The final phase of a Statler Hotel renovation, which aimed to improve the hotel’s corridors and guest bathrooms with inspiration from the landscape and history of Cornell, was completed earlier this month.
The first phase of the renovation was completed in 2010 and addressed updating décor for guest rooms. Rick Adie ’75, general manager of the Statler Hotel, explained that the most recent round of renovations was necessary because the bathroom had not been remodeled since the hotel’s opening 25 years ago.
Adie said both of these major renovations “bring [the Statler] better in alignment with what current trends are in function and design in the hotel industry.”
“Our guests were commenting that the bathrooms, while clean, were in need of renovation,” he added.
The Statler contracted Richard McElhiney Architects and HOK, a design, architecture, engineering and planning firm, to renovate the main hallways of the hotel’s seven floors and refurbish the guest room bathrooms. Richard McElhiney and Christina Hart, HOK director of Hospitality, managed the project, according to a university press release.
The design team drew inspiration for this project from the Ithaca landscape and Cornell’s “distinguished history,” according to the release. As a tribute to Cornell, the corridor walls and carpets have red accents.
The renovation included many changes to the guest bathrooms, but the design team was careful to ensure that the remodeled bathrooms would still complement the bedrooms, and “impart a sense of continuity and luxury,” according to the release. The team also made the bathrooms more modern, with new glass showers and custom-designed open vanities.
The renovation has benefited students of the hotel school as it helped them learn valuable information about how a “renovation of this magnitude works,” according to Adie.
“From November of last year until the completion of the project they were interacting with designers, contractors and project managers,” he said. “It is also instructive for them to see the upgrades that were made and the reasons why the design decisions were made as they likely will be involved renovation work throughout their hospitality careers.”
Adie said these updated accommodations will both continue to provide guests of the Statler with “a truly exceptional experience,” and will also allow students of the hotel school “an opportunity to develop their skills in a state of the art facility.”