Discuss Detroit » Archives - January 2008 » Leland Hotel. Want a laugh? « Previous Next »
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1061
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 4:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Read some of the reviews.
Ahh, doing our city justice for our out-of-towner first-timers:

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-revi ews-357672-prod-hotel-action-r ead-ratings_and_reviews-i?from =-49

At least the diner is good, right?
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Bob
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Username: Bob

Post Number: 1609
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 7:06 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wonder what keep this hotel open? They lost their status as a Ramada franchise a few years ago. Higgins owns it, so you know there will be no money invested in it.
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Mauser765
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Username: Mauser765

Post Number: 2211
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 7:22 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"I would not recommend this hotel for anyone unless you are only using it for an hour..."

Hahahahaha !

"The room was so dirty, that I slept on top of my coat."

HAHAHAH !
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Bob
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Username: Bob

Post Number: 1611
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 8:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You have to wonder if the death blow to the Leland will be the addition of so many new and restored hotels to Detroit. You have the MGM Grand and Motor City Casino with their new hotels. And in the next couple years you will have the Book Cadillac and the Fort Shelby adding to the number of hotels in the downtown area. The Ponch just fixed itself up a bit. The Leland will have to do something or it will no longer exist. Of course I'm sure Higgins will say he does not have the money.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2130
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 8:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This one seemed to the most level headed comment, and gets to the point of this thread:

"Calling the downtown Ramada a dump might be pushing it, but it's sure not worth the $90 (including taxes) they charge for a single queen.
It's the kind of place that gives Detroit haters fodder, which is too bad because I like to say nice things about Detroit, especially its improving downtown."
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Bob
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Username: Bob

Post Number: 1612
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 9:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is a related article about hotel occupacy with the opening of the MGM Grand Hotel.


http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20071212/BUS INESS06/712120316
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 1228
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 9:29 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There may always be a market downtown for the kind of low-class dump the Leland is.
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Quinn
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Username: Quinn

Post Number: 1553
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Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 9:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"There was a rave party going on somewhere," hahahahahaha.

I've always wondered how they operate a hotel with City Club there. Back in the day, when it was a real Ramada with a pool and everything, City Club was the best party in town...and LOUD. And yes...I puked in the pool area with hotel guests looking at me.

Ah memories...
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Gingellgirl
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Username: Gingellgirl

Post Number: 93
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 10:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

But . . . it ranks ahead of the Days Inn on Tripadvisor.com:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hot el_Review-g42139-d95312-Review s-Days_Inn_Downtown_Detroit-De troit_Michigan.html

"Liked: Leaving it; and seeing it disappear in my rear view mirror."
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Rjlj
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Username: Rjlj

Post Number: 436
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 10:36 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Leland is what it is. It is actually becoming known as a type of Chelsea Hotel of the midwest.
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Raptor56
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Username: Raptor56

Post Number: 214
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

reading the above freep article, how does a city which garnishes a $100 MILLION donation each MONTH from casinos have no money to do anything with? we're talking about $1.2 billion a year. Just from 3 Casinos. This is blowing my mind, this morning
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Saintme
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Username: Saintme

Post Number: 68
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Chelsea of the Midwest . . . interesting.
Have, or do, any Detroit area artists stay(ed) there?
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Jonnyfive
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Username: Jonnyfive

Post Number: 87
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Raptor

I think the freep misspoke. I thought the casino taxes were predicted to be around 200 million to the city this year. Anybody?
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Rob_in_warren
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Username: Rob_in_warren

Post Number: 43
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think the freep misspoke.

When the state was on the verge of shutdown, the media reported that Detroit would lose about $500k each day from casino tax revenue (roughly $200M annually).
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Dnvn522
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Username: Dnvn522

Post Number: 299
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Here is a related article about hotel occupacy with the opening of the MGM Grand Hotel.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20071212/BUS INESS06/712120316



LMAO! Maybe if the rooms were a tad bit cheaper, more people could afford them.
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Onthe405
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Username: Onthe405

Post Number: 10
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 1:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

On the topic of downtown hotels, I visited Detroit during Thanksgiving week and couldn't believe the incessant local TV ads for the Motor City Hotel. Did the marketing director graduate from Everest Institute?

Talk about overkill and a waste of money. How many hotel rooms do they think they will occupy by advertising to locals within a 50 mile radius? Particularly when it come to repeat business.

I can see allocating a limited portion of the marketing to this audience, but they would be better served trying to target patrons who are more likely to stay overnight (Toledo, Columbus, further east in Canada, Grand Rapids, etc)
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Sstashmoo
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Username: Sstashmoo

Post Number: 682
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 1:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Quote: "When the state was on the verge of shutdown, the media reported that Detroit would lose about $500k each day from casino tax revenue"

Thats what I recall too.. Still not chump change. They could buy a new fire engine every few days. Or pay 2500 police officers. If they are broke now, how did the city get by without this a few years ago?
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Jonnyfive
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Username: Jonnyfive

Post Number: 89
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 1:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There were something like 100,000 more taxpaying residents 10 years ago.
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401don
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Username: 401don

Post Number: 141
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 2:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There are so many hotel websites that many tourists come across the Leland through "hotelinsider" etc. and the property has nice pictures, lists tons of amenities, great location, etc. as well as being an historic property (which some people prefer). The city should be putting a lot of pressure on Higgins to either get the property up to standard or get it off these sites. Otherwise they should tell him they will aggressively issue citations for all his properties. I reserved a similar property in downtown Baltimore 20 years ago based on the city's tourist and convention bureau recommendation. Needless to say, I didn't stay. I ended up in the suburbs.
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Gingellgirl
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Username: Gingellgirl

Post Number: 94
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 2:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Leland made the 2007 Metro Times Best of Detroit list:

Best Haunted Hotel
The Leland Hotel
400 Bagley, Detroit; 313-962-1045
Is the old Leland haunted? With a disused mezzanine lounge once frequented by Jimmy Hoffa, several seemingly deserted floors and a shrouded, sordid history that includes gangland massacres, some swear they've seen ectoplasmic shapes, heard noises from no discernible sources. Yet there's something comforting here because one can still rent a room by the day or the month at the stately-yet-rundown Leland, take meals at the diner downstairs, lounge in the luxurious lobby and even hang out in the aforementioned mezzanine bar, all without leaving the building! Quick trysts in shabbily festooned rooms offer a distinctly Detroit experience. As we've said before, the Leland could be D-Town's Chelsea Hotel, complete with trust-fund bohos and authentic artist-slummers of every stripe and color; some of whom live here, others who straggle in headed for the hotel's subterranean clubs, the black leathery City Club and the overly fetishized Labyrinth.
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Bobj
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Username: Bobj

Post Number: 3294
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Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 2:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Every big City has some bad hotels, the market really drives all this
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 167
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 2:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kind of ironic that back in the day when the Leland was on the fringe of skid row it definitely was a respectable hotel. It sounds like its become similar to the once nearby and long demolished flophouses. Since the 1960's it seems like their was always a significant number of apartments there. Back in the 60's and early 70's the club in the basement was a Rock and Roll venue. That hotel has a storied past but its become a basically a joke.
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Spacemonkey
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Username: Spacemonkey

Post Number: 278
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 4:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I lived at the Leland Apartment Hotel from 1993 - 1996. On the fifteenth floor. Rent was $425.00 a month, all utilities included, for a furnished, two-bedroom, two bathroom apartment. Plus, we all got free access to the City Club, where we went every Friday and Saturday. A drunken trip up and down the elevator. Easy as that.

Sure there was no A/C and the shower water only ran one temp: scalding hot. But what the heck. Three of us lived there, so splitting $425 rent on a college student's pay was excellent.

My grandad said the first auto shows were held in the Leland lobby. Can anyone here confirm that?

I saw a shadowy ghost in my apartment a couple times. But thought nothing of it at the time. Figured it was an optical illusion.
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Sciencefair
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Username: Sciencefair

Post Number: 32
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 4:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The best part of the Leland is the direct lobby access to Lucy and Ethel's Diner.
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Lukabottle
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Username: Lukabottle

Post Number: 128
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 10:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Apartment rents haven't changed much. I think they still run about 500 a month depending on decay and size.

On the seventh floor, which is all apartments, my friends used to throw a loser's Christmas. Alas, all of the good people I know who used to live there have since fled. Definitely a positive move.

I know when ever there is an ICP show, the juggalos swarm the place. I wish that fad would end. They also service victims who have lost their homes to fires. The red cross puts them up there for short spans of time.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 5888
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Onthe405... you were here when the MotorCity Casino Hotel opened up.

Had you been here in September all you would have seen on TV is the MGM Grand Casino (permanent casino) opening... the frequence of the advertisement for that one made the MotorCity Hotel opening seem tame by comparison!
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 1040
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Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I always wonder how did this place manage to survive, while other nearby centrally located hotels like the Statler and Tuller closed

Also what is the story behind the Leland. I know it was design by Rapp& Rapp. But other than that there's little info on the genreal history of the hotel, it's public spaces,etc
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Rjlj
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Username: Rjlj

Post Number: 438
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 12:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good point Eric. Why hasn't this place become a fabulous ruin of Detroit like so many other hotels downtown where people break into them to take pictures for their blogs and promote Detroit as a burnt out wasteland?
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2137
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 2:06 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

...might possibly be as simple as the fact that Ramada held on to it until just a few years ago whereas, the Pick & Hilton (etc.) chains left their downtown historic hotels decades ago.
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Gsgeorge
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Username: Gsgeorge

Post Number: 446
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 3:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

sounds awesome, I'd love to live there.
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Gsgeorge
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Username: Gsgeorge

Post Number: 447
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 3:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just for fun, Google Maps street view:
http://tinyurl.com/2v46ao

ALSO-- maybe this is why out-of-towners aren't staying here?
http://tinyurl.com/2v7rmk

(Message edited by gsgeorge on December 13, 2007)
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Nickstone
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Username: Nickstone

Post Number: 35
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 3:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

in re to gistok... I think they fact that they "opened" and the outside of most of it is still covered in tyvek is really lame... just weak... they should have had a grand opening when they were totally done... they're actually about to close the music stage for three months to remodel... so lame...
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 5892
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Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 1:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

From what I heard from my MotorCity friends... the first out of town hockey team stayed at the MotorCity hotel last Thursday. It seems that a lot of Hockey and Baseball teams will be staying here when they play at JLA or Comerica Park.
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Lina
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Username: Lina

Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 10:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We live in Royal Oak and have a small place at the Leland too. It can be strange & funky, it can also be an interesting place. We take the People Mover to the movies, jog along the River Walk, attend church at Central United Methodist. It is cheaper than going up north. With a month to month lease it works. The managers are nice so are staff at Lucy & Ethel's. Our floor and room is clean.
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Malcovemagnesia
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Username: Malcovemagnesia

Post Number: 61
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 11:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Welcome to the forum, Lina.

About 15 years ago, I used to split time between living at the Leland (where the fun was) and living at my parent's house (where the fridge was).
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Rjlj
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Username: Rjlj

Post Number: 439
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Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 11:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.realdetroitweekly.c om/article_3567.shtml

THE LELAND
City Beat (December 12, 2007)
By Eric Allen

Historic And Then Some

Every city has its essential hotel. If a city doesn’t, then I’m sorry, but you can’t officially be called a city within the confines of the United States of America. There has to be at least one place in town where a rock star or eccentric traveler can come into town and have a good time.

Consider that New York has the Chelsea Hotel, the place where Sid Vicious supposedly killed his girlfriend Nancy and Dee Dee Ramone lived after quitting the Ramones. There is the Riot House in San Francisco, where John Bonham drove a motorcycle down the middle of a hallway, or Seattle’s Edgewater Inn, where Led Zep got down with a chick and a mudshark. Flint even has the Holiday Inn where Keith Moon drove a car into the pool. So, what does Detroit have to offer? Fortunately, we have the Leland.

Standing in the shadows of the newly permanent Motor City Casino hotel, the Leland is a major part of Detroit history that would be hard to leave behind in a pile of dust. Opened originally in 1927, the building was called the Detroit House and has become an indispensable stopping place for all that venture to the city. “In the early '80s they turned some of the old apartments into hotel rooms,” General Manager, Cheryl Martin, says of the Leland’s top floors' brief stint as a Ramada Inn. “Those floors, 10 through 18, were the Ramada, but the lobby through the ninth floor have always been the Leland.”

From the first second someone walks into the lobby of the Leland they will realize how special the hotel truly is. Currently decorated with Christmas decorations and a life-sized Santa Claus, The Leland’s lavish Italian renaissance-inspired architecture is hauntingly beautiful. “We’re quite unique really since we have the apartments and hotel rooms,” Martin says of the hotel's appeal. ”It’s really like a little city within a city.” Featured at the Leland are two of Detroit’s prominent clubs, the City Club and Labyrinth, as well as an array of eccentric and peculiar characters.

Despite its unconventional standing in the hearts of many Detroiters, many national stars have taken to booking one of the Leland’s 450 rooms when coming to the Motor City. The hotel has had a variety of acts, ranging from Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Smashing Pumpkins, making frequent stops at their classic digs, even country music darlings the Dixie Chicks have popped in for a night's stay. Who wouldn’t want to stay when the Leland has a staff of 40 people ready to help you out in any manner you need? The place is so popular that some say the ghosts of prior Leland guests are still sticking around in the afterlife. “I don’t really believe in it,” Martin states of the Leland’s haunted status. “But, a lot of things have been written and there are a lot of people that talk about different haunting things going on.”

Don’t believe the hype when it comes to online hotel reviews. When most book rooms at hotels, it seems as though they are looking for a traditional, “thinking within the box” type of place. For those with more sense of adventure who are interested in older buildings, the Leland is the place to stay. “You either love us or you hate us,” Martin states when it comes to the hotel's historic reputation. “Some people have called us offbeat and bohemian. We’re just different here.” | RDW

Leland Hotel is at 400 Bagley St., Detroit; 313.965.4596
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Saintme
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Username: Saintme

Post Number: 70
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 12:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Can anyone post current or historic interior photos of The Leland? I've been googling for a while and I can't find very much info on the hotel.
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Lukabottle
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Username: Lukabottle

Post Number: 134
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 2:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.angelfire.com/de2/d etroitpix/RamadaHotel.html
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Cman710
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Username: Cman710

Post Number: 392
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 3:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is a link to some "candid" traveler photos from Trip Advisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Loc ationPhotos-g42139-d89998-The_ Leland-Detroit_Michigan.html
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Cman710
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Username: Cman710

Post Number: 393
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Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 3:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Also found this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/s andoz/1860905264/
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Eric
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Post Number: 1043
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Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 4:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Don’t believe the hype when it comes to online hotel reviews. When most book rooms at hotels, it seems as though they are looking for a traditional, “thinking within the box” type of place.



By inside the box do they mean a place that is clean and free of vermin? Judging from the tripadvisor pics, outside of the lobby, the reviews seem pretty damn accurate.
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Dustin89
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Post Number: 164
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Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 4:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

After getting a chuckle from the reviews of the Leland--factual or not, they are funny--I looked at some hotel reviews posted online of the Corktown Inn. For me, what waters down the credibility of some of these people who go online and rupture their spleens about their horrendous hotel stays is the running theme of safety concerns. For example, several reviews of the Corktown Inn (I'm paraphrasing) said it was not "in the best neighborhood" or a "not very safe area." I'm going by personal impressions, not numbers, but Corktown has got to be one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. A lot of these negative impressions seem to be due to unfamiliarity with the city. On the other hand, complaints about things such as dirty towels, sheets stained with suspicious fluids, etc., are probably legitimate if these people are going by the standard of a characterless & clean chain hotel. Either way, it seems like a cool place with some character & maybe some housekeeping issues, and I would probably stay at a place like this, or the Milner, or the Corktown Inn over a chain hotel downtown if luxury was not the top concern.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 2146
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Posted on Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 3:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

At least the lobby looks nice, if you had to pick and choose where to put your money.
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Saintme
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Post Number: 72
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Posted on Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 7:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the pic links. They are certainly interesting but I suppose nothing compares to being there in person.
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Spacemonkey
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Username: Spacemonkey

Post Number: 281
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 1:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I got mugged on the street in front of the Leland one time.
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Fjw718
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Username: Fjw718

Post Number: 176
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 2:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How do you beat this review???LOL

I was homeless on the streets of the Bronx for 3 years......and this is the worst place i have ever stayed in my life LOL



This is the most disgusting place I ever stayed, and I am far from a soccer mom (see previos post). This place is absolutely disgusting. I lived on the streets of the Bronx, homeless for 3 years before putting myself together and I can say, honestly, that this is the worst place I ever stayed at in my life. The manager even offered me a complimentary night, and I still left a day early. You need to be buzzed into the elevators (FROM THE LOBBY! to keep out homeless people. There were bloodstains on the ironing board, the carpets were wet and moldy, the bathrooms had pubic hair everywhere, along with wet, dirty towels. When I informed the manager (this is just the tip of the iceberg-email me for ictures I took in case I ended up in court to get my money back AND so I can warn people without a libel suit) she told me "good help is hard to find" yet 2 blocks away is a Holiday Inn and MGM Grand that my fellow travellers loved. SHe then put me in the "suite" which was just as bad.

Steer clear of this place.

(Message edited by fjw718 on December 17, 2007)
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Bob
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Post Number: 1617
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Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 2:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And Higgins says he is not a slumlord.
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Prokopowicz
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Username: Prokopowicz

Post Number: 25
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Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 3:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Hit the elevator's mezzanine floor if you're into adventure."

Does anyone know about this adventure?

I stayed there one night during the Auto Show about 10 years ago, because everything else was booked for miles around. It was advertised as a Ramada but there was nothing corporate about it.

In the huge ornate lobby I remember a lavish, abandoned old bar. There was a functioning makeshift bar that I think was pretty much just a folding table, with a string of malfunctioning christmas lights and a small black and white TV blaring the old sci-fi horror movie "The Man With The X-Ray Eyes". It was truly creepy.
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Flyingj
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Post Number: 57
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Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 8:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That MetroTimes piece was ludicrous & full of FAIL...maybe the Chelsea in Manhattan's close to what the hipster on an "Emily's Across The Street" kick wants the Leland to be. The "Riot House", formerly known as the "Continental Hyatt House", isn't in San Fran, it's on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. It's a classy outfit, nothing like the dumpy Leland. Ditto the Edgewater, off Alaskan Way in downtown Seattle, tho thanks to liability laws you may no longer fish from the windows-just because traveling rockstars did inappropriate acts in these properties doesn't mean they fall into the decrepit slum category of The Leland.

The problem with Detroit is in every major American city there is a legendary hotel that's historic and in a class of its own, and continues to be so...in downtown Detroit people are afraid of those places so everybody flocks to The Townsend, especially traveling rockstars, which doesn't hold a candle in terms of (once) stunning architecture, (long lost) class or (forgotten) history of someplace like the Book Cadillac or Ponchatrain. And that's too bad, for my money, pound for pound, no state pulls this off like Arizona; be it Frank Lloyd Wright's Biltmore in Phoenix, the Hotel Congress in Tucson, the Weatherford Hotel (too bad about the Hotel Monte Vista) in Flagstaff & the last Harvey House, the breathtaking La Posada in Winslow

Oh yeah the Keith Moon motel in Flint is a Days Inn now, it's a shame MetroTimes can't get some interns to fact check their copy on Google
http://www.waterwinterwonderla nd.com/flinn010504.asp
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 6673
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 9:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember once frequenting the Leland for something and found out it was also the departure/ pick-up destination for a lot of the kids about to join the military. I remember cutting through the lobby and noticed a lot of these 18 year old guys with their gear about to ship off to boot camp from there. Does anyone know if the military has any sort of contract there for this sort of thing?
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Evelyn
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Username: Evelyn

Post Number: 44
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 7:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think so... but then I haven't lived there for awhile, things could have changed. The hotel did host a lot of random events, and Higgins will rent that ballroom out to anyone with cash.
I lived in the Ramada/Leland for a couple of years. Perks: cheap rent, two bars, one club and a liquor store in the building, and no real restrictions on noise. The location- downtown, right across from a People Mover stop- was great too.
The downsides, of course, was being treated like dirt by the so-called landlords. Basic repairs weren't done, the heat wasn't turned on until November or December, and security in the building was an absolute joke. Last straw for me was when all the "leases" were changed to daily agreements, and the landlords put notes under everyone's door that said they could kick us out whenever they liked.
It's a shame- it's cool old building, and it's being run into the ground. I hope someone buys Higgins out- as much as I liked the rent and character of the building, simple upkeep has to be done, or the hotel will eventually become structurally unsound, and it'll get torn down.

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