Concerns rise at the Parkview Hotel about its transition to a Hampton Inn

Arif Shamsi has seen some pretty gnarly things during his eight-hour shifts at the Parkview Hotel’s front desk.

On his first day, he heard a man weep on the phone hours after his wife’s death. He dealt with “poop and go” when he answered calls from guests about poop in their rooms. He’s seen a million dogs come in and out. Sometimes he pets them. Sometimes he’d prefer not to.

“You see a lot of things,” Shamsi said. “Some funny. Some not. Some good. Some bad.”

He’s in it for those moments, though. He works at the Parkview Hotel to talk to the people who walk through its doors, and he’s proud that the hotel is celebrating its 100th year. It’s why he began working there in 2025 while also juggling his political science studies at Le Moyne College.

Shamsi’s days look different now, and will until June. He will continue to make friends at the front desk, but he’ll also spend plenty of time in the hotel parking lot unloading chairs, couches, and desks into newly deployed dumpsters with his coworkers.

“It’s going to be something,” Shamsi said. “It’s going to be crazy.”

That’s the only way Shamsi could describe the renovations the hotel is undergoing. In June, it will officially transform into a Hampton Inn, a Hilton-owned brand. 

Shamsi’s concerned for his job. Paige Smith, the hotel’s general manager, is preparing for a new management system. Jasmine Pope, a front desk associate who’s worked there for just a month, said she’s astonished.

“A lot of this artwork and old-school stuff,” Pope said while pointing to a mirror from the hotel’s establishment in 1926, “it’ll be gone.”

Of the eight employees who work at the hotel, Smith has experience in the industry. She previously worked as a manager at a Hampton Inn but has only been at the Parkview Hotel for five months. Though Smith struggles to grasp that the hotel she’s grown to love will change, she knows it’s for the best. 

Shamsi said he’s ready for Hampton’s customary patterned wallpaper but will miss Parkview’s spindles that have been around for decades.

Windows are deteriorating, which has been a recurring issue with the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, according to Smith. The mirrors outlined with peeling gold paint will be removed. Pope’s beloved penny tile, which was popular in the early 1900s, will no longer line the bathroom floors.

“We’re gonna come into the new year with a new look, new face,” Smith said. “Still 100 years old. Just a better looking 100 years old.”

This isn’t the first drastic change at the hotel. When the building on East Genesee Street opened on May 1, 1927, it was called the “Medical Arts Building” and was managed by Louis Shopiro. It contained 50 suites for doctors and dentists, all built large enough to fit a stretcher. Those suites are now the hotel’s guest rooms.

In 1981, owner Norman Swanson renovated the building and renamed it the “Executive Quarters,” which was an apartment complex with three floors of apartments and a wing rented exclusively to Syracuse Stage to house up-and-coming actors.

Then, in 2011, Syracuse University leased the building and made it available as housing for SU students. Preference was given to drama and design majors. Study lounges and a fitness center were built to accommodate all of their needs.

Then, seven years later, the Parkview Hotel moved in. Its six floors full of history and originality may not be recognizable in four months.

“It’s gonna look so different,” Shamsi said. “Ninety percent of people who walk in here, they appreciate it. People want to keep the lights. They want to keep the mirrors.”

Shamsi believes people come to the hotel for that aspect. He worries they won’t do the same for the Hampton Inn. Recognized as the second-oldest hotel in Syracuse, it’s a valuable building, but employees are forced to look at it differently.

“I survived this week,” Smith said. “I didn’t get fired or anything.”

“I survived every minute of this year,” Shamsi chimed in.

Shamsi will keep showing up. He’ll answer calls. Pet the occasional dog. Watch as pieces of the hotel disappear into the parking lot dumpsters. For now, it’s still Parkview.