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Lost hotel, Greektown, 1893 to 1934

Ste. Claire Hotel

Demolished in 1934

Hotel Ste. Claire, Detroit, Mich Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
Opened
1893
Style
Renaissance Revival
Torn down
1934

Designed by Donaldson & Meier and John Donaldson

The Ste. Claire Hotel stood in Greektown from 1893 until 1934. Here is what it was, who made it and where to find the spot today.

On the map

Then and now

What stands there now

Ste. Claire Hotel, [Ste. Claire Hotel, Detroit, Mich.]
The spot where Ste. Claire Hotel stood, from the street today
Then Today
Drag the line to see the spot then and today. Then Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress Today Photo: Street View, 2023

A surface parking lot

Detroit's Ste. Claire Hotel, designed by Donaldson & Meier and John Donaldson, stood on this spot for 41 years. It came down 92 years ago. Today the spot is a surface parking lot.

Walk the block on the map
  1. 1893 Opens Ste. Claire Hotel
  2. 1933 Closes Ste. Claire Hotel
  3. 1934 Comes down Ste. Claire Hotel
  4. 2026 Today Surface parking lot
How we know what stands there
  • OpenStreetMap surface parking lot at the map point
  • County parcel records PARKING LOT-PAVED

Checked October 25, 2026. We never guess: a site no source speaks for shows no answer.

What is there now

A surface parking lot

  • Today Source: OpenStreetMap and County parcel records
  • Ste. Claire Hotel came down Source: Historic Detroit
See then and now

We checked Wikidata, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Rebuild Detroit's landmark records and the county parcel records on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

The Ste. Claire Hotel went up in 1893, in Detroit's Gilded Age, when stove works, shipyards and railroads made the city's first fortunes.

Credit the design to John Donaldson and Donaldson & Meier, working in Renaissance Revival.

It is gone now, demolished in 1934, and the map pin below marks where it stood.

Timeline

  1. 1893 Built Designed by Donaldson & Meier and John Donaldson
  2. 1933 Closed
  3. 1934 Demolished
  4. 2026 Today 92 years since it came down

Where it is

305 Monroe St.

On this map

  1. Ste. Claire Hotel This place
  2. Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District 110 ft
  3. Hilsendegen Block 240 ft
  4. Comique Theatre 270 ft
  5. St. John’s German Evangelical Church 300 ft
  6. Cary Building 390 ft
  7. Breitmeyer-Tobin Building 420 ft
  8. Water Board Building 430 ft
  9. 1307 Broadway 430 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Donaldson & Meier
Photo: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Donaldson & Meier

American architectural firm, founded 1882. Designed the Penobscot Building (1928) and 58 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Donaldson & Meier

David Stott Building, by John Donaldson David Stott Building, by John Donaldson. Photo: Einar Einarsson Kvara aka Carptrash, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

John Donaldson

Architect. Designed the David Stott Building (1929) and 3 more in Metro Detroit

Also by John Donaldson

More from Detroit in the 1890s

Around the block

It is in Greektown. See the neighborhood's homes, pros and story.

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. Hotel Ste. Claire, Detroit, Mich Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  2. [Ste. Claire Hotel, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.