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Renovation wrapping up at Executive West hotel
John R. Karman III
Business First Staff Writer

Work is wrapping up on the $13 million overhaul of the Executive West hotel, and now the property’s owner is turning its attention back to the massive renovation project under way at the Galt House Hotel & Suites.

All 611 guest rooms have been upgraded at the 31-year-old Executive West, according to Mary Moseley, president of Al J. Schneider Co., the holding company for properties owned by Moseley and other heirs of the late developer. The hotel is located on Phillips Lane, near the Kentucky Expo­sition Center and Louisville International Air­port.

The hotel lobby and some hallways have been updated, Moseley said. A fitness center, wireless Internet access and new roofing have been added.

The remaining work includes landscaping, making improvements to common areas and completing the upgrade of the hotel’s main ballroom, the Mary Queen of Scots room.
Search continues for national restaurant

Hotel officials also continue to look for a new national restaurant operator to replace the Executive West’s existing dining facility, The Golden Targe Tea Room.

Moseley said that although the existing restaurant remains popular, the plan is to replace it with a chain that will make conventioneers feel more comfortable and attract customers who aren’t necessarily hotel guests.

“The demographics are not there to support some of the ones that we’ve talked to,” Moseley said. “We’re still in search of one that’s going to fit the area.”

Moseley, who is Schneider’s daughter, said the Executive West project is being done in phases, and an exact completion date has not been set.

Later, as more money becomes available, Schneider Co. plans to tackle an overhaul of its third hotel property, the 472-room Executive Inn, which is a neighbor to the Executive West.

Work on the hotel projects has taken longer than expected, Moseley said, because more repairs have been required than initially anticipated.

Galt House renovations to finish this year

The west tower of the Galt House is slated to be finished late this year — about a year later than originally planned. Making sure that everything is done right is the priority, Moseley explained.

“Things always take longer than you think they’re going to,” she said. “With old properties, there’s always something that you didn’t expect. It takes a little bit longer to correct.”

The 1,300-room Galt House, with towers on each side of Fourth Street, is in the midst of a $60 million renovation.

That project includes a complete overhaul of all guest rooms and suites, upgrades of restaurants and lounge facilities, refurbishing meeting and conference rooms, the addition of a fitness center and the creation of a rooftop garden on the east tower.

A $4 million steel-and-glass conservatory, housing a cafe, cocktail lounge, aviary and greenhouse, also has been built to link the hotel’s two towers. The west tower opened in 1972, the east tower in 1985.

The rooms in the east tower of the 25-story Galt House have been completed, as have the top three floors of the west tower, Moseley said.

In addition, the hotel’s River Grill, located on the second floor of the west tower, has been gutted and will be replaced by a new dining concept called Magnolia’s.

Magnolia’s will have a new Southern decor and updated menu and will offer a daily buffet, Moseley said. “It’s going to be pretty slick.”