New Grand Hotel Spokane will carry Marriott branding

More than nine months after starting construction, Spokane hotelier Walt Worthy now has a formal name and brand for his new convention center hotel. The building, across the street from the INB Performing Arts Center, will be called the Grand Hotel Spokane, and will be branded as part of the Marriott Autograph Collection. Before Worthy signed a deal with the Spokane Public Facilities District to start the project, he had said a relationship with a known national hospitality company was essential in helping market the location. Marriott has the name and marketing clout to help the Spokane facilities gain more business, a press statement released Thursday said. The Grand Hotel Spokane, not due to open until 2015, will be among the first in the state to be part of the Autograph Collection. The others joining the Marriott franchise network are Worthy’s three other Spokane properties, the Davenport Hotel, the Davenport Tower and the Hotel Lusso. The Marriott website says it now has 62 Autograph Collection franchise hotels across the country and overseas. They’re described as “upscale and luxury independent hotels …located in dynamic gateway cities and preferred destinations worldwide.” Owners Walt and Karen Worthy spent much of the past three months reviewing branding options, according to the release. The 15-story, 716-room hotel is expected to cost more than $134 million to build. A skywalk to be built by the PFD will connect the Spokane Convention Center to the new hotel. PFD officials have supported the convention center plan, saying the new hotel will attract more conventions and corporate meetings in Spokane. In addition to a large parking garage, the hotel will have 62,500 square feet of meeting room and exhibit space. It will be Spokane’s largest hotel when it opens.