The Hotel at Kirkwood Center

What The Hotel at Kirkwood Center does

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center is a single-property AAA Four Diamond luxury hotel located at 7725 Kirkwood Boulevard SW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, positioned in the Iowa City–Cedar Rapids Corridor approximately one mile from Kirkwood Community College and within ten minutes of Eastern Iowa Airport. The property operates under the corporate umbrella of Kirkwood Community College and integrates hospitality operations with the college's Hospitality Arts academic programs, most visibly through The Class Act Restaurant, which serves as a live teaching environment for the Kirkwood Culinary Arts curriculum.

The hotel's commercial offering spans four integrated verticals: accommodations (rooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows, marble bathrooms, Google Chromecast-enabled 50-inch flat-screen TVs, and complimentary internet); food and beverage (The Class Act Restaurant, Maikka Lobby Bar, Patio Dining, In-Room Dining, and the seasonal World Culinary Tour ticketed event series); meetings and events (19,000 square feet of function space, with a $750 ballroom rental paired with a $10,500 minimum food-and-beverage spend); and weddings (full-service ceremony, reception, catering, cake, and coordination services). Wedding ballroom pricing is structured as a one-time venue fee plus minimum F&B, with catering sales managers (Mary Van Houten, Melissa Gritton, Ande Long) handling client acquisition. Guest amenities include complimentary bikes, a downtown shuttle, and shuttle service to local sports and entertainment venues.

The business operates a hybrid direct-to-consumer and sales-led go-to-market: direct online booking via the Synxis property management platform, phone reservations, and walk-ins drive transient demand, while the catering sales team actively pursues wedding and corporate event business. Distribution is supplemented through Preferred Hotels & Resorts (global luxury brand affiliation with I Prefer loyalty access), The Knot wedding marketplace, and TripAdvisor/Yelp for reputation-based conversion. Revenue streams are diversified across room bookings (subscription-style recurring occupancy), transactional F&B (restaurant, bar, room service, World Culinary Tour, take-home family dinners at $25 per meal serving four), and one-time event/wedding fees. The company is privately held, not publicly traded, and discloses no financial figures.

Name

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center

Legal name

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center

Website

https://thehotelatkirkwood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center is a privately held, AAA Four Diamond single-property luxury hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, operated in affiliation with Kirkwood Community College, serving leisure and corporate travelers, wedding parties, and event clients with integrated accommodations, fine dining, and 19,000 square feet of meeting space.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Services

NAICS

Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels (72111), Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Hotels & Motels (7011), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Conference Center Hotels (THAGALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hotel & Resort Convention Venues (Convention Hotels) (THAHAAAC), Hotel & Resort Restaurants (THAFACAH)

Keywords

• Luxury hotel accommodations
• Wedding event venue
• Fine dining restaurant
• Conference meeting space
• Hospitality services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cedar Rapids

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Guest Room Bookings: The primary revenue stream from hotel room rentals featuring various room categories with amenities including floor-to-ceiling windows, complimentary internet, 50-inch flat-screen TVs with Google Chromecast, marble bathrooms with plush robes.
2. The Class Act Restaurant Dining: Fine dining restaurant serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Provides real-time teaching environment for Kirkwood's Culinary Arts program.
3. Maikka Lobby Bar: Spacious lobby bar with handcrafted cocktails, happy hour specials (2-for-1 drinks), and Sunday wine discounts
4. Room Service: In-room dining delivered from The Class Act Restaurant seven days a week
5. World Culinary Tour: Special ticketed dining events featuring international cuisines at $47 per person, April through December
6. Meetings & Events: 19,000 square feet of meeting and event space hosting corporate events, weddings, and social functions. Ballroom rental at $750 with $10,500 food and beverage minimum.
7. Wedding Services: Complete wedding planning including venue, catering, wedding cakes, and event coordination. Deposit required at signing with progressive payment schedule.
8. Take Home Family Dinners: $25 take-home family meals serving four people, ordered via phone

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center operates a single AAA Four Diamond hotel property in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, offering luxury guest room bookings across multiple room categories, on-site fine dining at The Class Act Restaurant, drinks at Maikka Lobby Bar, patio and in-room dining, 19,000 square feet of meeting and event space, full-service wedding venue and planning, and a seasonal World Culinary Tour ticketed dining series. The restaurant and bar operations also serve as a real-time teaching environment for Kirkwood Community College's Culinary Arts program.

Product overview

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center is a single-property AAA Four Diamond hotel offering integrated hospitality services. The property combines accommodations with multiple dining venues (The Class Act Restaurant, Maikka Lobby Bar, Patio Dining, In-Room Dining), event spaces (19,000 sq ft of meeting facilities), and comprehensive wedding services. The hotel also features the World Culinary Tour, a seasonal culinary event series. All dining operations support Kirkwood Community College's Culinary Arts program as a teaching environment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Class Act Restaurant: The hotel's signature fine dining restaurant offering contemporary cuisine, located within The Hotel at Kirkwood Center.
• Maikka Lobby Bar

Products and services

• Guest Room Accommodations Luxury hotel rooms and suites at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center offering floor-to-ceiling windows, complimentary internet, 50-inch flat-screen TVs with Google Chromecast, and marble bathrooms with plush robes. Targeted at leisure travelers, business guests, sports and entertainment visitors, and healthcare and university visitors seeking AAA Four Diamond accommodations in the Cedar Rapids area.
• The Class Act Restaurant Fine dining restaurant located within the hotel offering contemporary cuisine for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Serves hotel guests, local diners, and special-event attendees, and also functions as a teaching kitchen for Kirkwood Community College's Culinary Arts students.
• Maikka Lobby Bar Modern hotel lobby bar serving handcrafted cocktails with happy hour specials (2-for-1 drinks Monday through Friday 4-6pm), Sunday wine discounts, and adjacent outdoor patio dining access. Serves hotel guests and local patrons seeking a casual upscale drink experience.
• In-Room Dining Room service offered seven days a week sourced from The Class Act Restaurant, allowing hotel guests to dine in their accommodations. Targeted at hotel guests seeking convenience and premium in-room dining.
• Patio Dining Outdoor garden patio dining available daily serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with happy hour offerings (2-for-1 drinks 4-6pm Monday-Friday). Targeted at hotel guests and local diners seeking outdoor dining.
• World Culinary Tour Monthly ticketed dining event series held April through December at The Class Act Restaurant featuring multicourse international cuisine paired with regional themes, created by the hotel's chefs in collaboration with Kirkwood's Culinary Arts students. Targeted at hotel guests and local food enthusiasts seeking distinctive international culinary experiences at $47 per person.
• Meetings & Event Spaces Rental of 19,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space for corporate meetings, conferences, training sessions, weddings, and social functions. Targeted at corporate meeting planners, wedding parties, and social event hosts in the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids region, with ballroom rental quoted at $750 alongside a $10,500 minimum food and beverage spend.
• Wedding Services Comprehensive wedding venue and planning offering ceremony and reception spaces, menu tasting, wedding cakes, décor planning, and event coordination, supported by three dedicated Catering Sales Managers (Mary Van Houten, Melissa Gritton, Ande Long). Targeted at couples and families hosting weddings and wedding-related social events such as rehearsal dinners, bridal showers, and gift opening brunches, with deposits collected at contract signing and a progressive payment schedule.
• Take-Home Family Dinners Pre-prepared family-style meals priced at $25 each and serving four people, ordered by phone for take-home pickup, with optional add-on sides and individual portions. Targeted at local families and hotel guests seeking convenient prepared meals.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Preferred Hotels & ResortscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe Hotel at Kirkwood Center is affiliated with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, a global portfolio of independent luxury hotels. This partnership provides distribution, marketing support, and loyalty program (I Prefer) integration.
• International Association of Conference Centres (IACC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIACC membership provides professional credibility for meeting and conference operations, access to industry best practices, and networking within the conference venue industry.
• Kirkwood Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe hotel is located one mile from Kirkwood Community College campus. The Class Act Restaurant serves as a teaching environment for Kirkwood's Culinary Arts program, creating a unique partnership that provides students with real-world experience while bringing fresh culinary perspectives to the hotel.
• Local Bike Rental CompanyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with a local bike rental company offering well-maintained, high-quality bike rentals for guests exploring the Cedar Valley Trail and surrounding area.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Preferred Hotels & Resorts: The global collection and distribution brand of which the hotel is an affiliate member. Provides the I Prefer loyalty program and marketing infrastructure referenced in the company's distribution channels, and is the umbrella against which member performance is benchmarked.

Direct peers

• Hotel Millwright: A boutique hotel in Amana, Iowa, explicitly named as a prior employer of the hotel's executive chef. Comparable as a regional Iowa independent boutique property competing for similar leisure, dining, and wedding demand in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor.
• 21c Museum Hotels: An art-centric boutique hotel brand featuring rotating contemporary art collections throughout guest rooms and public spaces. Directly comparable on the 100+ piece local/artisan art collection differentiator that distinguishes the hotel from standard independent properties.
• Graduate Hotels: A collection of university-affiliated boutique hotels in college towns. Closely comparable because both are independently operated hotels tied to a parent academic institution, serving university visitors, sports/event attendees, and graduation traffic with a distinctive local identity.
• Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center: An Iowa City-area conference hotel with substantial meeting/event space. Directly comparable because it competes for the same University of Iowa, UIHC, and corridor corporate event business that anchors a large share of the hotel's meeting and wedding revenue.
• Hilton Garden Inn Iowa City: Cited as a prior employer of the hotel's executive chef and a direct competitor in the Iowa City submarket. Comparable as a branded full-service hotel pursuing University of Iowa visitors, healthcare travelers to UIHC, and corporate demand.
• Marriott Cedar Rapids: A branded full-service hotel in the same Cedar Rapids primary market. Competes for the same corporate transient, group, and event business and represents the chain-affiliated benchmark against which the hotel's independent Preferred-affiliated positioning must differentiate.
• The Hotel at Auburn University: A college-owned, full-service hotel with meeting and event facilities serving a major university. Functionally analogous to The Hotel at Kirkwood Center: academic-institution parent, university-adjacent location, integrated dining, and event space serving alumni, sports, and academic visitors.
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cedar Rapids Convention Complex: Headline convention-focused competitor in the same Cedar Rapids market with comparable meeting/event space. Directly competes for the same corporate meetings, conferences, and wedding bookings the hotel targets with its 19,000 sq ft of event space.
• The Hotel at Oberlin: A college-affiliated boutique hotel adjacent to Oberlin College in Ohio. Comparable as an independent, college-owned property combining lodging, fine dining, and event space, with an emphasis on arts/community identity similar to the Kirkwood Center's 100+ piece art collection.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hotelatkirkwood
• Facebookfacebook.com/hotelatkirkwood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-hotel-at-kirkwood-center
• Instagraminstagram.com/thehotelatkirkwoodcenter
• Pinterestpinterest.com/hotelatkirkwood

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Hotel at Kirkwood Center