Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Once in the 1970s, when some out of town cousins (who I had never met) were coming through town, my father checked out all the hotels in the vicinity (not that many then), and decided that this Marlboro Inn (which was at that time fairly new) had reasonable prices and acceptable quality and suggested they stay there while visiting us. There's no punchline to that story: Apparently the place was OK, and there were no issues.

Since that time, the place had become obviously not new, and was renting out one suite to an accountancy to bring in some extra money or provide a familiy member a reasonable office. I never heard of any trouble there, but with many newer motels, with national reservation systems, in town in recent years, I suspect the writing was on the wall.

According to commenter Larry, the property was bought by Lexington Medical as was the adjacent building. Perhaps that means they will merge the two lots and build something large there.

I think the motel in the triangle where Wildcat Road runs into Fort Jackson Boulevard was also a Marlboro Inn at one time, but I don't recall ever seeing another, and as far as I know, there as no connection to the cigarette brand.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 23 February 2023 -- All gone now:

Originally I had thought that this place was undergoing a renovation due to the work going on there, but now I am not sure. Google says the place has been closed for two years (which would put it back to the start of the pandemic) *and* marks it as permanently closed. So I don't know if the work is asbestos abatement before they knock it down, or an upfit for another brand than La Quinta.

Anyway, it's definitely closed though it's odd they haven't taken the sign down.

I last posted about this place in 2008 when it had closed as Travelodge Suites. After that Benedict College had a plan to use it for overflow dorm space but that fell through because of regulatory issues. I had the impression they had actually bought it by that point though I may be wrong.

At any rate, at some point thereafter it opened as Red Lion Inn & Suites, apparently in the 2015 timeframe, though I was unaware of it. The place got pretty mixed reviews on the hotel sites, some of them unsurprising in a building that dates from the 1960s. The last proof I can find of the place being open is a Memorial Day 2020 post on their Facebook page, though a vistor post from the Chamber of Commerce suggests it could have been open into November of 2020.

I can't recall that I've ever stayed in a Rodeway Inn, the mental picture I have is of pretty basic accomdation, but this one, at least, had a pool on-site. This property started, I believe, as a Thunderbird Inn, a now nearly defunct chain with really cool signs. At some point thereafter, it was an Econo Lodge, as you can see in these pictures I took for the co-located Hilltop Restaurant closing.

Now, the Rodeway has closed, and they are doing asbestos abatement on the property, presumably in preparation to tear the whole place down. Google doesn't turn up any news stories, so I'm not sure what's next for this property.

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Until commener Justin pointed out that it was closed, I did not even know there was an Inn At Claussen's. It still seems a little mysterious to me as I can't find any public announcement of it closing anywhere. It looks to have been an interesting place, with some two story rooms with their own spiral staircases. The reviews are all over the map, but there are several mentions that the nearby trains are *loud*, which I can believe given the location of the tracks and trestle.

The web and facebook pages for the hotel are gone, but here is the Wikipedia page for the historic bakery

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

UPDATE 7 June 2019 -- The State says this space is being converted into 29 studio apartments. The story also confirms that the Inn closed due to the great flood of 2015.

As reported by The State this venerable hotel at the corner of Main & Lady Streets will be converted into a upscale condo called The Palms with 54 "resort-style" units. They will also have a view of what is apparently the only pool on Main Street.

Given that the article talks about the developer struggling to find financing for the project for several years, and the fact that the Rodeway Inn is listed in the Feb 2011 phonebook, I can only guess that the developer owned the property and continued to run it as a hotel until things came together. I admit to being surprised how long it lasted as a mid-to-lower-mid market motel in an area that if it gets anyone (after all who in the general population wants to visit Columbia and stay on Main Street?) would get high-roller business and government connected types.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

UPDATE 26 May 2012: Here's a State article on the opening of The Palms.

UPDATE 9 October 2024: Add map icon, update tags.

QUALITY INN Northeast
I-20 & U.S. 1
1539 Horseshoe Drive
Columbia, South Carolina 29204
Phone 803 -- 736-1600

I noticed the other day that there was a blanked out hotel sign visible from Two Notch at the I-20 Westbound on-ramp, so I decided to turn at the Union 76 station and take a look.

I'm not sure it comes across in the picture, but you can barely read "Travelodge Suites" on the blanked-out sign in person, and a quick google confirms the location. The place is still listed in a lot of "book your hotel online" sites, so I'm guessing the end didn't come too long ago.

The architecture is a bit unusual. The hotel seems to be divided into two buildings, an admin building and the main structure, and both have a "modern" looking design -- not your typical boxy hotel buildings.

I'm not sure what happened to this place, but the notes on the door of the admin building would indicate that it wasn't voluntary. The place is a little hard to get into and out of, what with the somewhat odd light placement on Two Notch and the traffic backing up at the lights. Perhaps that played a role, or perhaps it was something else entirely.

UPDATE 17 September 2009: This place has been in the news lately. It has been taken on by Benedict College as dorm space for students, and in fact the kids have moved in, but now the county says it is unsafe and they will have to move out. Obviously you can't take chances with kids' safety, but there seems to be some miscommunication between the college and the fire marshall on exactly what needs to happen. Stories here, here and here.

UPDATE 13 October 2009: Added scan of Quality Inn postcard and entered the text on the reverse. Also added "Quality Inn" to the post title.

UPDATE 2 July 2010: It turns out I was wrong about the second building, the one with the notes on the doors, being part of the Quality Inn / Travelodge property. It was actually the headquarters for the infamous 3 Hebrew Boys financial scam company, and I have made a separate post about it.

UPDATE 28 July 2010: Well acccording to The State Richland denies Benedict zoning for hotel-turned-dorm, so I guess Benedict now has a huge, useless property on its hands.

UPDATE 29 September 2021: Updating tags and adding map icon.