Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

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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:

Bestway Inn was another of the US-1 motels which lined that route coming into and going out of Columbia as we discussed recently. Actually I suppose they were all on the "coming into" side of Columbia, just depending on which way you were going.

This one lasted, in reduced circumstances, until 2017 at which point they surrendered their buisiness license to avoid being declared a public nuisance .

I don't think closing the place really brought that stretch of the road up any. It's still sitting there and now it's not maintained at all -- I forbare turning off into the lot to get any closer pictures.

This LoopNet listing helpfully mentions that the property has 32767 rooms, a number which will bring a smile to any computer programmer.

I guess they didn't leave the light on after all.

This Motel 6 on the Interstate frontage at Saint Andrews Road has closed for the revamping of that stretch of I-26. It looks like they are already having homeless, or at least vandalism, problems.

(Hat tip to commenter Authur P)

UPDATE 4 October 2023 -- Razed, as mentioned in the comments:

The glory days of the Grand Motel sign are behind it now, even the animation above from 2011 was a bit past it. The next two pictures are from 2009, and the three after that are from 2011 again. The ones after the break were taken two weeks ago, and last week.

The Grand Motel was one of the many US-1 motels in the Columbia area dating back to before the Interstate system. Off the top of my head, there were Dreamland, Chat 'n Rest, Bestway Inn, Forest Motel, Throughbred Motel, and the still extant Star Motel. (There is also still at least one US-1 motel still open on the other side of town near I-26).

In recent years, the Grand had apparently been operating as much as efficiencies as a travel motel, and I believe that continued into this year. Most recently as commenter Robin points out, the place has been bought by a charity which will operate it as affordable housing with mentoring. WIS has the story here. The complex will be called Grand Village, and some of the existing motel rooms will be upfitted while there will be new construction as well.

As you can see in the shots after the jump, work has started on asbestos abatement on the existing rooms.

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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.