Business Community at Forefront of Marriott Renovations

When you check into the for the first time and go up to your room, it's normal to think there's been some mistake.

You open the door and see a full kitchen, flatscreen televisions, a sofa, a full-size refrigerator and a king-size bed in your suite. Or in another room, you see a full-size desk, barstools and your own balcony.

This is the "wow" factor general manager David Hinshaw loves to see. The Towson University-owned hotel will celebrate the end of a multi-year, $20 million makeover with a grand reopening event on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m.

Dignitaries including Marriott CEO David Marriott, President Maravene Loeschke and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz are expected to attend.

The changes are part of a chain-wide effort to reposition Marriott among business and leisure travelers, and a local effort to make the hotel more appealing to the community.

The renovations included adding 55 new suites (for 192 total), 3,000 square feet of social meeting space and a new look and feel everywhere you go.

The Marriott occupies a unique space in Towson. It's one of two hotels near the downtown core (the other is the ) and serves not just visiting college sports teams and visiting families, but business travelers, corporate meetings and long-term residents.

Hinshaw said the hotel had to evolve to compete with the Sheraton and other hotels in Baltimore County for the fast-paced business market.

When you walk in, the millions spent are immediately visible. The front desk has been moved across the lobby, stretched and opened up, so clerks are no longer trapped behind a counter. Large touch screens help visitors find directions, hours and dinner reservations all over Towson and the Baltimore area.

New lounge space has chairs, tables, a fireplace and a business center. Guests can plug in, watch TV, chat, catch up on work or order some snacks. A small shop now sells toiletries, snacks, Towson University gear and beverages (including beer).

The new "great room," as Marriott calls it, serves business travelers, who Hinshaw said, "want to be able to socialize. They want to be able to do business. They want to be able to hook up."

Hinshaw then took Patch up to two rooms: the standard one-bedroom suite and the two-bedroom executive suite, which Hinshaw said is the largest standard suite product in the Marriott chain and second-largest in the hotel industry.

A one-bedroom suite will run you $199 per night, while a two-bedroom suite can cost $219 to $259. Check out the renovations in our gallery.

The golden and brown tones of the renovations also echo the design sensibilities of the university, and not by accident. When they needed inspiration, Hinshaw sent Marriott's designers across Burke Avenue.

"They wanted to get a sense of the color, the schemes, the tones, the look and feel of the university environment," he said.

This transformation has seen the hotel shed some vestiges of its past life as apartments and student housing, yet at the same time tethering it to its university roots.

In 2010, Hinshaw dropped "Burkshire" from the hotel's name and it became the Towson University Marriott Conference Hotel. The old Pub Smedley was given a $1 million makeover and rechristened as the University Club.

In the future, Hinshaw said, developers are looking at building a new ballroom for the hotel, which has nearly outgrown its 14,000 square feet of meeting space.

"Dave has missed some great opportunities for some amazing events at his hotel just because he didn't have the space," said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce.

Hinshaw sees the hotel as occupying a different market than downtown Baltimore, and also wants to help drive the additional traffic into Towson's core. Hinshaw is currently on a .

"If they're planning a meeting, they want to make sure they have a great product, but I very much want to get them up into the community," he said.

Hinshaw, a former Towson Chamber of Commerce president, also wants to bring the outside into the hotel. The hotel hosts the chamber's monthly breakfast meetings. The meeting rooms are all named after Towson-area neighborhoods.

"Every chance I get to do something that resonates closely with the community, I try to do it," he said.

The project is also a bit personal for Hinshaw, a Baltimore native, who also calls his hotel home. And, as much as he likes the "wow" factor, he wants people to know what the hotel has to offer.

"We don't want it to be a secret anymore," he said.