Detroit is on one of our baseball stadium stops and I was interested in the must see sights and also where to stay and where not to stay. Any 5 start hotels?

In the ecent past I saw a TV special about Detroit and their downtown redevelopment. It highlighted a hotel complex --the hotel could have been the Hyatt ??? anyway it had a soaring cement lobby with pillars--looked really beautiful...wish I could remember the name--maybe some Fodorite will know..



renaissance

I wonder if they are talking about the Atheneum Hotel. I stayed there about 10 years ago and it was a great hotel, just around the corner from Greek Town and an easy walk to Comerica Park. The ratings on this site are low for this hotel today. Sorry, but I haven't stayed anywhere else in so long that I feel unqualified to offer other opinions. Detroit is a tough town still with lots of work that is needed, but Comerica, Ford Field, the Fox Theatre have been a big boost to downtown.

Are you intent on staying downtown or would you consider some of the further out northwestern suburbs (Novi, Birmingham, etc.)?

OOPs
I ment to type in Renatssance Center..called the "RenCen"
Type in the search a top of page
"Dentroit area info" and click on Michigan..someone further along in these posts as some info..

The Marriott at RenCen isn't 5-star, however, I think your best bets for downtown are there or the Hilton Garden Inn. I've heard mixed reviews about the Atheneum.

The Pontchartrain is undergoing an extensive renovation and is due to reopen soon as a Sheraton.

If you prefer to stay in the suburbs, there are plenty of hotels in Dearborn which is only about 10 miles from downtown. The Dearborn Inn is a historic hotel built in 1929 by Henry Ford. There's also the Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton, and several Marriott properties.

The top attraction in the area is The Henry Ford. It's an indoor-outdoor museum complex in Dearborn. The outdoor museum has historic buildings such as Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brothers' house and bicycle shop and Stephen Foster's house, that were acquired and moved.

The indoor museum has decorative arts and collections that trace the development of farm implements, household appliances, industrial motors and several other things. It's most noted for its transportation collection that includes all the Presidental limousines. It also houses the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was shot.

Tours of Ford's Rouge plant also leave from the museum. Check their website at www.hfmgv.org.

You can check out the Motown Museum where the record company began or head south of the border to Canada. There are lots of great Italian restaurants on East Erie Street.

Hi gapper - There is a very good website called www.detroityes.com that has a wealth of information on it. Its primary focus is the architecture of the old city buildings, but there are many posters on the discussion boards who can answer any question you may have about visiting. Good luck.

Tony