The Hotel at Oberlin opened in Oberlin, Ohio as the first property in the U.S. to incorporate solar, geothermal and radiant heating and cooling. Owned by Oberlin College, the 70-room boutique property is among the LEED Platinum hotels and is the only one owned by a college. The official grand opening is scheduled for this September.
The Hotel at Oberlin was developed by SMART Hotels and is managed by The Olympia Companies. The property was designed by Chicago-based architectural firm SCB (Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz).
The hotel’s design incorporates elements from rural Ohio. Wood from a dismantled 19th century farmhouse was integrated into the hotel’s interior by local Mennonite carpenters, while some of the hotel’s wooden furniture were handcrafted locally by Amish carpenters.
A permanent three-part sculptural installation by Ohio-born artist Maya Lin (Vietnam Veterans Memorial) will be erected in the lobby and exterior in 2017. The installation will be inspired by the local climate and landscape, the final part of Lin’s "Ohio Trilogy".
The property – one of only five hotels in the U.S. to qualify for the LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council – anchors the Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center, the cornerstone of Oberlin’s Green Arts District, a development conceived by the city and college to transform Oberlin.
Executive chef Jim Barnhart oversees the hotel’s 1833 restaurant.
The hotel also has a 6,500 square foot meeting and function space.
Oberlin is located 35 miles from Cleveland.