Atop Mt. Oread, at the end of Jayhawk Boulevard, stands a monumental project. It overlooks the Campanile, Memorial Stadium and downtown Lawrence. For now it is a construction site — one with multiple cranes and 100-120 construction workers at any given time during the day. But by the beginning of the spring semester, it will be a 13-story hotel and, combined with sister hotel The Eldridge, one of the 10 largest employers in Lawrence. Here’s a look at what students can expect to find on the inside when the hotel opens in January.

General Information

The Oread will rise to a height of more than 100 ft. It will have four floors underground and nine floors above ground.

The four underground floors will be called P1, P2, P3 and P4, in descending order, and will contain a nightclub, two restaurants, a spa, a theater, a fitness room and parking. The nine above-ground floors will contain a restaurant, a KU Bookstore, a fifth-floor terrace, rentable rooms, privately owned condominiums and a rooftop observation deck.

“The Cave”

The Cave will be a 600-capacity dance club on the lowest floor of the building, four stories underground. Inside the club, there will be a lowered dance floor, a DJ booth in the southwest corner, several bars and seating for about 150 people. The club will be open to the public and to hotel guests. The interior of the club will have granite bar tops and stained concrete floors.

The Cave will have a three-part security system to ensure that no underage students enter the club. The system includes electronically scanning IDs.

“Safety is our number one concern,” said Nancy Longhurst, general manager of The Eldridge and The Oread. “Safety, and fun.”

The entrance to “The Cave” will be a four-flight stairwell located behind the hotel that will lead down to the club entrance. The line to enter the club will extend up the stairwell and out to the north end of the building. There will also be a private club and a series of smaller bars that bring the total capacity of the club up to 600 people. A corridor will connect the private club directly to the rooms. Three smaller bars throughout the hotel will be used for special purposes, such as wine bars or martini nights.

Businesses

Along with parking garages, the first underground floor, P1, will be home to hotel-owned spa called Lemon Bliss, Jimmy John’s and a hotel-owned pizza restaurant called A Slice of History.

Lemon Bliss will offer massages, manicures, pedicures and tanning booths.

Longhurst said there were many advantages to the spa’s location. For example, women who come to Lawrence for weddings can get their nails done..

A Slice of History will have a salad bar and a pizza bar. Posted on the walls of the restaurant will be photos from University and neighborhood history, with captions explaining their significance.

“It’ll be things people know about and they’ll see them and wonder,” Longhurst said.

The restaurant will be open until midnight.

Each of these businesses will have entrances along Indiana Street.

Conference Rooms and Theater

The lower lobby will feature a 270-capacity conference room called the Griffith Room that will be used for conferences, receptions, dinners, and other events. The room gets its name from the Griffith House, the first building to stand on the Hotel’s property.

“We gave historical names that have to do with the Mt. Oread site and KU to rooms throughout the hotel,” Longhurst said.

Three smaller breakout rooms, one accommodating 40 people and two accommodating 60, will also have historical names.

Floor P1 will also contain a 40-50 capacity theater. The theater will have a bar near the entrance, plush seats and a large projection screen. Longhurst said the theater would be used for movie nights, PowerPoint presentations during conferences, sports watch parties and even as a location for sports teams to review plays.

This floor will also contain a small exercise room for guests, with 6-7 exercise machines.

The Lobby

A revolving door will open into the first floor lobby. The whole building is meant to have a very open feel, Longhurst said.

Arched doorway line the interior, and visitors will be able to see into every restaurant. A private dining room in the lobby will be enclosed with blue glass, to preserve the open feel of the architecture.

Immediately to the right upon entering the lobby will be a KU bookstore. To the left will be The Bird Dog Bar, open for lunch and dinner. The bar will serve typical bar food, such as sandwiches and fries, and seat about 80 people. It will also feature an outdoor terrace where the owners plan to install speakers for sports broadcasts, particularly helpful after football games.

“We hope this will become the after-game party site for fans, families, and students,” Longhurst said.

Just outside the bookstore will be a candy and snack shop. A Blue Bell ice cream parlor featuring 12 flavors will be located behind the Bird Dog Bar. A hostess near the check-in area will lead guests to a hotel-owned restaurant called 521 that will serve “good, hardy food,” Longhurst said.

Accomodations

The nine floors above ground will be devoted to accommodations. Floors 2 through 5 will contain 100 rentable guest rooms, and floors 6 through 8 will have privately-owned condos. Rates for the rentable rooms will range from $99 to $250 per night.

Rooms will range from queen doubles to king suites. The king suites will be located just above the revolving door entrance to the lobby, and will connect to two large windows overlooking Jayhawk Boulevard and the Campanile.

The four condos on floor 6 and three condos on floors 7 and 8 have already been sold to alumni, both from Kansas and around the world. These buyers each designed their own homes, and many will use them as a convenient location from which to attend sports games. Condo owners will have special key cards that allow them access to the floors they live on.

Fifth Floor Terrace and Observation Decks

On the fifth floor, an outdoor terrace overlooking the football stadium will be open to the public. The terrace will be equipped with a restaurant, bar and restrooms, as well as tents and heaters to protect guests during the rainy season.

There will be two observation decks: one atop the eighth floor, and a much smaller observation deck atop the ninth floor that will only be open by appointment only.

— —Edited by Sarah Kelly