Downtown: Park Plaza Hotel

[Florida]

I can't express how important I think it is for us to have atleast a 4 Star hotel... its kinda embarassing that we don't.

[csmurphy8885]

we would have one if the leg. voted on it!!!!

[Florida]

What does our 4 Star have anything to do with votes from the legislature.

[csmurphy8885]

A joke about the legislature paying for a better hotel for tax payers to treat them to when they have to stay in tallahassee for a little while. I think they would love it.

[Florida]

Oh now I see!

[Florida]

Park Plaza Hotel Today

Looks like they painted the ol' rusty pole too!

[Glenn]

Great shots, TJ! Thank You!

That old rusty pole (before getting a fresh coat of paint) used to have transmitter antennas on the top of it. It all started when the Phipp's family owned the hotel & they put a link transmitter for the audio portion of WCTV (which they also owned at the time) in the elevator shaft & ran the antenna to the top of said pole. This was so people downtown could pick up the WCTV audio channel (87.7) better. When the Phipp's family bought the old Port-A-Phone paging company from the Livingston family, they added another transmitter (462.850) & antenna at this site to help paging coverage downtown, especially inside buildings. The Phipp's family has since sold that company, now known as GrayLink Wireless, to Gray Television back when Gray acquired WCTV, etc. in 1996. It looks much nicer now painted with a huge flag on top than it did in it's past life.

[Florida]

Not sure where to put this, so often this is where I go when unsure.

Park Plaza Hotel Sold

This sounds like a positive step. The hotel does need a newer look and a little more TLC and maybe local owners will be more observant to the needs of the hotel and quicker to respond to those needs.

If they change the Park Plaza branding, I wonder if they'll go back to the Radisson(part of the same group) or something different entirely?

[poonther]

Holy cow Batman, the one time I don't do a search, it was there all along....ugh. Sorry!

Noted and I'll keep an eye out.

[Florida]

I've been linking to these topics from TDO.com to increase traffic and hopefully conversation as well. If you see any opportunities to do the same, please don't hesitate!

[tombarnes]

Are there any remnants of the original interior of the building? I believe that this was once the old Hotel Duval and I thought it might have had at least a bit of streamlined Art Moderne styling at one time in the past (probably a renovation in the late 30's or early 40's) I suppose that's all gone now. It would be good to see something done with this building.

[TD]

We know from the pictures at Tj's Site that this will be renovated... I like the idea, the only thing that gets me, is I wish they would add some height to the place..

One thing i really do like though is the nice looking roof structure to replace the nasty current one...

[poonther]

^Again thanks for the heads-up on this TD. I'm wondering, what is that roof structure going to be made of? Glass, plastic, plexi-glass? I think I'm going to like it if it ever gets built.

I do have a slight problem w/how the renovation is being billed as Tally's first boutique hotel. First, Gov's Inn is sort of a boutique hotel now. Second and most important: a large chain (Radisson) by definition can't be a boutique hotel IMHO. Sure W hotels are boutique hotels, but the chain was built on that they are boutique hotels. Just b/c a chain hotel bills itself as a boutique doesn't mean it is, but it can be boutique-like. It would be like McDonald's using china to serve you and then saying they aren't a fast food restaurant.

I'm not sure if that's how the Radisson and it's press release is billing the place or if the editor of the site where I read this doesn't fully understand what a boutique hotel is.

BTW: I love boutique hotels and search them out in cities when I vacation.

Here's how Wiki defines Boutique Hotels

[TD]

^Again thanks for the heads-up on this TD. I'm wondering, what is that roof structure going to be made of? Glass, plastic, plexi-glass? I think I'm going to like it if it ever gets built.

I do have a slight problem w/how the renovation is being billed as Tally's first boutique hotel. First, Gov's Inn is sort of a boutique hotel now. Second and most important: a large chain (Radisson) by definition can't be a boutique hotel IMHO. Sure W hotels are boutique hotels, but the chain was built on that they are boutique hotels. Just b/c a chain hotel bills itself as a boutique doesn't mean it is, but it can be boutique-like. It would be like McDonald's using china to serve you and then saying they aren't a fast food restaurant.

I'm not sure if that's how the Radisson and it's press release is billing the place or if the editor of the site where I read this doesn't fully understand what a boutique hotel is.

BTW: I love boutique hotels and search them out in cities when I vacation.

Here's how Wiki defines Boutique Hotels

[mracca]

I passed by the Double Tree hotel every morning, but this morning I noticed a new Sign above the Door that Show's "Hotel Duval" with a nice rendering. We once had a nice picture of it on here........ .

If I can find a new one I will post it. But nice to see that some major renovation is about to start on this hotel. I also noticed that the Parking lot was empty so it may start in the next day or so.?

The new glass structure that they are developing on top.... isn't that supposed to be a "sky bar" restaurant. If so that is going to be sweet, having that and the new Aloft at the "gateway" entering into downtown. Its going to dress that intersection up quite a bit. I think more than some actually realise. Now lets hope that they get the signage right..... huh Poonther!

Just a cool observation, but I leave Lake Ella "home" and drive to the Parkway building "next to Bagel Heads on the Parkway, and I can count 6 to 7 new major construction developments along that way! That's pretty impressive, especially during a slow economy that Tallahassee is still able to move forward and progress.

[poonther]

Just a cool observation, but I leave Lake Ella "home" and drive to the Parkway building "next to Bagel Heads on the Parkway, and I can count 6 to 7 new major construction developments along that way! That's pretty impressive, especially during a slow economy that Tallahassee is still able to move forward and progress.

[mracca]

Hey, I've been out of town much of the summer, but I just noticed the sign you are talking about yesterday mracca. I was also thinking along the same lines as you, about the on-going construction here in Tally during this bad economic period. Good observation!

As for the signage, I'm not holding my breath on it, I've almost passed out way too many times from the disappointment. Speaking of signage, an example of good signage in that area is the ProBank sign at the SW corner of Georgia and Monroe. Notice it the next time on your commute. They've combined 3 business signs in a uniform way on one pole.

BTW I didn't know you were my "almost" neighbor. How long you been living in the Lake Ella area?

[poonther]

I always notice the ProBank's couch and big ole TV when I drive by too. Don't get me wrong, their sign isn't the best I've seen, but it is a good one. I believe the sign is brown in color and has Pro Bank, Citicorp (or something like that) and one other biz on it. It's much better than having 3 different signs and all in different fonts and colors.

Don't forget Sonic has happy hour on drinks in the afternoons.

[poonther]

Super-Duper UP-Tally Exclusive

It's funny what one can learn from a night out on the town. As you guys know, Park Plaza formerly know as the Radisson will return to its old roots and become the Duval Hotel again w/no affiliation to the Radisson products. And of course you are all aware that they'll renovate the hotel including the roof for the sky-bar under-glass. But here's what you may not know.............the owners (who also own the Winery in Midtown) are in negotiations w/a chain steakhouse for the their first floor. I won't officially state the name of the steakhouse, but let's say it's named after a NFL coach that coached Florida's first and best NFL team. Now this franchise has a few different variations of its restaurant, but I believe our local one will be the one w/the 3 numbers in it. If all of this pans out, it will be a welcome addition to the downtown area and I say that as someone who never eats steak.

[seaty]

This is great news , poonther

[Go Gators]

Super-Duper UP-Tally Exclusive

It's funny what one can learn from a night out on the town. As you guys know, Park Plaza formerly know as the Radisson will return to its old roots and become the Duval Hotel again w/no affiliation to the Radisson products. And of course you are all aware that they'll renovate the hotel including the roof for the sky-bar under-glass. But here's what you may not know.............the owners (who also own the Winery in Midtown) are in negotiations w/a chain steakhouse for the their first floor. I won't officially state the name of the steakhouse, but let's say it's named after a NFL coach that coached Florida's first and best NFL team. Now this franchise has a few different variations of its restaurant, but I believe our local one will be the one w/the 3 numbers in it. If all of this pans out, it will be a welcome addition to the downtown area and I say that as someone who never eats steak.

[TD]

Great find, Poonther. This restaraunt will be a great addition to Tallahassee. Ive been to the one at Disney in Orlando and the one in Tampa a few times. Are we allowed to name the place, Poonther?

Im sure someone else is licking his chops to try and verify this tasty news

[Go Gators]

Shula's?

[mracca]

Shula's is good. I have been to them only once. But there steak was really good. I was wondering how much the Automobile traffic along with parking is going to rise at that intersection, with the "sky-bar", Shula's, Cypress, Comedy Zone, and whatever else opens at Aloft hotel. The pedestrian traffic is going to be all over the place at night. But this is excellent news!

[poonther]

You guys can say the name as much as you like.

The option of exactly which one of the Coaches' restaurants it will be, hasn't exactly been determined yet. The conversation I was privy to, between "the horses" themselves, stated it would most likely be the "numbers concept" or the original version.