Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Commenter Tom mentioned this State story about this longtime zoo area hotel closing. The story is a bit confusing as it says that Hilton dropped this operation as a franchaise, but the usual case for something like that is to keep the doors open with a quick reflagging, or just operating as something generic like "Suites At The Zoo" for a while, but apparently it was already in train for the staff to be laid off and the property put on the market.

Commenter Heath provides the above pictures and comments that Hilton has been assiduous about getting its brand off of everything. It's not a bad looking building, though some of the reviews suggest it has seen better days inside.

(Hat tips to commenters Tom & Heath)

As reported by commenter Sidney, the Whiskey Kitchen house restaurant at the Delta Northeast on Two Notch is rebranding as a Mexican eatery: Dos Amigos. With a few notable exceptions, I have always found restaurants in hotels to be "eh..OK" in general. We'll have to see if this is any different, though as recent comments have pointed out, there is no dearth of Mexican restaurants on Two Notch..

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

Well, that didn't last long. This hotel off of Berkshire & Oakcrest Drives, was deflagged as an Oyo in March of 2023, ran independantly for a bit I think and then ran up the Rodeway Inn flag. Recently it has closed off the entrance on the Oakcrest Drive side and now brands as a Wingate by Wyndham. Since I had to drive around the building to get back out with the rear entrance closed, and had my windows down, I can report it should probably be branded Weedgate...

While I was in Florence recently, I decided to get off at I-95 Exit 157 to check out the old Young's Plantation Inn which I had done a closing for and which had been reported as torn down (it was). While I was there I noticed that the motel almost across US-76 from the old Young's site was apparently closed as well. This was the The Tree Top Inn. As you can see from the link, their website is still up, but there were clearly no customers, and the place is now behind a closed fence. The most recent google reviews are from about a year ago, so I will go with 2023 for a closing date.

Actually Exit 157 seems to be hard on motels lately as I noticed another had been razed (before Young's) and a third was clearly also closed. I may do closings on those eventually as I did get some pictures.

Commenter Tom mentioned that this hotel on Bush River Road at I-26 behind Cracker Barrel had a blank nameplate on the Market Pointe marquee. He thought it had been a Travelodge, and that looks correct, but that was some years ago. Most recently it was a Quality Inn & Suites. I can see from Google Streetview that that lasted at least into June 2023, so I'm guessing the latest reflagging was this year, and the place is now operating as Suburban Studios.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

This was apparently also known as Best Western Plus Columbia Northeast and the rather generic Columbia Northeast Hotel, so perhaps it lost the Best Western branding in the last months of its life. Google streetview shows the place looking open, and with Best Western signage into May of 2024, but as of the end of June, when these pictures were taken, the place was closed with indications of some sort of work going on. (The Google reviews suggest it really needed some.)

I have not driven past since then, so perhaps it is open again or at least has some indication as to what is to come now -- I will have to check it out again soon.

This Red Roof Inn was kind of at the corner of Berryhill Road, Saint Andrews Road and I-26. Technically the old Steak & Ale is more exactly at the corner, but anyway it was convienient to all of those.

I don't know if this closure is due to the ongoing I-26 roadwork, but that did take down the adjacent nightclub building at 14 Berryhill Road.

I have seen a number of motels torn down now, and it seems at some point, you're always going to see a lot of mattresses about, but I think this is the first time I've seen that many toilets.

(Hat tip to commenter Arthur P)

UPDATE 24 May 2024 -- Gone!

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This Days Inn is probably most notable for being one of the few places in the area with an indoor pool. That aside, the place has apparently been badly in need of a refit for years now -- something it is currently getting.

I never heard of Oyo until this one opened up, and frankly from what I saw when I was in the neighborhood, it wouldn't be one of my first choices if I needed to stay somewhere. The Google reviews are.. interesting.

At any rate, it is apparenly no longer an Oyo, though what it actually is is less sure. It is definitely still operating but all of the branding is down, and nothing new has been put up in its place.

UPDATE 14 June 2023 -- Now a Rodeway Inn: