The 5.5 million dollar 11-story Ramada Inn at 2340 S. Reynolds Road opened its doors on October 2, 1974, two years later than originally planned due to court battles brought on by the Holiday Inn across the street. It was built during a commercial development boom spawned by the opening of the Southwyck Shopping Center. The Ramada Inn offered 220 rooms in the only high rise in the South Toledo-Maumee area. In its best days it was a “vanguard of activity.”
In 1995 it became the Holiday Inn Toledo West. On September 8, 2006 it became the Clarion Inn. Each name change took it further and further away from the prestige it possessed in the ’70s and ’80s as the Ramada Inn, to me anyway. The hotel has stood empty since 2009 when previous owners Toledo Hotel Investment Group LLC defaulted on $2 million in loans. The hotel has since caught fire, been broken into, vandalized, and lived in illegally. An undignified end to a once grand hotel. Demolition of the building began in September 2014. I doubt many were sad to see the Clarion go. Perhaps even the Holiday Inn. But I suspect many were sad to see the Ramada Inn go.
