The capital plan and what it covered
SREE Hotels LLC spent $5.5 million over six months at 617 Vine Street in Cincinnati. The work covers every guest room, all public space, the guest laundry and the 24-hour fitness center. The address holds 249 rooms under two Hilton brands, Hampton Inn & Suites Cincinnati-Downtown and Homewood Suites by Hilton Cincinnati-Downtown.
The two brands trade from one building, one entrance and one operating team. SREE owns and manages both. Its release boilerplate counts 25 hotels across North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio, with two in development. Aspasia Makris runs the property as general manager.
Two brands behind one entrance
Guests book either brand. The per-brand room split came with the 2015 conversion: 144 rooms to Hampton and 105 to Homewood. No current per-brand count is published.
Homewood rooms hold a kitchenette, a dining table, a sofa bed and a workspace. Hampton rooms carry in-room streaming entertainment, and the suites add a wet bar and a workspace. Both brands run free hot breakfast and free Wi-Fi, and both sit inside Hilton Honors. The programme covers 9,400 properties in 144 countries and territories.
The building an operator inherits
Lockwood Greene and Company designed the 14-storey limestone building, and it opened in 1926. The Cincinnati Enquirer published from the address for more than 60 years. Its presses moved out in 1979, and the newsroom left for 312 Elm Street in 1992. The address joined the National Register of Historic Places on 13 November 1985 under reference number 85002787.
SREE converted the building into the two-brand hotel in 2015 and owns it. The original gold entrance, elevators, brass mail drops and marble hallways survive both capital rounds. The property's release dates the register listing to 1975, and the register carries 1985.
The operating picture after the work
Every room came back on the same inventory. One laundry and one fitness center serve both brands, and the public space is shared. Reservations run through Hilton, and the property answers at +1 (513) 354-2430.