Posted by Shanice Dunning, Reporter

DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) –

The Intercontinental Hotel said thanks to more than 100 first responders Thursday by providing a catered meal. Hotel General Manager Peter Clarke says he thought of the idea as a way to recognize those who serve around the clock in the Cleveland community.

“When we’re all at home in the safety of our homes they’re out in the streets making sure we’re safe. It’s important to give back and they’re an integral part of our community,” said Clarke.

Cleveland police, Cleveland Clinic police, University Circle police, Cleveland EMS, Cleveland firefighters, and Cleveland Clinic medical workers were just some of the departments invited to come.

Cleveland police Sgt. Victor Hayes said he appreciated the gesture.

“It’s very much appreciated, all the way around. We still roll out 24/7 every day, every week throughout the year, 365 days a year to do the best we can,” said Hayes.

Michael Swann, Executive Chef at the Intercontinental, helped to prepare the meals.

“What a great way to do it — on Thanksgiving to give back to those who have been taking care of all of us,” said Swann.  Read More…

By Sara Dorn, cleveland.com   
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on November 22, 2016

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The American Judges Association is expected hold its 2017 annual conference in Cleveland next year, and bail reform — something courts in Cuyahoga County are considering — is a potential theme.

As many as 200 North American judges are scheduled to gather at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel from Sept. 11 to 15 for workshops, speeches and networking.

The association, which holds conferences in locations from Hawaii to Toronto, chose Cleveland because the association has a strong membership base from Ohio, association spokeswoman Shelley Rockwell said. Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Joseph J. Zone, who serves on the association’s board of governors, and other local judges also lobbied for the conference.   Read More…

LeBron James famously declared after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA title this past June that “It’s Cleveland Against The World”.  If you haven’t been paying attention since then, Cleveland is still on a winning roll. And I’m not just talking about the Cavs or the Indians, who are playing the Chicago Cubs in the World Series this week vying to win their first baseball championship in 68 years. This past July, every hotel room downtown was sold out for the week when the Republican National Convention came to town.

Photo by Gregory Shamus

Unbeknownst to most outsiders, Cleveland’s rebirth has been happening at street level for years. This gritty, “underdog” city is now home to six James Beard award-winning chef-inspired restaurants, a thriving bar, arts, and music scene, and biomedical and “smart” manufacturing start-ups that are quickly luring America’s youngest and brightest away from Boston, Austin, and Silicon Valley. All of which makes every Saturday night along East Fourth Street just north of Quicken Loans arena look more like SoHo or South Beach than the “Rust Belt” strip one might conjure up in their mind when someone says “Cleveland”. So just who sprinkled the fairy dust on Cleveland this year?

Photo by Timothy A. Clary

Quicken Loans Arena. Courtesy of Destination Cleveland

There’s no simple answer to this question of course. Engineering urban resurrection has been attempted for decades with mixed results.  Many mid-sized, Midwest cities have long gambled on professional sports to revitalize their historic cores and reinvigorate local pride. If you just also happen to be lucky enough to land a superstar like LeBron James and become a title contender, the logic goes, the downtown crowds and dollars will inevitably follow. This was precisely the bet that Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert made on Cleveland and LeBron James over a decade ago.

Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame. Courtesy of Destination Cleveland

Notwithstanding the possibility of the second largest city in Ohio winning two of America’s four major professional sports titles in less than five months, Cleveland’s recent rebirth is far less linear and simplistic than the sports-only logic would suggest. It’s the result of years of forward-thinking investments in community revitalization, tourism infrastructure, and creating an identity that’s distinctly “Cleveland,” explains David Gilbert, Director of Destination Clevelandand the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

“2016 has been a fairy dust year for Cleveland,” says Gilbert. “The trifecta between winning the NBA Championship this spring, hosting the Republican National Convention in July, and having the World Series in town now has put the national spotlight on us all year long. But we were ready. The timing wouldn’t have been right five years ago. When the microscope came on (this year) Cleveland was ready for prime time.”

Playhouse Square. Courtesy of Destination Cleveland

Cleveland’s steady-as-she-goes revitalization should be instructive to every other city that’s struggling to reinvent itself. Sports dynasties and the superstars that fuel them are no different than manufacturing companies a century ago. Their dominance is fleeting. So every city, says Gilbert, should be careful who, and what, they bet on to sustain long-term urban revitalization.

“What sports’ titles and championship runs are for a city is a great front porch,” Gilbert explains. “The Cavs winning the championship this year meant more to any city than any other championship ever. And can you imagine what it will do to this city on the national stage if the Indians win the World Series in the same year? But the reality is that Cleveland’s been at a tipping point for years in terms of changing the narrative about who we are in the eyes of America, and this year we’ve been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-define ourselves.”

Presciently what Gilbert and many of Cleveland’s business and political leaders realized on the run up to 2016 was that Cleveland didn’t have a product problem. It had a perception problem.  Read More

By Marc Bona, cleveland.com 
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CLEVELAND, Ohio – A new report says Airbnb guests spent $3 million in Cleveland-area restaurants over the past year.

Overall, that amount puts Cleveland last among 17 American cities on the list, but it was enough to merit an appearance.

Two summer events fueled the spending in Cleveland: The Republican National Convention and the NBA Finals.

“It was big enough to make the cut,” said Airbnb’s Ben Breit, who covers the Midwest for the eight-year-old company. “It was a big year for Cleveland, having the RNC, hosting the NBA finals. I don’t know if that led to more tourism overall; I would have to say yes. That probably played a role in why the guest spending was high enough that (the city) cracked into the report.”

Airbnb offers a connecting network of people’s spaces in thousands of places, from homes to villas, for lodgers to stay in lieu of hotels.

The report indicates Cleveland experienced a 263 percent spike in Airbnb travelers on June 11, the day after game 4 of the finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Other facts pertaining to Cleveland and Airbnb:

• About 1,000 people in Cleveland currently list a room or their full residence.

• Those Airbnb hosts have welcomed about 20,000 people to Cleveland over the past year, which reflects approximately 147 percent year-over-year growth.

• The typical host in Cleveland brings in about $6,000 annually via Airbnb.  Read More

By Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer 
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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians don’t even have an opponent yet — and downtown hotel rooms for the first two nights of the World Series next week are booked solid.

On the guest list (at least for the next 36 hours): Chicago Cubs fans, eagerly anticipating their team’s first World Series appearance since 1945; L.A. Dodgers fans, hedging their bets on a championship-series comeback.

And, oh yes, Cleveland fans, who want to partake in the revelry downtown without the hassle of driving back to the ‘burbs.

These are extraordinary times in Cleveland. Who wouldn’t want to be part of the fun? Read More

Parker’s at Kimpton Schofield Hotel: thrifty Happy Hour with big-city chic

By John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer 
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The latest hotel restaurant-bar to open downtown is just for as much a getaway for locals as tourists. Yes, Parker’s Downtown in the Kimpton Schofield Hotel offers big-city chic — the kind of place where out-of-towners roll in with expense accounts. But there’s nothing stuffy about this hang and the prices hit right down the middle.

 HAPPY HOUR

Photo by David Kordalski

The onslaught of new hotels in downtown Cleveland looks to keep on coming.

Surprisingly, following the run-up of hotels that expanded the room count 55% the last four years, particularly with the addition of the publicly funded 600-room Hilton Cleveland Downtown at the convention center, worry about oversupply seems to be a passing fancy. Real estate developers have plans for four more hotels, another 750 rooms, if they all get built. Or at least the worry is relegated to some wintry day when the Huntington Cleveland Convention Center and Global Center for Health Innovation is dark or when there’s little else to fill rooms in the city. And days might mount to weeks. Several hotel owners, operators and experts — but not all — expect the softening to be temporary as the city rebuilds its convention business from scratch.  Read More