Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I think the only time I have ever stayed at a Super 8 was once when I drove to Florida not knowing it was Daytona 500 weekend, and ended up driving hundreds of miles looking for a place to stay. Given the circumstances, it was OK.

This closing puzzles me a bit as this property was renovated just a few years ago after it closed as The Cambridge Plaza Hotel in 2014 (before which it had been a Best Western). I don't see why it should need a re-working just 5 years later, but apparently that is the case. Of course plans change, and LoopNet says the property is on the market, so any upfit would be on the buyer. It also notes that only 84 of the 115 rooms are "rentable", so I guess it definitely does need some work. This site also notes the availability, and has a nice aerial shot of the property.

In passing, I will note that I really dislike frontage roads like Cherokee Lane which get double-duty out of an Interstate on-ramp.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

You have to wonder how bad things are when The State story on the closing of this motel doesn't even list prostitution as one of the problems:

There have been 169 calls to law enforcement about incidents at the hotel in the past 90 days, city officials said. In 97 of those calls, charges were filed for crimes that included drug trafficking (meth), strong armed robbery and attempted murder, according to the release.

On Sept. 12, Cayce officers filed a report about an alleged rape of a juvenile that occurred at the hotel.

I have actually stayed in a Knight's Inn once. It was somewhere in Florida, and in my opinion was a real dump. The table seemed to have been picked up from the side of a road somewhere and everything was sticky. However, I never felt unsafe, or worried about my car. It was just a very basic, low-end experience.

There is a hearing on 24 October to determine if the business license should be permanently revoked. Whatever happens, I see a re-flagging in the future for this location.

As commenter c noted, this Holiday Inn is currently between flags and operating simply as Columbia Northeast Hotel (owned by Mariot, but officially branded during construction).

I drove around the building and did not see any major work ongoing so perhaps the end is near (though there were some romm fixtures in the back lot).

To make matters interesting, the hotel across the street (in the last picture) has recently been reflagged as a Holiday Inn Express, so if you booked this one when it was a Holiday Inn, and you go looking for it in the area, you are going to be surprised..

(Hat tip to commenter AmericanColumbia)

I don't think I've ever seen another setup like the one Thee Whiskey Tavern had: A strip club running inside a former hotel suite, in a hotel which was still a going concern. Of course it's not exactly unusual for hotels to have active and sometimes rowdy bars (see for instance The Wicked Witch Lounge or The Pirate's Cove), but those are generally in facilities designed as lounges and part of the hotel business proper (whatever it says on the business license).

However the situation came about Thee Whiskey Tavern survived the reflagging of the hotel from Budget Inn to Hawthorn, and an associated major remodel. It also survived an onsite stabbing in 2016. In fact, going by the closing story in The State, it's not crystal clear exactly what *did* close the place down. The article and linked RCSD twitter cite aren't very forthcoming other than operating illegally as a sexually oriented business. If anyone was arrested, or if there was a particicular incident that triggered things, it's not mentioned.

In these two shots, you can see the sign now crumpled behind the hotel, and the sign that used to sit by Bush River Road:

(Hat tip to commenter palmettoconnection)

I noticed this article in The Sun News while I was last at the beach:

The Hurl Rock Motel has been temporarily closed by the City of Myrtle Beach for elevator repairs and other safety issues.

Two notices taped to the front window of the motel at 2010 South Ocean Boulevard also said there was “no standpipe,” -- the pipe to which fire hoses are connected.

So I thought I would get some pictures, especially since there have been several legacy hotel demolitions in Myrtle Beach that I have missed. I've never stayed at the Hurl Rock, but I have fond associations with the name because a) It's a neat name & b) There used to be a Hurl Rock ocean-front putt-putt course further north on Ocean Boulevard (if I recall correctly, it's been gone for decades) where we played a time or two, and of which I have fond memories.

This particular building is not as old or quirky as some of the other vintage motels, but it does have one unexpected feature -- an overflow parking lot across the street behind the main building with its own anchor building, which appears to be an old house, and probably serves as some sort of office or maintenance shed. I do hope they get their issues resolved, but the article mentions that they have been rather longstanding, so we will see..

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Read the rest of this entry »

I actually went to take some pictures of this place a couple of years ago after driving past it one day and seeing absolutely no cars in the lot. In the event, it turned out to actually still be open at that time, if apparently having a very slow week. I wondered when I saw comenter badger's heads-up if that would be the case this time or not, but they are actually closed this time.

The sign on the lobby door (which you cannot actually read in the picture here) says that they are temporarily closed for renovations. The general state of the lot suggests that it is yet early in that process, and that it was indeed needed.

(Hat tip to comment badger)

UPDATE 11 October 2017 -- Now reflagged as Gallus Stadium Park Inn:

I noticed driving by the other day that the old Howard Johnson's on Zimalcrest Drive at Bush River has closed for remodeling. I believe it has most been under a number of flags since the Hojo days, but most recently, it was a Budget Inn.

This place is a bit unusual in that it has a strip club Thee Whiskey Tavern operating out of a suite of rooms. I have never heard of such an arrangement elsewhere (and don't know if the club is closed during the remodel). You will also remember that the attached restaurant Punjabi Dhaba suffered a fire in early 2014, and has since been torn down.

UPDATE 28 June 2016 -- Renovations continue:

UPDATE 30 August 2016 -- Well this place is open again, now as Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham which at least sounds a bit more upscale this time. I will have to check to see if Thee Whiskey Tavern is still co-located or not:

UPDATE 11 September 2016 -- Well Thee Whiskey Tavern is still there, something of an anomaly in a property that's trying to go a little bit more upmarket than Budget Inn:

The Carolina's restaurant building at the Gervais Street Clarion is being razed as part of the upfitting of the property to become a dual branded Hilton Garden Inn / Home 2 Suites.

I never went there though over the years I heard it advertised many times, especially with New Years Eve packages at the hotel. I'm not sure exactly where the fancy spiral staircase fit in, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing you would usually find in a hotel restaurant.

The State notes that the hotel was Sherman's Columbia headquarters and is a historic site. I confess I'm a bit confused about exactly what part of the property dates back that far. Surely the actual hotel building on Gervais is not that old.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 4 November 2014 -- I had originaly titled this post Carolina's Restaurant, but according to the comments, that restaurant is still in service as part of the hotel proper:

The restaurant itself is still open. It closed temporarily during the construction, and then re-opened. The images that you've posted above were not the actual Carolina's Restaurant. That's actually inside the Clarion Hotel. That building was for banquet halls, conventions, and that sort of thing.

UPDATE 13 November 2018 -- Four years later and work is still ongoing, though things are shaping up:

This hotel is down one of those "suicide" Interstate frontage roads like Garner Lane where they use the same on-ramp as the Interstate for frontage access. I don't like 'em.

Anyway, the Cambridge Plaza Hotel there is currently undergoing renovation. It should be back, possibly with increased signage, fairly soon.

UPDATE 4 Jun 2014 -- Commenter Bobby verifies that this place was once a Best Western so I have added that to the post title.

UPDATE 26 June 2014 -- Looks like it's to be a Super 8 when it reopens: