Hotel LeVeque, Autograph Collection opened in October 2017 at 50 West Broad Street, in the LeVeque Tower. The 149-room hotel occupies floors five through ten of a building completed in 1927 as the American Insurance Union Citadel. First Hospitality developed and operates it under Marriott's Autograph Collection, after a renovation reported at 27 million dollars.
The essentials
Group
Marriott (Autograph Collection), developed and operated by First Hospitality
The tower stands on West Broad Street in downtown Columbus, near the Ohio Theatre and Bicentennial Park. The complex once included the neighboring Palace Theatre and the Deshler Hotel, whose guests overflowed into rooms in the tower.
The concept
C. Howard Crane designed the 47-story tower, with two 18-story wings. At 555 feet 5 inches it was briefly the fifth-tallest building in the world, six inches taller than the Washington Monument, and remained Columbus's tallest until 1974. It is still the second tallest.
The Depression bankrupted the first owners. Real estate investor Leslie LeVeque and Cleveland businessman John Lincoln then bought it for 800,000 dollars. After Fred LeVeque died in 1975, his widow Katherine put millions into restoring it and saved the building and the Palace Theatre from demolition. In 2011, Tower 10 LLC, Kaufman Development and First Hospitality bought the property and turned it into apartments, condominiums, offices and the hotel.
The lobby keeps its original marble and bronze. Its sculptural chandelier throws star patterns on the ceiling, the basis of the hotel's Starry Night welcome.
Dining & wellness
An Art Deco brasserie anchors the food offer. Beyond dining, the hotel is known for a Sleep Under the Stars turndown service and a Rare Magic show.
