After the Quad Cities hosting two major Radisson hotels since the 1990s, soon the area will be down to none (save Country Inn & Suites, a Radisson brand).
Twenty-five years after the Radisson on John Deere Commons opened next to the TaxSlayer Center (originally The Mark of the Quad Cities), at 1415 River Drive, the six-story riverfront hotel will convert to the upscale Wyndham Hotel – the first in the region.
Last October, the former Radisson Quad City Plaza in downtown Davenport (which opened in 1995) was renovated and rebranded as the first DoubleTree by Hilton in the area.
The Moline Radisson was the first property that opened on John Deere Commons, the development between 12th and 15th streets along River Drive – meant to complement the TaxSlayer Center (which opened in 1993).
The Amin Group has owned the hotel for 15 years, and in March 2018 opened The Element, a Marriott hotel at 1219 4th Ave., Moline. Both are managed by C-Two Hotels, which operates and manages independent, boutique and branded hotels throughout the U.S.
The switch to Wyndham was really not driven by the struggles the entire hotel industry experienced during the pandemic over two-plus years, but rather a fateful move made by the Radisson Hotels group prior to COVID, said Adrienne Pumphrey, vice president of sales and marketing for C-Two Hotels.
Former Radisson corporate owner Carlson Group sold all their hotels to a Chinese organization. In November 2018, Radisson was bought by a consortium led by China-based Jin Jiang International Holdings Co., Ltd.
The federal government passed a mandate over three years ago that if you’re not an American-owned hotel, the Department of Defense would not book those hotels, Pumphrey said.
“During COVID, the Radisson brand – due to their new ownership group – Radisson hotels and this one were removed from all booking portals, online opportunities to be booked,” she said.
Previously, the 163-room Moline Radisson was the preferred hotel for the Rock Island Arsenal and U.S. Army. “That’s a pretty large piece of business for this property, and unfortunately, the Radisson brand was not able to book them,” Pumphrey said.
“As a result, it put tremendous pressure on the property ownership,” she said. “You’re sitting here with COVID. The business you are getting – the government was still traveling – we’re not able to get any of that business.”
The Radisson had been a preferred Department of Defense hotel for many years.
“A tough decision”
“We need to be able to work with the United States government to travel. That was a really tough decision to make,” Pumphrey said. “We’ve been with Radisson a really long time. They tried; they put a lot of money towards us. They have a lot of lobbyists.
“We were coming up on termination of that agreement anyway,” she said. “There’s a lot of progress happening downtown. We want to be part of that thriving in downtown, so we had to start thinking differently. That kind of forced us to look at it.”
In a market this size, it was difficult to replace the loss of government business (which was over 3,000 room nights a year at the Radisson), Pumphrey said.
“Especially with the expansion of hotels opening on both sides of the river,” she said. “We need to realign with a company, a brand that was able to host all sorts of business. The Radisson was not in a position, or allowed to work with the United States government.”
“At the same time, we were in COVID. The government was still traveling, because of their participation in the vaccination process,” Pumphrey said.
Back in business with Wyndham
New Jersey-based Wyndham has about 9,000 hotels altogether, comprised of 22 brands (including La Quinta, Days Inn, Baymont, Super 8, Ramada, and Travelodge) and is in 95 countries worldwide.
The Wyndham team “really came to the table and said, we understand how difficult it is to get product, make all your enhancements,” Pumphrey said. The hotel will submit a request for proposal for 2023 Department of Defense as a Wyndham in July.
“The Wyndham team is progressive, growing. They have over 9,000 hotels, one of the largest,” she said. “They bring a rewards base – 93 million members to the table. That’s a lot of members.”
“Wyndham saw the property was so well-maintained,” she said.
“They were just open to things we wanted to do, with localization,” she said. The hotel’s popular neighbors are the TaxSlayer, the Bass Street Chop House, and John Deere Pavilion and Store.
“We want to be an economic driver downtown,” Pumphrey said. “The way we handled ourselves, they wanted us to be part of the group and we wanted to be part of the group.”
Improvements made in Moline
With the new brand, the hotel has to do a new product improvement plan, including a new room key system, new TVs and new beds, she said, noting Wyndham recognized this is a long-term investment for The Amin Group.
The hotel had a $400,000 exterior paint job last year, on top of the major renovations in 2017, Pumphrey said. “The property has been maintained really well,” she said.
As part of the $3-million renovation in 2017, the hotel updated all of its rooms, adding sophisticated design elements such as high-backed leather chairs, geometric lamps, framed artwork, granite bathroom and kitchenette counters, and deep Jacuzzi bathtubs in some of the suites.
The rooms include 54 king suites, 103 double queen suites, four two-room suites, and two Jacuzzi suites. Amenities include an indoor swimming pool, fitness room, a business center, and a 730-foot meeting room for special events.
Attached to the hotel, Bass Street Chop House leases from The Amin Group, and they re-opened in the renovated former TGI Friday’s building in spring 2021.
During COVID, both the 11,000 seat arena and Deere pavilion did major renovations. The Deere pavilion (1400 River Drive) – formerly closed since March 2020, one of the area’s most popular tourist attractions — reopened in November 2021 after a total reimagining, redesign and renovation.
”Now it’s time for progress in Moline,” Pumphrey said. “Progress was all around us, so we had to make that choice.”
Great news for QC tourism
“This is exciting news for downtown Moline, John Deere Commons, and the Quad Cities regional destination, said Dave Herrell, President and CEO, Visit Quad Cities. “The Amin Group has been an important partner in the Quad Cities hospitality industry for years and we congratulate them on the transition to a Wyndham brand.
“This property is an important asset for our community, our visitor economy, and the future direction of tourism,” he said Friday. “They have been making strategic and sizable investments and have adjusted along the way to continually deliver value for their customers. And their service delivery to multiple sectors and clients such as the Rock Island Arsenal and Department of Defense has been and will continue to be critical to their future success.
“The Wyndham brand is a proven global enterprise and we are confident this change will reinforce a strong commitment to downtown and most importantly the customers experiencing this product,” Herrell said.
Wyndham won’t pay for changes
Wyndham will not be responsible for funding any of the new improvements, which will be covered by Amin, she said.
“We don’t want to the one that stalls; we’ve always been a leader in this market,” she added. “We’ve always been progressive. We want to be extremely relevant.”
“We’ve missed our government business. We loved hosting them,” Pumphrey said.
The exterior signage (starting with banners) will change starting Monday, June 20. This will be the QC’s first Wyndham Hotel, though the company has several brands (including La Quinta).
The closest Wyndham is in Springfield, Ill., and being unique in the QC will help the Moline hotel compete, Pumphrey said.
In 2021, the Moline Radisson earned the Hospitality Excellence Award from Radisson Hotels nationwide.
Choice is buying Radisson
On June 13, 2022, Choice Hotels announced it would acquire the franchise business, operations and intellectual property of Radisson Hotel Group Americas for approximately $675 million. The added 624 hotels with over 68,000 rooms expand Choice Hotels’ presence in the upscale and core upper-midscale hospitality segments, the company said.
The Moline hotel switch to Wyndham will not be affected by the Choice purchase, Pumphrey said.
“All our neighbors have continued to position themselves to come out of COVID, like we did,” she said. “There’s a lot of great things happening. There’s a lot of forward movement.”
Wyndham Moline on John Deere Commons will have a ribbon-cutting with the Quad Cities Chamber on Thursday, June 20. For more information about Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, click HERE.
