Royal Oak Hotel Goes from Boarding House to Upscale Boutique

The Madrid hotel has been operating as a boarding hotel for decades but it’s new owners plan on making it a boutique hotel for guests visiting the Royal Oak area. (Patch File Photo)

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After its new owners are finished with renovations, the Madrid Hotel will be an upscale establishment with stylish accommodations and amenities often found in the high-rent districts of major metropolitan cities.

The hotel has been home to some, with guests paying $65 a week and staying for years, even decades, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Skyward Suites, the subsidiary of Skyward Group real estate company, plans to transform the hotel at Sixth Street and South Washington into a posh hotel that will compete with major metropolitan hotels.

“What we want to do is turn it into a real hotel, something you would find in New York, Chicago and Miami,” said Dan Dubensky, managing partner of Skyward Suites.

Skyward Suites bought the property last year for more than $800,000 from the Sam and Frank Pallis family.

Although the Skyward Group hasn’t finalized its plans for the properties, it does have a few scenarios in mind.

One option is to turn the hotel’s 25 rooms into 15 suites. The nearly $1 million project would include keeping the original stone work but adding tin ceilings, cascading glass and a revolving door.

The possible rate structure would be $125 during the workweek and $199 on weekends, Dubensky said.

Scenario No. 2 includes adding two more levels and a patio, bringing the renovation cost to $4 million. The plan is contingent on the approval of various tax incentives and credits, including tax abatement and facade grants.

Every room in the Madrid hotel is currently occupied, including one by a tenant who has lived in the hotel for more than two decades.

Next year, the Madrid’s occupants will have to leave the building because of a new city law that bans hotel stays that exceed 30 days. The law will take effect Jan. 1.

The death of an elderly woman in a motel in 2011 and the death of a baby in a motel last year prompted Royal Officials to create restrictions for guests in long-stay hotels.

Sam Pallis owned the Madrid hotel for more than three decades, and he said there weren’t any overdoses or suicides taking place on the premises. Pallis said many guests are good people with jobs and retirees.

“I used to cut them a deal and give them a few dollars discount if they could pay monthly,” Pallis said.