Blackwell Inn, the new hotel at the Fisher College of Business, will be picking up where the Fawcett Center cannot deliver.
“They are going to be sister properties and will complement each other,” said Daren Lehman, the director of sales and marketing for both the Fawcett Center and the Blackwell. Neither hotel will be in direct competition with one another.
Lehman said the hotels are going to be selling two separate products. They will be in two different price categories.
The Blackwell, which opens in June, is considered to be a four-star, upscale hotel in line with the Hyatt or Mariott chains while the Fawcett Center is considered to follow the lines of a more moderately-priced hotel, like a Holiday Inn. The Blackwell pricing scale, which will not be official for a couple more months, is what will make the two different.
Doug Koyle, the general manager of Blackwell, said while some differences exist between the two hotels, they would only complement one another.
“The Blackwell has more hotel rooms, is more upscale, has a concierge, 24-hour room service and focuses more on the hotel. It’s designed for the executive traveler,” Koyle said.
The Fawcett Center has 70 rooms, a larger ballroom and is more of a conference center. According to Koyle, there will be more technology in the rooms at Blackwell, like cordless phones, faxes and printers.
“Some people will want a more upscale reception, and they can use the Blackwell. Others will want a more moderate setting, and they’ll use the Fawcett Center,” Lehman said.
The ballroom at Blackwell is not open yet, but the Pfahl Hall Executive Conference Center attached to the hotel is.
The restaurant at Blackwell will be in the Pfahl Hall Executive Conference Center and will have a lounge and bar area. Having another restaurant with a bar in the campus area is not going to be a problem to other campus restaurants and bars, Koyle said.