Business Journal Classic: Avalon Inn Is Transformed into Grand Resort

WARREN, Ohio – The hospitality property today known as the Grand Resort has undergone several changes over the decades – perhaps none as extensive as the Roman bath it added in 2019.

“It’s probably our signature feature, something people are curious and excited about, and they use it all year round,” says Mike Case, the Grand Resort’s director of marketing and communications.  

Such a feature – a 20-foot-by-40-foot heated pool that would be open to visitors through the year – likely would never have been envisioned in January 1986, when the Youngstown Business Journal reported on the $2.5 million expansion planned for the property then known as the Avalon Inn.

Ground was broken in February 1986 on the addition, which would bring the number of rooms to 144. The dedication of the 54 new luxury-class suites – the first major addition to the property since the hotel opened in 1969 – was in September of that year.

The hotel had been owned by Inn Services Inc. of Erie, Pa., since 1983.  

“Avalon Inn is an ideal spot for conventions and meetings, as well as lodging for the commercial traveler,” Robert O’Malley, an Inn Services principal, said in the MidSeptember 1986 story. The conference center and resort offered two 18-hole championship golf courses, indoor and outdoor tennis, and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool. 

A January 1987 Growth Report story shared an industry survey that identified Avalon as one of the top 50 resort hotels in America.

“When we first came here, the Mahoning Valley was known as the place where the steel mills were, but aren’t anymore,” O’Malley said. “Now the picture’s changing; the area’s taking on some importance as a convention and meeting center.”

Further improvements were in the works, according to a January 1989 story. Modernization of the lower-level exhibition hall and existing recreational facilities were expected to cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” O’Malley said. Continuing improvements were being made at the Country Gardens Restaurant and Tall Oaks Dining Room.

“We are currently playing host to most of the prestigious Ohio associations holding meetings in the Northeast. Our goal is to create a resort environment here to rival the great resorts of the Southeast and Midwest,” O’Malley said.

Over the years, ownership would change a couple of times. Public records show a January 2002 transfer from H O K Real Estate Inc. to Avalon Inn Services, followed by a December 2004 transfer to Air Management Group, headed by John Kouvas.

In March 2012, CWB Property Management took over operation of the property while Air Management retained ownership, and the property was rebranded as the Magnuson Grand Hotel and Conference Center.

“Magnuson Hotels will allow us flexibility while preserving the local character that a large national branded company may infringe on,” said Connie Burkett, CWB vice president of operations.      

The biggest change for the new Magnuson Grand was that the property had a “worldwide internet presence” it lacked previously, said Cindy Boren, its general manager, in a MidOctober 2012 story. Reservations had to be made directly to the inn website or by calling the hotel directly, since it had no presence on third-party reservation websites.

“As a result of not having that internet presence, we lost a lot of revenue opportunities,” Boren said. “The thinking was to put it on the map and give it that worldwide presence that it didn’t have.”

Physical upgrades also were being planned for the property, from new furniture and appliances to flatscreen television sets and linens.

Another rebranding was in the offing in 2014 under another new owner. In August of that year, Avalon Holdings Corp. in Howland purchased the Magnuson Grand and adjoining tennis center for $2.9 million. It would get a name that reflected its history, Avalon Resort and Spa. The property was integrated with the operations of Avalon Holdings’ adjacent Avalon Golf and County Club.

“Over the 25 years that we’ve owned Avalon Lakes Golf Course, we’ve been asked many times whether we’d be interested in owning the hotel. And we’ve always declined,” said Ron Klingle, Avalon Holdings chairman and CEO, in a May 2015 story. “Now that we’ve created the country clubs with Squaw Creek and [the Avalon at Buhl] and Avalon Lakes, having a hotel right beside it made all the sense in the world.”

In the story, headlined “Avalon Inn Aims for Awesome with $20M Renovation,” Klingle discussed the three-phase renovation project taking place at the property. The building had fallen into such a state of disrepair that the pool could no longer be used, he said. Other planned upgrades included renovated guest rooms, an expanded fitness center and the addition of the outdoor Roman bath as part of the third phase of the project.

“It’s going to be practically a brand-new building when we’re done – from underneath the concrete all the way up,” Terry McConnell, president of McConnell Construction, the general contractor for the project, said. 

One of the more unusual discoveries during the course of the renovation was the collection of discarded chicken wings that guests had thrown through a gap between the ballroom’s crown molding and the suspended ceiling from which the chandelier hung. “Four barrels full of chicken wings,” Klingle remarked.

In August 2018, a visit to the Howland resort focused on construction of the $5 million Roman bath, a heated pool that would be available to guests throughout the year. Klingle recalled visiting a similar outdoor pool at a ski lodge in Aspen, Colo., some 30 years earlier.

“It was fantastic. It was exhilarating,” he remarked. Heated to 90 degrees, the pool would be “perfect for just relaxing or a therapeutic experience.”

The Roman bath opened about a year later as Klingle was preparing for a rebrand of the property as The Grand Resort.

“We’ve added so many different amenities here, it’s no longer an inn,” he said in September 2019. When people see the resort, “they have a hard time believing they’re in Warren, Ohio.”  

In our MidMay 2021 edition, we reported that total spending over five years on improvements at the property has reached $30 million.

“We are driving distance from Pittsburgh and Cleveland. So, we sell out a lot of weekends,” Case said in the story. “Staycations are becoming the norm and the hotel is a destination for them is doing well.”

A July 2021 story previewed the upcoming Ohio Golf Association’s Ohio Amateur Championship at the property’s 18-hole Avalon Lakes Golf Course. It was the first time that Avalon Lakes had hosted the OGA event, the first one in the Mahoning Valley since 1970.

OGA’s executive director, Matt Lefferts, had met with Klingle before deciding where to site the amateur tournament. “After the visit, I knew Avalon Golf and Country Club could host any one of our championships,” Lefferts said.  

In addition to attracting golf events, convention and meeting business, leisure travel and events such as weddings, the Grand Resort was among the sites where people gathered this year for the April 8 solar eclipse. It was named the No. 1 resort in Ohio by U.S. News & World Report in May and it opened a new dermatology center in June.

From May through September, the Grand Resort is full on the weekends “and a lot of times during the week,” Case says. Occupancy is typically around 50% the rest of the year although the property had a good weekend in early November, he reports. 

The addition of the Roman bath “catapulted us into a year-round resort,” he reflects. “It’s been a big hit,” he says.

Pictured at top: Ron Klingle stands in front of the Roman bath at his company’s Grand Resort. The photo was taken in 2019.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.