Raleigh Marriott City Center Hotel

[JTsaysToYou]

I swear, now that they've put up some of the EIFS this thing has gotten EVEN uglier than in the renderings..... in the renderings it looks sort of brown-ish, but in real life, it's just GREY. it looks like a freakin' prison. The state government buildings are more interesting architecturally. WTF. Why can't they just use glass?

[pdxheel]

I swear, now that they've put up some of the EIFS this thing has gotten EVEN uglier than in the renderings..... in the renderings it looks sort of brown-ish, but in real life, it's just GREY. it looks like a freakin' prison. The state government buildings are more interesting architecturally. WTF. Why can't they just use glass?

[Jones_]

I noticed today how the Salisbury side lobby angles out and is mostly windows, to sort of mirror image the front of the CC. Marriot salisbury lobby is also getting bricked up...looks pretty good on the ground level anyway.

[DanRNC]

After seeing a panorama of DT Raleigh, I have to say that the Marriott is one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen-it looks like a detention facility with those tiny windows and drab color.

[Euphorius]

Hey guys and gals. First post for me here. I thought I would share some info I learned from a friend of my partner yesterday about the Mariott. I had originally heard that it would open in October along with the convention center, but according to one of the bellman at the Sheraton they will be opening on July 26th now! He is leaving Sheraton to work at the Mariott and said they are pretty well ahead of schedule and have decided to open late July. If this is old news I'm sorry for reporting it like its some new story.

It might not be the prettiest building around, but I think it will fill a need, and be a good asset to the convention center.

[JTsaysToYou]

I just wanted to say, it may be UGLY in the day, but they did a really good job on the lighting, so at night, it actually looks REALLY good. Next time you go downtown (cough cough FIRST FRIDAY) at night, make sure to check it out.

[RaleighRob]

Early opening? Goodness, we're just not used to that happening here in Raleigh!

[GTPanic33]

Whats up guys. I work for the General Contractor building the Marriott and stumbled upon this website. Having been involved with the job since Jan. 2007, I found it interesting to read the public's reaction to the design and progress.

Quick update on the status: We are looking for certificate of occupancy to be granted by the COR at the end of this month. The owner will then come in and train the staff to shoot for a hotel opening towards the end of July.

We whooped the schedules ass and are very happy with the quality of building we are turning over to downtown Raleigh.

I hope you all enjoy the latest and greatest hotel in the Triangle!

[Jones_]

Was there a performance bonus or do you guys just recognize that the quicker you can move your crews on to another job the more money you make? Its really important that the Marriott was done before the CC, and it being this much sooner gives folks a chance to wander a bit farther down Fayetteville St to check out that end of town while the weather is good...

[dmccall]

We whooped the schedules ass ...

[Tayfromcarolina]

Both Marriott and Starbucks inside open tomorrow 7/31/08

Youll be glad to note that the interior is very, very nice. Done in a lot of marble and beige as well as dark wood accents. Also lots of frosted and blown glass throughout. Starbucks also as you would expect is a nice touch the lobby is very inviting in my opinion and the port ochere' (round about) along the fayetteville street side is really nice. Also loving the lighting and tables out front.

[ncwebguy]

The orange umbrellas over the outside tables I noticed on Sunday were a welcomed suprise... I was expecting "Starbucks green.'" Starbucks is at the north end of the building, I don't know if any of the other retail spaces were spoken for yet.

I didn't get too close to the building proper, since several workers were doing things in/near the building and I didn't want to be "tresspassing." Hopefully I'll be able to check things out this weekend, if not Thursday!

[Subway Scoundrel]

I know of someone who took a job there, probably restaurant or bar manager. I will have to go down there and talk to her when it opens.

[Jones_]

I will likely never go in that Starbucks, but am glad it is there for tourists and visitors who can't find our independent coffee shops....there should be coffee proximate to a hotel (its the first thing I look for when out of town) Retail on Fayetteville, whatever the form, can only help the overall City image. Having only a stub of Fayetteville open in the 400-600 blocks will make for confusing directions for visitors trying to find their way to the front door.

[RaleighRob]

Yeah, how does one get to the Marriott right now? I know Fayetteville hasn't opened that last block yet. Have they finally reopened Salisbury Street yet??

[Jones_]

I was guessing Lenoir would be your way in, but thats a pain having to line your way up from the east.

[ralncdude]

I was guessing Lenoir would be your way in, but thats a pain having to line your way up from the east.

[Tayfromcarolina]

I'm thinking Salisbury will open around the time the convention center opens in September, so really not that long to put up with limited access. As for me, It's right across from my job at Bank of America Building, I'll keep everyone posted.

[ChiefJoJo]

I was just down there earlier and there's not much going on, although I did see two guys sitting at the cafe tables outside of Starbucks. It look's like F-St street is open to traffic from Lenoir to the hotel. I'm sure it will take a few days or weeks for the place to get going, and despite the hotel crunch, it may not be full until the RCC opens.

[Euphorius]

I was just down there about 30 minutes ago. The lobby is extremely nice. I spoke with one of my friends who is part of the guest services team and he told me that the hotel is 4 star on the verge of 5 star. I don't know how accurate that is, but I do know it was supposed to be 4 star. Very nice though. Much nicer than I had expected.

[RALNATIVE]

Some very nice shots of the interior were posted on raleighskyline.com:

Raleigh City Center Marriott

[pack-man]

that looks really nice. i suppose the starbucks in the sheraton is history?

[ncwebguy]

Driving around last night, the roads still need some work, but the whole area will probably get repaved as we get closer to the CC opening.

- South and Lenoir Streets have been restriped as two way from McDowell to Wilmington. They are still a one way pair from Wilmington to East street to the east and McDowell to west of Dawson.

- F Street is two way from Lenoir to the turnaround at the north end of the hotel.

- Cabarrus is still closed from Dawson to Salisbury

- Salisbury is still closed from north of Cabarrus to north of Lenoir.

So you can go McDowell or Wilmington -> Lenoir -> F Street, but you can not get there from Salisbury.

Also, there was a sign that said parking is $5/day in the new deck below the Marriott for the next few weeks. The entrance is just west of F Street on Lenoir. I didn't go into the deck, hotel, or Starbucks, as I was just driving by on my way home. There is a pedestrian entrance to the parking deck on the NE Salisbury/Lenoir corner too.

The Sheraton "Starbucks" was just a coffee counter that served their coffee. It was/is rarely staffed. I don't know if the hotel wants to keep it going for its guests or not, but I'd *guess* The Bar is the only option most of the time.

[Gard]

The Starbucks in the Sheraton just serves the coffee, much like the coffee shops you see in Barnes & Noble, which are not actual Starbucks, they just serve Starbucks coffee.

[ncwebguy]

The restaurant in the Marriott is now open! Posta Tuscan Grill and Posta Bar take up the rest of the F Street side of the Marriott, with a private room at the Lenior/F Street corner. The Bar is open till midnight and 1 am on Friday/Saturday. The restaurant is open till 10 I think and is open for breakfast 7 days. The kitchen is pretty open, but only part of the dining room is close to it.

The Starbucks's hours are posted in the spacious lobby, but not outside. It was closed around 8-8:30 pm Tuesday night, but there is a "Now open" sandwich board stored inside.

The parking deck is pretty wide from the east side of F Street to Salisbury. The dual stairwell entrances at the Lenoir/Salisbury intersection was confusing. There is a double wide garage door for what will be the connector to the Charter Square side of the deck. The ventalation was really loud, but that may have been due to the small number of vehicles parked in the deck.