On June 12, the Wyndham hotel at 70 State St. was temporarily shut down by the city of Rochester after management failed to address nearly two dozen critical fire and building code violations, the city said.
The property has only been a Wyndham since January 2025. Before that, it was a Holiday Inn. But those are just two of its many incarnations.
The hotel was built in the late 1960s to revitalize the Genesee Crossroads district and address a shortage of accommodations downtown, according to a 2013 Democrat and Chronicle story by Emily Morry.
Owned by American Airlines, it was known as the Grenadier until two months before its May 8, 1969, grand opening, when it became the Flagship-Rochester. The new name was an apparent reference to American Airlines’ pre-jet Flagship fleet of planes.
Six years later, it was rechristened the Americana-Rochester, and that’s where things get interesting.
On March 21, 1976, David Bowie, accompanied by fellow musician Iggy Pop, was busted in a suite there on marijuana charges following a concert at the Community War Memorial, now Blue Cross Arena.
Bowie was arraigned in City Court March 25 and posed for what has become one of the best-known mugshots in history. The charges were later dropped, and he never played in Rochester again.
He wasn’t the only rock star to bunk at the Americana. Because it was just down the street from the arena, many ’70s-era touring acts, including Tom Jones and Billy Joel, stayed there.
The hotel also hosted some big music events, Morry wrote.
Chuck Mangione held a benefit concert in the ballroom to raise money for the victims of a devastating earthquake that struck Irpinia, Italy, in November 1980. The all-star show featured trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Chick Corea and drummer Steve Gadd. A portion of the performance was featured on Mangione’s 1981 album, “Tarantella.”
The Americana-Rochester closed in 1982, reopened a year later under new ownership and underwent several name changes before becoming the Rochester Plaza Hotel in 2008.
For a period of years starting in the early 2000s, it was a Rochester International Jazz Festival venue, hosting after-hours jam sessions with such greats as George Benson and Wynton Marsalis.
The hotel became a Holiday Inn in 2015.
Between 2023 and 2024, it housed asylum-seeking migrants who arrived here by bus from New York City.
Wyndham owner Nayan Patel told Democrat and Chronicle reporter Kayla Canne the hotel management company he hired to run the property while he was on medical leave failed to make the repairs.
Patel is now in town overseeing the work, and the management team was let go over the weekend, he said.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood primarily covers the grocery business and consumer-focused grocery news, as well as retail development, openings and closings. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester hotel with ‘rock star’ history shut down
Reporting by Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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By Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
