Orignal Holiday Inn Locations in your area

[roadman65]

Back in the Day, Holiday Inns used to rule the nation.  Very few chain hotels were around and Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson dominated the interstate system as well as some small cities without interstates of the era.

In my city, that is Lakeland, FL.  We had three original Holiday Inns that are now either leveled or another motel owns the property.  We have a current Holiday Inn, but it was built within the last two decades.

Former Holiday Inn North ( Present Exit 33 off I-4) became a Ramada and now is a non chain motel north of I-4 on Socrum Loop Road.
Former Holiday Inn East.  Was located on US 92 across from Lake Parker, but now an empty lot.
Former Holiday Inn South was on State Road 37, but unsure where.  It might be where the current Holiday Inn is or could be where one of the many strip malls is now situated.


How about around you all.  Where was one of the former Holiday Inns of the 50's, 60's, and 70's?

[Flint1979]

We have a Holiday Inn here in Saginaw, MI where I just heard the other day there were trees growing in some of the rooms inside the hotel while the hotel was still open. The building is still standing here is the GSV of it. Look at the hotel on the other side of M-46 it was last a Rodeway Inn and the building is still standing with every door from the outside opened and the building in very poor condition. This entire exit is in bad shape and in a high crime area as well so it's not good.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4146442,-83.8952812,3a,49.1y,134.83h,90.13t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVlP480Uv9aidtQ1XBXe8ug!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DVlP480Uv9aidtQ1XBXe8ug%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D88.41212%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[hbelkins]

A Holiday Inn was built on US 23 south of Prestonsburg years ago. It spent some time as an independent, then as a Quality Inn, but was closed the last time I went through there. Locals still call that stretch of highway "Holiday Inn Hill."

[lepidopteran]

Check out this Google MyMap, where we've been trying to locate the Holiday Inn "Great Sign" locations.  Different pin colors represent current status.  (The great sign was this often huge, jukebox-like sign that marked all HI locations.  They were all replaced throughout the mid-1980s with a simpler pylon sign, and there is yet another sign in use now.)

• Eastern map
• Western map

These maps are a work in progress.

I also suggest you look at this Flickr group.   Holiday Inn - Your Host From Coast to Coast

And a Flickr user, Carboardamerica, has postcards and other ephemera in a Holiday Inn album.  Some items here overlap with with the above group.  Most entries include the property's address in the description.

[-- US 175 --]

There's also a couple of HI Facebook groups, 1 pretty much focuses on the Great Sign and that era.

Most that I know of have been either re-branded downward or torn down.  One at US 75/I-635 in Dallas hasn't been an HI in a few decades, and after a couple of indie/non-chain go-rounds, it was just announced that a local religious charity wants to take it on as a homeless center.  Another one closer to me was an HI after the Great Sign era, later an HI Express, and is now a Comfort Inn & Suites that is currently very slow due probably to the virus-of-the-moment.  There is one in east TX, a classic L-shape from the Great Sign timeframe that has since been through several chain and non-chain brands; it had a bar-nightclub attached and that has since been razed.  It's not in a bad part of town, it just didn't see the popularity and buzz like around to the south.  After its most recent paint job, it took on an awful mustardish/terra-cotta-like color, worse than some of those LaQuinta re-paints of recent years.

[Rothman]

A Holiday Inn was built on US 23 south of Prestonsburg years ago. It spent some time as an independent, then as a Quality Inn, but was closed the last time I went through there. Locals still call that stretch of highway "Holiday Inn Hill."

Heh.  My aunt and uncle live in Prestonsburg.  Haven't heard that term about that stretch, despite having gone that way lots of times (before and after the bypass).  But, that's not saying much.  People heading south out of Prestonsburg just say that they're headed towards Allen or "New 80" (still!).

[NWI_Irish96]

There was a Holiday Inn at the West Lafayette (IN 43) exit off I-65. Became a Days Inn, then closed entirely, and eventually demolished.
The Quality Inn at the Notre Dame (IN 933) exit off I-80/90 used to be a Holiday Inn.
There was a Holiday Inn attached to the Star Plaza Theater at the Merrillville (US 30) exit off I-65. Became a Days Inn, then closed entirely, and eventually demolished (along with the theater).

[Ned Weasel]

A few locations that were Holiday Inns for as long as I can remember come to my mind, but I'm not 100% sure if any of them started as Holiday Inns, but keep in my mind that when I say "as long as I can remember," I'm 36 years old, and my visual memory started to kick in at around age 3.  So I remember these being Holiday Inns as long ago as the 90s and possibly the 80s, and if I had to guess when they were built, I think the 70s would be a safe bet for all of them, with a possibility of some dating from the 60s or 80s.

• Former Holiday Inn in Olathe, KS that became a retirement home: https://goo.gl/maps/ecPtNb1Hr3bDr5Zm6
• Former Holiday Inn in Overland Park, KS that became a Ramada Inn and a Knights Inn and has since been demolished: https://goo.gl/maps/DRVba8Pz45MRToYs5
• Former Holiday Inn near the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, MO that went through several brand changes: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-kansas-city/best-western-premier-kansas-city-sports-complex-hotel/propertyCode.26187.html
• Former Holiday Inn by KCI Airport that's now a Four Points: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcifp-four-points-kansas-city-airport/
• Former Holiday Inn in Lawrence, KS that became a DoubleTree Hotel: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lwcmddt-doubletree-lawrence/
• Former Holiday Inn in Topeka, KS that became a Ramada but now appears empty: https://goo.gl/maps/9HGTTjEpqNeKczT96
• Former Holiday Inn in Emporia, KS that went through several brand changes: https://www.choicehotels.com/kansas/emporia/clarion-hotels/ks101
• Current Holiday Inn in Wichita, KS that's been a Holiday Inn for decades (and went through a period of being a Holiday Inn Select when that was a thing), although I'm not a fan of the recent renovation: https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/wichita/ictks/hoteldetail

If anyone else has any info about these locations, please chime in!

Edit: I added one that I had intended to mention but briefly forgot about.

[Life in Paradise]

Former Holiday Inn in Muddy, IL, which is hard to see now.  I don't know why it was ever there, since Muddy was a town of about 300, north of Harrisburg, IL, about 5000, and I never thought that US 45 was a major route to Chicago, but perhaps it was before I-57 went in.

https://earth.google.com/web/search/Muddy,+Illinois/@37.76764945,-88.5123783,115.03212738a,0d,60y,268.79835801h,82.03901276t,0r/data=CigiJgokCfPk3sLo-EJAEQ_B_7Cq-EJAGdtLbvtu2VXAIUiSLFOv2VXAIhoKFmhKTlBBTWRQS0tzdzNKMG1OenVmYmcQAg

[Buck87]

There was a Holiday Inn on US 23 in Rosemount, OH, just north of Portsmouth. It used to have a restaurant/banquet room that was the place to go back in the 60's.

It is currently a Rodeway Inn.

[briantroutman]

My hometown (Williamsport) is home to a former Holiday Inn complex that was built around 1965. It's a typical example of a '60s suburban/small town Holiday Inn: two stories, exterior corridors, restaurant and lounge, banquet facilities, outdoor pool. As I recall, it was a place where organizations like the local Rotary chapter would hold its meetings, school groups would host banquets, etc.

I have a bit of a personal connection to this Holiday Inn as one of my mother's first jobs was as a hostess in the restaurant–around 1977. When the lounge's bartender quit, managers pressed her into service as the lunchtime barmaid. She described it as being a hangout for business travelers staying at the hotel, shower curtain ring salesmen from Sandusky and the like. The customers would give her step by step instructions on how to make their drinks: "OK, grab that bottle over there; pour a little in the glass. Now grab this bottle here..."

The property was a Holiday Inn from its construction up through about 1993, at which time it was reflagged as a Days Inn. The restaurant and lounge remained as a relatively generic hotel restaurant, and the property remained relatively as it was. Then just a few years later (maybe 1996), the hotel underwent a more thorough renovation and was rebranded again as a Holiday Inn. As part of that renovation, the foodservice area was completely gutted, separated a bit more from the hotel lobby (though still accessible from inside), and rebranded as a TGI Fridays. Perhaps because of the push to oust exterior corridor properties from its rolls, Holiday Inn dropped the location from its chain sometime in the 2000s, and it became a Best Western. But the Holiday Inn's recognizable '80s-era fluted sign support is still quite evident beneath the Best Western sign today.

Around 2007, during its second Holiday Inn phase, the hotel shrank considerably. The guest buildings originally formed sort of a square S, but almost half of that was demolished and that portion of the property transferred to a neighboring dairy plant, which expanded. At the same time, a three-story Candlewood Suites (another HI brand) was built behind the Holiday Inn.



If you're interested in the topic of hotels–especially Holiday Inns–I'd recommend you check out the book The Motel in America by John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers. It delves into the history of roadside lodging and provides histories on a number of historically influential chains, with an entire chapter devoted to Holiday Inn. It's part of a "gas/food/lodging"  trilogy, and the same authors also wrote The Gas Station in America and Fast Food.

[mgk920]

There was an original classic 'family roadtrip' Holiday Inn that was built along US 41 between Appleton and Neenah, WI back in about 1964.  It operated as such until about 1975, when WisDOT cut off its nearly direct side road (Shady Ln) intersection access to what is now I-41.  After that, it quickly descended to the level of a local 'sleezebag'/SRO type of place and due to its pretty solid concrete construction, still operates as such to this day.

https://goo.gl/maps/f4fbBqKm9Mefj5NH6

It's claim to fame is that that is where the Dallas Cowboys stayed before their 'Ice Bowl' NFL championship game at the Green Bay Packers in 1967.

Mike

[GCrites]

There was a Holiday Inn on US 23 in Rosemount, OH, just north of Portsmouth. It used to have a restaurant/banquet room that was the place to go back in the 60's.

This seems like a common phenomenon in Ohio. Both the Chillicothe and Lancaster Holiday Inns were often the place to be for the locals. The old Lancaster one was like that into the '90s even. The restaurant was popular as well.

[Ned Weasel]

Oh, here's one that's worth noting, but it's not in my area:

Holiday Inn City Line Ave. - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Cardboardamerica@gmail.com, on Flickr

This one was originally built as a Holiday Inn in the 1960s, but it later became an Adam's Mark Hotel, and underwent a renovation that altered the appearance of the top floor.  When Adam's Mark went bankrupt, Target bought the property, and since Target isn't in the hotel business, it was demolished to make way for a Target store and some other commercial units.

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/6cucauLfWwBTebky8 .  Brief history and more photos: https://phillyskyline.com/bldgs/adamsmark/

Speaking of Pennsylvania, I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/27021666487543708/ .  Does anyone know if it's still standing, and if so, which hotel it is?

Check out this Google MyMap, where we've been trying to locate the Holiday Inn "Great Sign" locations.  Different pin colors represent current status.  (The great sign was this often huge, jukebox-like sign that marked all HI locations.  They were all replaced throughout the mid-1980s with a simpler pylon sign, and there is yet another sign in use now.)

• Eastern map
• Western map

These maps are a work in progress.

This is really interesting!  I found two former Holiday Inns I knew of and was interested to learn they were "Great Sign" locations: (1) the Topeka West former Holiday Inn, which I mentioned earlier, and (2) the Belle Vernon, PA Clarion Inn.

If you're interested in the topic of hotels–especially Holiday Inns–I'd recommend you check out the book The Motel in America by John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers. It delves into the history of roadside lodging and provides histories on a number of historically influential chains, with an entire chapter devoted to Holiday Inn.

I second this book recommendation!

[Dirt Roads]

The Holiday Inn in South Charleston, West Virginia has been there quite a while.  I believe that it is 8 or 9 stories tall, designed to accommodate business class working at the chemical plants (and the chemical technology center) nearby.  I'm fairly sure that this hotel was built before the Interstate was pushed through in 1974 and 1975.  Not sure if that's old enough to qualify as an original.

[Dirt Roads]

Looks like the old Holiday Inn in Uniontown, Pennsylvania is gone.  I practically lived there during a project back in the mid-1980s.  This and a few other locations in Western Pennsylvania were impressive because they were converted with a huge canopy roof over the swimming pool.  The original complex consisted of four similar-sized three-story motel structures making a square around a common courtyard with an outdoor pool.  After the conversion, the courtyard had a decent restaurant in one of the quadrants of the pool area, and there were a variety of things in the other quadrants.  Does anybody know if any of these still remain?

For the record, I traveled so much for work in 1987 that I stayed in original Holiday Inns on every single day that calendar year.  I passed through Richmond several times a month to pick up mail at home (sometimes stopping at my official office across town).  I was able to schedule projects so as to pass through West Virginia and see family on Easter and Christmas.  I think that was the very last year that the railroad was mostly shut down on those holidays, but I needed to be staged for projects the night before (hence 365 days).

[thenetwork]

From my time in Ohio, there were these, to name a few:

1 MEDINA, OH:  I-71 @ SR-18.  Became a Best Western in the mid 80s, then kept getting 'demoted' in branding as the Hotel got older.  Finally was condemned and torn down within the last few years.

FAIRLAWN (AKRON):  SR-18 @ Ghent Road, across from Summit Mall. Was an HI into the 80s, then changed brands and now is a Doubletree by Hilton.

STRONGSVILLE (CLEVELAND) OH:  I-71 @ SR-82.  Still a Holiday Inn after nearly 50 years.

PERRYSBURG (TOLEDO) "French Quarter HI w/ Holidome" I-75 @ US-20/23:  Just closed within the last year and will be/has been bulldozed.  Oddly enough, for many years there was a simpler HI across the street.

Just a few that came to mind.

[Dirt Roads]

Looks like the old Holiday Inn in Uniontown, Pennsylvania is gone.  I practically lived there during a project back in the mid-1980s.  This and a few other locations in Western Pennsylvania were impressive because they were converted with a huge canopy roof over the swimming pool.  The original complex consisted of four similar-sized three-story motel structures making a square around a common courtyard with an outdoor pool.  After the conversion, the courtyard had a decent restaurant in one of the quadrants of the pool area, and there were a variety of things in the other quadrants.  Does anybody know if any of these still remain?

From my time in Ohio, there were these, to name a few:

PERRYSBURG (TOLEDO) "French Quarter HI w/ Holidome" I-75 @ US-20/23:  Just closed within the last year and will be/has been bulldozed.  Oddly enough, for many years there was a simpler HI across the street.

Yup, stayed there once (in 1988).  Indeed, they were named "Holidome".

[lepidopteran]

PERRYSBURG (TOLEDO) "French Quarter HI w/ Holidome" I-75 @ US-20/23:  Just closed within the last year and will be/has been bulldozed.  Oddly enough, for many years there was a simpler HI across the street.

The restaurant at that place was popular in and of itself.

Other original locations in the Toledo area, two of which were at the only original exits of the OH Turnpike, include

• West.  On Reynolds Rd. near tpk Exit 4 (59 after mile renumbering) and the now-demolished Southwyck Mall.  This still stands as senior apartments.
• East. On I-280 near tpk Exit 5 (71 today).  Remember that until the mid-80s, the southern part of I-280 had at-grade intersections; the 1964 Rand-McNally atlas used the non-freeway color for that stretch.  When the road was converted to all-limited-access, the HI was kind of far and hard to get to from the nearest interchange.
  Furthermore, the addition of a Turnpike interchange with I-75 probably greatly reduced the traffic count.  The hotel still stands as the Travel Inn, though a front section looks to have been recently demolished.
• Downtown.  This one is best described as a square version of their round towers.  Known as the Hotel SeaGate in later years, it was going to be torn down, but then it was going to be rebuilt as a Hyatt.  But after being stripped down to a concrete skeleton, a decision was made this year to demolish the structure after all.
  
• North.  Located adjacent to the I-75/I-280 interchange, another hotel had it for a while.  But it was recently demolished, and appears to have been converted to some industrial use.  This might have been due to property acquisition with the interchange's recent major reconstruction, where they got rid of left-side on/off ramps and tight ones at that.

[Route66Fan]

From what I understand, the Lexington Inn in Lexington, MO used to be a Holiday Inn in the 60's & 70's. From what I've seen & heard, the place is still open, but isn't in very good shape.

[NWI_Irish96]

One more I forgot--the old Holiday Inn in Plymouth, IN, was the Friday night home to the ND football team during the Holtz era. It's now called the Red Rock Inn.

[Great Lakes Roads]

La Porte, IN- the king of changing hotel names every couple of years...

The "original" Holiday Inn- built in the '70s and was the Best Value Suites from the '90s up until 2008. Then, Best Western took over the property in 2008, was shut down for a while and now has recently switched hands to the Quality Inn.

Then, it moved ~a half-mile north of the "original" location to a new building in the '90s, and it is now owned by the Comfort Inn after it was moved AGAIN back in 2017 to a new building literally across the street from the '90s one.

[GaryV]

Troy MI - what is now a Quality Inn near I-75 and Rochester Rd was once a Holiday Inn.

[Jim]

The Holiday Inn of Amsterdam, NY, was located in the downtown area (not that convenient from the Thruway).  It had the classic big Holiday Inn sign for many years when I was growing up.  It was a top area location for gatherings like weddings or other large events.  A few decades ago, it stopped being Holiday Inn, became a Best Western for quite a while.  Eventually, its maintenance suffered, and it became an America's Best Value Inn, and then had no chain affiliation at all for its last year or so.  After a foreclosure sale, the location was completely renovated, gutted down to the shell, and is now an assisted living facility.  Amsterdam really didn't have a respectable hotel after the Best Western incarnation of this location went downhill, our local Super 8 off the Thruway also went into a decline, and the Knights Inn off the Thruway, which is, well, a Knights Inn.  Just this year, a new Microtel on 5S near the Thruway interchange opened.  For years, if we had out of town guests who wanted a hotel room nearby, we would direct them to Johnstown or Schenectady.  Hopefully the Microtel will be a success.

[cjk374]

There was a Holiday Inn in Ruston, LA that had a "great sign" when I was a kid. I was located in the I-20 North Service Road East between the US 167 & LA 33 exits. It was leveled several years ago & now has a Chick-fil-A, an Ivan Smith furniture store & a couple other businesses on the lot.