West End
Hotels in the West End
A number of hotels are located in Covington’s west end. One of the oldest is the Holiday Inn at 600 W. 3rd Street. The Holiday Inn was established in 1967 and contained 156 rooms. The hotel is located on the south side of the Ohio River floodwall and the upper stories offer a view of downtown Cincinnati. In 1994, the hotel management firm of Winegardner & Hammons purchased the hotel from Holiday Inn Inc. The new owners undertook a multi-million dollar renovation at this time. Improvements included a new outdoor swimming pool, a new mansard roof, newly decorated guest rooms and redesigned conference rooms.
Another hotel located in the West End is the Radisson Riverview on W. 5th Street at the I-75 exit. The Radisson was originally constructed in 1972 as the Quality Inn Riverview. The Quality Inn was owned by the Frisch’s Corporation. The eighteen-story round building was constructed with a restaurant on the top level. The floor of the restaurant was designed to revolve to showcase the spectacular views of the Ohio River Valley. The facilities also included meeting and conference rooms for small banquets and conferences.
By the mid 1990s, the Quality Inn was showing its age. At this time, the Frisch’s Corporation spent $10 million to renovate the hotel. In 1999, the name of the hotel was changed to Clarion Riverview to reflect this upgrade. Despite these improvements, Frisch’s sold the hotel to the Radisson Hotel Chain in 2000.
In 1995, Commonwealth Hotels Inc. announced the construction of a Hampton Inn on property bounded by Crescent Avenue W. 3rd Street and the Ohio River Flood Wall (200 Crescent Avenue). The hotel was built in response to the construction of the nearby Northern Kentucky Convention Center at the southwest corner of W. Rivercenter Boulevard and Madison Avenue. The six-story, 155 room hotel was constructed in 1996 at a cost of $10.5 million. The Hampton Inn opened its doors in January 1997.
The construction of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center also spurred the development of two additional hotels in the west end:
In 1996, Extended Stay America announced their desire to construct a hotel on W. 3rd Street near the Holiday Inn. This site was the former location of the Conservatory Restaurant. The company proposed a 105-room, six-story structure. The plan drew immediate disapproval from several Northern Kentucky developers and business owners. They felt the property was too valuable for an extended stay hotel. Despite these concerns, the plans for the hotel were approved in December 1996 and construction began.
The last hotel to be built in Covington’s west end was the Courtyard by Marriott in 1999. The hotel was constructed between the floodwall and W. 3rd Street (500 W. 3rd) on the site of the former Perkins (Bonanza) Restaurant. The 192-room hotel featured a 226-car parking garage.
Kentucky Post, February 11, 1995, p. 10K, March 29, 1995, p. 7A, April 18, 1995, p. 8K, August 29, 1996, p. 2K, November 20, 1996, p. 1K, November 30, 1996, p. 1K, December 19, 1996, p. 1K, March 23, 1998, p. 4K, May 1, 1999, p. 2K; Cincinnati Post, March 24, 1994, p. 9A, December 24, 1994, p. 9A, January 23, 1997, p. 7C, October 6, 1998, p. 6C and November 16, 2000, p. 7B.
