By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — The Adoba Hotel Dearborn/Detroit will have a new name come June 11: the Regency Dearborn Hotel & Convention Center.
“Stakeholders, owners and management helped pick the name to best represent the meaning of the hotel,” Lodging Host Hotel Corp. CEO Kevin Hilchey said. “We had to make sure the trademark was available before moving forward with the name change.”
The hotel was built in 1976 and has gone through multiple ownership since then, formerly know as the Hyatt Regency-Dearborn.
In 2007, Ashford Hospitality Trust paid $40 million for the hotel. Royal Realties than purchased the hotel in 2011 for $10 million and became its new owner.
The Hyatt name remained until 2012, when the company couldn’t agree on a new management agreement. The name was then changed to Adoba Hotel Dearborn/Detroit.
Atmosphere Hospitality shortly moved in to take over management responsibilities.
The partnership between Atmosphere Hospitality and Royal Realties was a rocky one from the beginning.
“Both Atmosphere Hospitality and Royal Realties had multiple disputes throughout their business relationship,” Hilchey said.
The city of Dearborn also did not renew operating licenses for the hotel due to $857,000 in unpaid property taxes and other fees from 2012 and 2013.
Under City of Dearborn Code of Ordinances, a hotel license cannot be issued if personal property taxes are not paid.
Royal Realties LLC, had to pay more than $2 million in back taxes before receiving the new hotel license.
The hotel closed on Oct. 31, 2014, when Lodging Host Hotel Corp. took over management on Nov. 1 with a five-year agreement.
Next for the hotel will be a change in branding and logo.
“We will remain an independent hotel and are planning for new branding, a new sign and a change in logo after we remove the Adoba brand,” Hilchey said.
Michigan’s second-largest hotel contains 772 rooms, more than 200 staff and 63,000 square feet of banquet space with multiple uses.
It is located near attractions and businesses, including Fairlane Town Center, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Ford Motor Co. and the transit center.
“The name change is a good move for the hotel and community,” Hilchey said. “The hotel will continue to make money and bring in constant revenue for the city and county.”
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)