C.R. hotels should get ‘bump’ from Crowne Plaza shutdown

Hotels in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor saw average occupancy rates above 60 percent in 2010, but that figure is expected to rise in 2011 with the closing of the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel for remodeling.

Marilee Fowler, president and chief executive officer of the Cedar Rapids Convention & Visitors Bureau, said average year-to-date hotel occupancy rate in Cedar Rapids is 62.5 percent, according to STR Global of Cleveland, Ohio. The average daily hotel room rate is $74.43.

“When the 274 rooms at the Crowne Plaza go out of the inventory at the end of February, all the other hotel properties will pick up business,” Fowler said. “I think the traveling public will continue to come to Cedar Rapids, but it will fill other hotels in the meantime.”

At the other end of the Corridor, the average year-to-date hotel occupancy rate is 65.1 percent in Coralville, Iowa City and North Liberty and the average daily room rate is $85.31, according to data provided by STR Global.

Josh Schamberger, president and CEO of the Iowa City-Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, agreed that Cedar Rapids has the capacity to absorb the temporary loss of the Crowne Plaza hotel rooms.

“I don't think we will feel much of a bump in terms of hotel nights,” Schamberger said. “As far as the meetings, there are a couple of pieces of business that we've received inquiries about.”

The newest entry in the Corridor's hospitality industry, The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, 7725 Kirkwood Blvd. SW, also is expected to get a temporary “bump” from the closing of the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons.

The downtown hotel has been purchased by the city for $3.2 million in preparation for its renovation as part of the new Cedar Rapids convention and events center complex. When the 475,000-square-foot complex is completed in February 2013, it will be the second-largest convention and events center in the state.

“Our occupancy rate is averaging about 50 percent, which is where we expected it, and it's been trending up,” said Lee Belfield, general manager of the 71-room teaching hotel that opened in July. “We're pleased with the results so far. We look for our occupancy rate to continue to grow as the economy continues to improve.”

Belfield said the closing of the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons for 12 to 18 months likely will mean additional room reservations at his hotel, but he's also fielded more than two dozen inquiries about luncheons and other meetings.

“The Crowne Plaza Five Seasons has the largest ballroom in the city,” he said. “The Cedar Rapids Marriott has the second-largest ballroom and we're No. 3. Other than that, it's Coralville and Iowa City.

“Wherever the Crowne Plaza business goes, it will theoretically displace something else.”

Schamberger said Coralville and Iowa City hotels are able to generate higher room occupancy rates that Cedar Rapids because they get bookings from relatives of patients at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as well as traffic from travelers on Interstate 80. He said this year's UI home football schedule was one of the best in Hawkeye football history terms of generating hotel bookings.

“Anytime you get the chance in one season to host Iowa State, Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State, that's as good as it gets,” Schamberger said. “I can't wait for the Hawkeyes to start playing Nebraska. That will probably fill hotels at both ends of the Corridor.”