Downtown St. Paul's Embassy Suites hotel and…
Downtown St. Paul's Embassy Suites hotel and Cork's pub to close, rebrand
By Frederick Melo | fmelo@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
The eight-level Embassy Suites on 10th Street in downtown St. Paul will close in early January 2019 prior to a renovation. The hotel has been acquired by the Drury Hotel chain of Missouri. Also closing is Cork's Irish Pub. (Frederick Melo / Pioneer Press)
In downtown St. Paul, the Embassy Suites Hotel will close in early January, laying off more than 100 workers prior to a renovation and rebranding as a Drury Plaza Hotel. Cork's Irish Pub, which is located in the hotel, will close as well.
The Missouri-based Drury hotel chain operates 150 hotel properties in 25 states under the brand names Drury Inn, Drury Plaza and Pear Tree Inn, according to the company's website.
News of the Embassy Suites closure, first reported by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, was confirmed Friday by the hotel's general manager. He referred all further questions to the Zimmerman agency, a public relations firm.
The agency forwarded a brief statement by email:
"The Embassy Suites by Hilton St. Paul Downtown is closing on Jan. 8, 2019, due to a change in ownership. The hotel will not be accepting any additional reservations after Dec. 30, 2018. As the comfort of our guests is a top priority, we are working with our partners to assist guests and groups to reserve alternate hotels nearby. After extensive renovations, the hotel will reopen as the first Drury Plaza Hotel in the state of Minnesota. Drury Hotels looks forward to continuing the tradition of excellent customer service with a revitalized hotel for St. Paul visitors."
The eight-floor Embassy Suites, located at 175 E. 10th St., was recently operated under the Hilton brand.
The 208-room hotel is known for hosting domesticated ducks that swim in an indoor, landscaped pond. Among its guest amenities, it advertises an indoor swimming pool and fitness center, shuttle service within a five-mile radius, a 5,000-square-foot banquet center and "newly renovated, spacious two-room suites."
Business People: Former mayor Chris Coleman joins board of Minnesota Housing Partnership
Welcome to Oakdale, says the voice from downtown St. Paul
Water Gremlin plant set to restart following pollution probe
Cleats on your shoes can save you from ice patches — so you don't end up in the hospital
Frederick Melo
Frederick Melo was once sued by a reader for $2 million but kept on writing. He came to the Pioneer Press in 2005 and brings a testy East Coast attitude to St. Paul beat reporting. He spent nearly six years covering crime in the Dakota County courts before switching focus to the St. Paul mayor's office, city council, and all things neighborhood-related, from the city's churches to its parks and light rail. A resident of Hamline-Midway, he is married to a Frogtown woman. He Tweets with manic intensity at @FrederickMelo.
Follow Frederick Melo	@FrederickMelo
OF NOTE The Minnesota Housing Partnership announced the following new board members: Chris Coleman, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity president and CEO and former mayor of St. Paul; Kayla Schuchman, director of Housing, Planning and Economic Development, City of St. Paul; Cecile Bedor, CommonBond executive vice president of real estate; Brittany Lewis, founder and CEO of Research in Action; Alisha...
Real World Economics: Academics of St. Paul's college savings plan
The assertion of something being "good in theory but bad in practice" is overused. It's often that the "good" theory is simply bad -- or too general to execute for any specific situation. Yet there also are policies that appear good in intention and practice for several reasons, empirical as well as theoretical, and could have positive effects when implemented,...
When prospective business owners call the volunteer-driven Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce to introduce themselves, a staff member at the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce -- located in downtown St. Paul, some eight miles from Oakdale's city center -- will pick up the phone. The same is true for the Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce, which by last summer...
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Twin Cities manufacturing plant that was shut down for months over pollution problems will be allowed to resume operations in phases, state officials said Friday.
Working Strategies: Telling your story without bragging
Boasting -- bragging -- tooting your own horn -- do any of these sound positive? Most people would cringe at the thought of being boastful or "full of themselves." And yet, most of us also get annoyed fast if we aren't credited for our work. When it comes to job search, this paradox can create real problems. In the case...