MILWAUKEE– The Marcus Corp. is planning a series of major renovations and enhancements to two of downtown Milwaukees largest hotels. The company is in the final stages of planning the renovations to the 307-room Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., and is also planning millions of dollars in improvements to the 729-room Hilton Milwaukee City Center. In addition, the company is completing an extensive remodeling at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva. The cost of renovations will be similar to a major project the hotel undertook in 1992 and 1993, according to the company. At that time, Marcus remodeled guest rooms in its original building, including altering the size of many rooms. Formal renovation plans will be announced this summer. The project will be in addition to $1 million to $1.5 million in renovations the hotel announced in October 2004. Those plans included upgrading the 122 rooms in The Pfisters 111-year-old original building and renovations to seventh-floor conference and special event space and The Cafe at the Pfister restaurant. Marcus has been active in remodeling The Pfister throughout the past decade. It updated 176 rooms in the hotels 23-story tower portion in 2002 and 2003. In 2000, The Pfister upgraded The English Room restaurant in the hotels basement. It reopened as Celia in 2001. Also in 2000, the hotel expanded its fitness center and transformed its 23rd-floor dance club, La Playa, into Blu.
