, and he’s more than ready to watch the last dust settle.
“It’s been an exciting eight months,” he said recently. “It’s been wonderful watching the hotel being transformed into such a beautiful product. It was challenging one day and frustrating the next, but now everything will soon be done, and I can bring my wife down from Baltimore and settle down to a normal lifestyle.”
While the renovation was going on, Keranen was working six or seven days a week, 12 hours a day. It has been a grueling pace, and Keranen says the hardest part has been to plan the renovation work around the guest so an airline crew trying to catch some shuteye won’t be kept awake by the vibration of a jackhammer in the room next door.
So far, all the rooms have been renovated except for the 12 luxury suites, which are in the final stages of being completed. Two of the suites have 2,700 square feet, the largest in the state, and three have 2,300 square feet. Nearly $1 million has been spent on them alone.
Counting the suites, the hotel has 462 rooms, although many of them in recent months have been taken off market to accommodate the renovation; Keranen estimates it’s going to take up to two years to get the hotel operating at top speed.
“But what a hotel we’re going to be able to offer Tulsa,” he enthuses. “All the guest rooms were gutted and are brand new. Three floors will be concierge floors with a private concierge club lounge. All 38,000 square feet of banquet, catering and meeting rooms will have been renovated. Now we will be able to offer exciting new services such as a 60-second meeting planner and exciting new banquet menus.
“We have doubled the size of the gift shop and expanded by two-thirds Tulsa’s premier Spa, Essentials. We have remodeled our unique indoor-outdoor swimming pool and will have a state of the art fitness center. We will offer 24-hour valet parking and on-site car rental services from Enterprise. We are proud to have the first downtown full service Starbucks Coffee house and soon will have the famed Beverly Hills restaurant, The Daily Grill with a lounge and an outdoor patio. Shortly we will be announcing two new “major” tenants.
“A lot of Tulsans will be interested in our employment opportunities. We are looking for service oriented managers, supervisors and staff in sales, meeting planning, valet, front office, housekeeping and food and beverage. Starting July 15 we will probably hire people in every division. We plan to be the premier employer downtown.
“As you can tell, we’re excited about Tulsa and the prospects for downtown and are committed believers of Mayor Taylor’s vision.”
Looking back on it, where does Keranen think most of the $20 million went?
“That’s easy,” he laughs, “downtown Tulsa.”
