Nov. 4, 2008 - The Goodwin Hotel, downtown's only boutique hotel, is closing at the end of the year.

Citing "crippling operating losses and a sharp downturn in the hospitality industry," a spokesman for downtown's largest landowner, Northland Investment Corp., said that the current financial conditions necessitate closing the hotel.

"Continuing down this path would jeopardize Northland's commitment to Hartford's revitalization," said Northland spokesman Chuck Coursey.

The closing of the 124-room hotel at Asylum and Hayes streets will not impact the businesses in the Goodwin Square's office tower, and all deposits for hotel and function reservations for 2008 will be honored, Coursey said.

Developer Larry Gottesdiener's Northland Investment Corp. bought the hotel from the state's pension fund in the summer of 2005 for $41 million. After reaching a labor agreement in 2006, Gottesdiener announced improvements that would run $5 million to $10 million. Part of that upgrade has been completed.

In a statement, Coursey said Northland would offer to lease the hotel to UNITE HERE Local 217 and its employees for $1 a year to keep the hotel open. Absent such a lease, the hotel will close by the end of 2008, he said.

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