Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504030083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Over there is where the old liquor store used to be,'' he said. ``Beside it was an advertising company.''
Now Wells Avenue is lined by a sculpted bank of earth, meticulously landscaped. The hotel, freshly scrubbed from months of renovation, is alluring not only because of its face lift, but for the memories it holds.
``It's beautiful,'' Reeves said.
On Saturday, as thousands of Roanoke Valley residents streamed through the hotel on tours, Reeves talked about the more than 100 social events he has attended there over the years. He said the renovation will give the hotel a whole new beginning.
``It will surpass what it was,'' he said. Comparing it with other luxury hotels, ``It looks better than the Greenbrier.''
While Reeves' wife, Virginia, wasn't willing to make those kinds of comparisons, she was certain the hotel will be a success.
``They used to call the old Hotel Roanoke the Grand Dame,'' she said. ``This is just a grand hotel.''
Tyler Teass, 9, took a more basic view of the hotel, where he ate his first Thanksgiving dinner while still in a high chair.
``I like the rooms,'' he said. ``I like the Regency Room where you eat.''
His mother, Susan, recalled her three-week stay several years ago, when she served as a chaperone for the Miss Virginia pageant. On Saturday, she smiled as she remembered the hotel as an old friend.
``It looks wonderful,'' she said. ``It's just like Disney World.''
Workers at the hotel were not having such lavish ideas. Some were assembling vacuum cleaners on the fly, so they could help clear away dust before the official opening Monday.
``We have just about every manager with a vacuum,'' said Carl Smith, director of rooms.
Saturday, tour groups came every 10 minutes on buses that carried 60 people at a time. The city spared no expense, even providing a state-of-the-art porta-john - complete with running water, perfume dispensers and fresh-cut flowers - at the bus stop.
The visitors, who needed a ticket to get in, were given a whirlwind tour provided by volunteers. As they walked through the ballrooms and hallways, the tour guides' voices were often drowned out by the clicking of pneumatic staplers and the scream of table saws making last-minute cuts on molding.
When the tour concluded, they were sent on their way with Doubletree Hotel cookies and a dose of soda. The city expected to entertain 5,040 people in such a fashion by the end of the day today.
While some visitors were happy to see some of the hotel's heritage preserved, others were disappointed by the things they didn't see.
Mike Mason, a former hotel bell captain, missed a ``beautiful $50,000 rug'' that had been replaced by carpet.
``It's duller,'' he said. ``It's not as bright.''
Dick Richard, 74, fought against the crippling effects of a stroke as he revisited ballrooms where he had danced nimbly more than 30 years ago.
``The dance floor looked smaller than I remember,'' he said.
Memo: NOTE: Above