Stepping outside the Inn, the most visible difference that people may have noticed is an upgraded parking lot at the rear of the building. The lot will be used as exclusive guest parking, where a covered rear entranceway will allow guests to enter the Inn without having to walk around to the front entrance. The rear entrance will immediately lead guests into one of the Inn’s new additions: a new lobby with fireplace.

The new lobby and main lobby will be connected by one of the more intricate additions to the inn, a new inconspicuous hallway which was carved through the existing structure of the Inn. The hallway will give access to a service elevator, a new luggage room, a business center and an all-new fitness room.

“The new first floor hallway is the most dramatic change. Everything has been redesigned to mimic the main lobby,” General Manager Bill Spinnenweber said. The owner is also looking for Mariemont memorabilia to display in the historical hall. If there is any item that someone possesses that they wouldn’t mind having displayed, give Bonnie Malone a call at 271-2100.

In order to ensure the integrity of the interior décor throughout the added hallway and lobby, a craftsman was coerced out of retirement to bring his expertise to the design.

“We brought in someone who was able to replicate the arches found in the main lobby and utilize the design throughout the hallway. He made a mold from one of the original archways and found the appropriate textures to match the main lobby,” owner’s representative Bonnie Malone said.

The main reason for all the renovations, though, is the rooms. Ownership of the Inn knows quality is more important than quantity, and when the renovations are completed the Mariemont Inn will have reduced the number of available rooms by a few; the result, though, is the remaining rooms will be larger.

Each room will have custom designed solid oak furniture, all fabrics will be luxury linen, the bathrooms will be fitted with large rain-shower heads and fogless mirrors, and there will be glass-front refrigerators.

While touring the interior construction in progress, the Madisonville-side wing looks like a jungle of metal struts with thick vines of cables, wiring and piping wrapped around and throughout the structure. Large sheets of drywall are leaning against struts and being escorted through a large second-floor window from a crane. What is significant about the skeleton work of the rooms is that the rooms will be equipped with sound-minimizing materials. The drywall being installed in the Inn has a strip of sound resistant fiberglass in the middle. Each room will be fitted with sound resistant windows and concrete sound abatement flooring has been poured. The end result will be a quieter stay at the Inn.

Throughout the halls and rooms, every pipe, wire and fixture has been removed and replaced with more modern equipment.