Aimbridge Lands Both Cincinnati Mandates
Aimbridge Hospitality will manage The Westin Cincinnati and will operate the Cincinnati Downtown Marriott when it opens. The company announced both mandates on 5 October 2026.
The 456-key Westin joins the Aimbridge operating portfolio. The 700-key Marriott is under construction in the city's Convention District. The two hotels are large-scale, full-service assets of the kind Aimbridge says it is built to manage. The company's release calls Aimbridge the world's leading third-party hotel management company.
The Westin on Fountain Square
The Westin sits on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. Portman acquired the hotel in 2025. Portman calls the purchase its first hotel acquisition and the start of a value-add hospitality strategy. Renovation work on the property starts next year.
The Marriott Under Construction
Groundbreaking took place on 21 July 2026. The release gives the hotel 700 keys, 60,000 square feet of meeting space and a 17,000-square-foot events terrace. The project closed on $540 million in financing in June. Aimbridge holds an equity stake in the project alongside the management contract. The release gives no percentage, no contribution and no terms for that stake. The hotel will connect to the First Financial Center by skybridge when it opens.
One Owner, One Operator
Kaunteya Chitnis, Portman's managing director of hospitality, said the two hotels show both sides of the firm's strategy at work. He described Aimbridge as the single operator for both hotels, able to carry the Westin renovation, the Marriott opening and a coordinated approach to downtown convention and group business.
Chris Tatum, president of the full service division at Aimbridge, said the two assets demand different operating work at the same time. The release records no management fee, no contract term and no performance target for either property.
Portman lists approximately $1.5 billion of hospitality assets under management across eight hotels and more than 4,000 rooms in five U.S. markets. The firm states it has developed or owned more than 20 hotels totalling approximately 18,000 keys.
The Figures the Release Leaves Open
The Aimbridge release carries no opening date. 3CDC publishes a completion date of the second quarter of 2028 on its project page. Skanska, the contractor, says the hotel is scheduled for completion at the end of 2028. WCPO reported an expected opening in late 2028 or early 2029.
Project costs split three ways. 3CDC lists $536 million. Skanska puts its own construction contract at $325 million on a 660,000-square-foot building. The Aimbridge release carries the $540 million financing figure and the $828 million district total. That release names no architect and no general contractor. 3CDC and Skanska both name Cooper Carry as architect, with Moody Nolan as local architect.