New windows and a dark brown roof and suddenly the old Holiday Inn is beginning to look like a building that might one day hang the sign “Courtyard by Marriott”.

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A check of the Decatur Hotel website reveals these renderings of the upcoming renovations for Decatur’s old Holiday Inn building.   As for timing, macrolina recently wrote in a comment…

…the reservationist told me they start renos the first week of Oct and will be closed through the beginning of 2012.

A few more photos after the jump!

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I’m retyping this whole freaking blurb because WordPress wrote over this post with a new one.  From the June Decatur Focus (which is not yet online)…

The sale of the Decatur Holiday Inn is currently scheduled to close at the end of May.  Originally the new owners planned to keep the Holiday Inn brand name in place while they worked on upgrading the facility. We recently learned, however, that they plan to drop the Holiday Inn brand immediately and operate as the Decatur Hotel and Conference Center during the renovation.

The new owner will upgrade hotel rooms floor by floor and renovate the conference center.  The facility will be shut down completely during renovations of the public spaces and will reopen as a Marriott Courtyard.

Based on the schedule we received, this closing should occur after the Decatur Book Festival in September and the grand opening will occur early in 2012.  The new owners are looking at what event reservations are on the books so that they can work around those schedules.

Decatur’s Linda Harris sends along this press release…

Noble acquires the former Holiday Inn Atlanta Decatur Hotel and Conference Center

184-room hotel to undergo a comprehensive redevelopment and be rebranded as a Courtyard by Marriott

ATLANTA, Ga.-May 24, 2011- Privately held Noble Investment Group (“Noble”), today announced the acquisition of the former Holiday Inn Decatur Hotel and Conference Center in the heart of downtown historic Decatur, Georgia. Located within close proximity to the 631-acre Emory University campus, Emory HealthCare, and the Center for Disease Control, the hotel boasts 184 rooms and suites as well as 15,000 square feet of meeting and event space in the adjoining Decatur Conference Center. Noble will immediately begin a comprehensive redevelopment plan and upon completion, will convert the property to the Courtyard by Marriott brand.

“We are excited to source this off-market opportunity in a high barrier to entry market with strong and diverse demand generators,” said Rodney Williams, Noble’s chief investment officer and a managing principal. ”Noble’s ability to physically enhance, reposition, and rebrand the asset, will enable us to maximize operating performance and add substantial value to this investment.”

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Though the city still can’t release the name the downtown hotel will eventually take, in our one hotel town, this is big news.

Here’s the city’s official line on the upcoming Clairemont Avenue Holiday Inn renovation…

The new hotel investor is committing to a capital investment of approximately $10M to be put towards the hotel and conference center that will cover every aspect of the overall property – every finish, every surface, every piece of furniture, etc., They plan an affiliation with a premium hotel brand but the official change will take place after the renovation is completed.