Ford Motor Co. transformed a historic inn into a swanky airport hotel

Most people know Henry Ford as the founder of the Ford Motor Co. and creator of the trailblazing Ford Model T. But fewer are likely to be familiar with his side occupation as a hotelier.

In 1931, Ford Motor Co.’s headquarters in Detroit was connected to other major cities by the now-defunct Ford Airport, an airline service for which Ford himself provided the necessary land and main investment. Ford realized that many of the travelers and business partners who flew in to the Dearborn airport would want somewhere convenient to stay after their long journeys. The thought led Ford to build one of the country’s first airport hotels.

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

Today, the historic Georgian-style hotel, called the Dearborn Inn, is reopening its doors after undergoing a two-year-long renovation and restoration process. Its reopening returns the site to its roots as a hotel for Ford executives who these days travel from nearby Detroit Metro Airport. It also points to Ford Motor Co.’s larger strategy to attract business to its recently revitalized Michigan campus, giving the company more ownership over a traveler’s entire experience.

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

Part of the automaker’s widespread revitalization plan

Over the past several years, Ford Motor Co. has invested more than $1 billion in restoration projects in Detroit, including transforming the Michigan Central Station, a long-abandoned train hub, into a kind of Silicon Valley-esque innovation center. Now it’s working to revitalize some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods—as well as early relics of its own history, like the Dearborn Inn.

The company plans to add another hotel at the top of the Michigan Central Station, signaling that Ford hopes to turn its Detroit-area campus into a kind of destination for business leaders that, rather than serving as a simple stopover, can act as an experience in itself.

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

Like Michigan Central, Dearborn Inn focuses on restoration

The Dearborn Inn’s renovations, which began back in February 2023, were overseen by the Ford family and carried out by a team of partners including AvroKO, Dash Design, and Kraemer Design Group, along with restoration architect Quinn Evans. The refreshed 135-room hotel, managed by Marriott International since 1989, is joining Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection of premium, independent hotels. Prices start at $350 a night and go up from there. The property has 19 suites and a grand Presidential Suite (which includes a living room, kitchenette, and dining area).

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

While the hotel’s interiors have been updated with new fixtures, the project truly shines in its effort to restore many original features—details that were once enjoyed by guests such as Walt Disney, Orville Wright, Norman Rockwell, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.

Interiors nod to local design history

Thoughtful vintage touches mingle with modern, locally made designs, lending the whole space a fresh-yet-elegant ambience. The lobby’s Italian marble checkerboard flooring is a feature Ford selected personally.

Also in the lobby is an original green marble fireplace, an antique clock fixture, and several vintage bar carts. Among the most intriguing additions is a photo booth, designed to look like the Ford Tri-Motor airplane (first manufactured in 1925), which produces vintage-style passport photos as a keepsake for guests. 

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

Other reminders of the hotel’s history, like a scrapbook of letters from former guests and examples of early menus, are sprinkled throughout the common areas. Even the carpets lining the halls echo local history, pulling inspiration from tapestries created by artist Loja Saarinen, who founded a renowned weaving department at Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art in the late 1920s.

Another subtle nod to the art academy appears in the bedrooms, in the form of furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames. The Eameses first met at Cranbrook in 1940 before becoming one of the most recognizable forces in the furniture world. At the Inn, every guest room includes its own Eames Molded Plastic Chair.

“From the moment guests step through our doors, we want them to feel inspired by the history that surrounds them and by the trailblazers who once walked these halls,” general manager Joleisha Bradley said in a press release. “The hotel is both a welcoming retreat and living museum, with historic artifacts woven throughout the property.”

[Photo: Isaac Maiselman Photography]

Plans to expand

The hotel’s vintage features are complemented by more contemporary touches, like bespoke furniture from local artisans, an assortment of new lighting fixtures, and bathroom tiles made with Ford Motor Co.’s signature Pantone blue color code. A new restaurant called Clara’s Table (honoring Ford’s wife, Clara, who often hosted guests at the inn) and cocktail bar Four Vagabonds will complete the modern-day guest experience.

According to the press release, the hotel’s restoration is only the first phase of the Dearborn Inn’s new lease on life. Later this year, Marriott plans to unveil five colonial-style homes on the property, “including suites inspired by the homes of literary icons such as Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman.” 

For now, guests who book a room at the Dearborn Inn will be welcomed with an experience designed to feel like an icon of Ford’s era could be staying just down the hall. 

---

View the full article