20-Feb-15 – A year into its third name in 16 years, Hotel Chicago is “kicking into gear” as a Marriott, its owner said on Thursday.

The 354-room hotel at Marina City is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection brand, what the hospitality company describes as “a remarkable group of upper upscale and luxury independent hotels.” It is managed locally by HEI Hotels & Resorts, hired in December 2013 when the hotel was still named Hotel Sax.

One of 46 hotels owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties of Bethesda, Maryland, Hotel Chicago and just five other hotels are “our best performing properties,” says LaSalle CEO Michael Barnello.

In March 2014, Barnello said a high supply of hotel rooms had made Chicago its “weakest market” and LaSalle was “not expecting a big performance in Chicago in 2014.”

With Hotel Chicago now on the radar of corporate travel planners, as of late last year, the outlook is better.

“We were able to get some more bookings for the fourth quarter of [2014],” said Barnello in a conference call with investors, “so it is kicking into gear. I wouldn’t say it’s there [or] it’s totally stabilized yet, but we are happy with the recent progress that it’s made.”

Barnello called last year “a good ramp” for the hotel and says LaSalle is “expecting big growth” from Hotel Chicago in 2015.

No more ‘last calls’ for Crimson Lounge

The real estate investment trust also owns Westin Michigan Avenue in River North, which along with Hotel Chicago and eleven other LaSalle properties, is being renovated.

Hotel Chicago is spending $10 million on a new canopy and alterations to a reception area and other public areas. The space that was once Crimson Lounge will be turned into a new lobby and a smaller lounge.

(Left) A floor plan that has appeared on the Hotel Chicago website in recent days, showing how the ground floor of the hotel is being renovated. The new main entrance is at the bottom-center of this image. The large empty space at lower right is where a Chase branch was located. (Click on image to view larger version.)

The hotel has set up a temporary reception area in space that was recently part of BIN 36, a restaurant that left Marina City last December.

2014 was LaSalle’s best year but Thursday was not a good day

Demand for hotel rooms in the United States last year “continued to exceed our expectations,” says Michael Barnello, president and chief executive officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties.

2014 was LaSalle’s best year ever, according to Barnello (right), as far as occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per available room. On average, occupancy was 81.2 percent, up 1.3 percent, and average daily rate increased 7.4 percent to $231.53, driving revenue per available room up 8.8 percent to $188.09.

Despite the encouraging outlook, LaSalle’s stock price was down 6.5 percent on Thursday after the publicly traded company missed its per-share earnings estimate for the quarter by one cent. LaSalle reported fourth quarter earnings per share of 21 cents, not quite the 22 cents analysts had estimated. With fourth quarter revenue of $269 million, LaSalle came up just $200,000 short.