MotorCity Casino Hotel is undertaking a $65 million, multi-year renovation aimed at upgrading its hotel rooms, dining, entertainment and casino floor under a campaign called “Elevate the Escape.”
Fred Isaacs, vice president of hotel operations at MotorCity Casino Hotel, said the initiative touches nearly every part of the guest experience.
“The Elevate the Escape campaign is, is really about improving and elevating our core group of experiences at the property,” Isaacs said, adding that the effort spans “gaming, hotel stays, our food and beverage departments, or entertainment,” with the goal to “touch everything on property to improve our guest experience and our customer experience.”
Isaacs said the changes were shaped largely by feedback from guests and local businesses. “Most of these improvements actually come from conversations that we’ve had with our customers and, you know, the different businesses in the area as well,” he said, during an appearance on Live in the D.
The property has already unveiled its first newly renovated hotel rooms, part of a plan to update all 400 rooms. “You can expect cooler colors. You can expect a lot of space,” Isaacs said. The redesign includes a new banquette for additional seating and repositioned closets and armoires, though the hotel’s bathrooms will remain unchanged, since guests responded well to them.
The decision to renovate stemmed from a companywide reassessment that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. “You know, before the pandemic, our management team was really tasked with this question. We’d been open for 20 years in the casino and over 10 years in the hotel. What would you do if we were reopening the hotel today or reopening the casino today?” Isaacs said. He added that the team visited competing hotels and restaurants and consulted business and gaming customers before settling on its slate of projects.
Beyond the hotel, MotorCity has opened Revel Steak and the Wagner Bar, and renovated its convention space, with more additions to the casino floor still to come.
Isaacs said the improvements are designed to appeal broadly, with a boost from Detroit’s slate of upcoming major events. “We’re certainly looking for the Final Four next year,” he said. “I think that the hotel product really, really appeals to a lot of different kinds of guests,” and “we’ve built it so that it’s just as great for our gaming customer as it is for our business clients.”
For more details or to book a stay, visit MotorCityCasino.com.