A year ago, Don Day bought the old building at 107 North Kentucky that once housed an antique store and tearoom. Wednesday night, he celebrated the opening of his Grand Hotel, a 14-room inn sitting atop Rick’s Chophouse, a restaurant that Day opened in May.
“When I had the opportunity to buy this building, I knew I wanted to put in something to draw people to downtown. A nice restaurant is one of the best things for our downtown and this hotel seemed a natural [companion] for the restaurant,” property developer Day said.
Day opened Rick’s Chophouse in May with a bustling party featuring food, wine, live music and dancing in the Grand Ballroom upstairs. More than 200 guests gathered in that same ballroom Wednesday night, sipping on wine and nibbling cheese and crackers before touring the new hotel’s 14 rooms.
The rich mahogany and black-finished furnishings and plush Earth-toned fabrics provide the rooms with an elegant yet homey atmosphere. Ceiling fans hang from white enameled tin ceilings in every room. All the furnishings, done by Arabella’s on the downtown square, complement in tone and texture the décor of the restaurant downstairs.

“Can you believe this is McKinney, Texas?” one visitor said, walking into the roomy VIP suite.
Similar sentiments were on the lips of many guests as they toured the rooms, stopping back by the ballroom to congratulate Day. Greeting guests to the party, Day said he felt incredibly lucky to have such a talented staff for both the restaurant and hotel.

“Everything just fell into place beautifully,” Day said. “Our staff and managers are first class folks who I know will make this one of the finest restaurants and hotels in the Dallas area.”
The $1.4 million renovation project involved keeping as much of the original late 19th-Century structure as possible. Limestone and brick walls are visible throughout the restaurant and bar as well as in a few of the rooms.
“We kept as much of it as we could, but that was difficult up here. This building burned in 1923 and the upstairs had never been repaired. It was just junk storage all these years,” Day said.
Hotel manager Jose Ruiz has watched the development of the hotel over the past year.
“It was so great to watch it come together. It’s very exciting,” Ruiz said.A San Antonio native, Ruiz left Texas for Miami where he met his wife, then moved to New York City where he worked at the world-renowned Plaza Hotel. After seven years in the Big Apple, Ruiz was ready to move back to Texas.“New York is just too hectic. I was looking for this kind of lifestyle again,” Ruiz said. “We love it here.”Ruiz said guests will soon fill the rooms.“We have had such great response to the hotel. We have almost 400 reservations so far,” Ruiz said.
The Grand Hotel rooms rent at nightly rates lower than many hotels, starting at $139 for a windowless room, $149 for a window or skylight room or $249 for the luxurious VIP suite. Two sets of adjoining rooms are available for families who need to have more than one bed and bathroom, or just want a cozier family setting.
Reservations and more information on the hotel will be available online soon, Ruiz explained, as the hotel Web site should be up within the next two weeks.According to Day, one more business, a retail bakery, will soon take up residence in the building housing Rick’s, the Grand Hotel, and his daughter’s shop, Reigning Cats and Dogs.