GRAND RAPIDS, MI — When real estate broker Bradley Veneklase travels with friends and family, he often turns to Airbnb, the digital home sharing company, to book his lodging.

He likes the unique experience of staying in a local resident’s home or apartment as opposed to a 100-room hotel. Now, Veneklase hopes to combine that experience with a new hotel he’s tentatively planning to open in late summer in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Finnley, 65 Monroe Center St. NE, will have just five rooms.

But what the hotel lacks in size it makes up for in quality, Veneklase said.

“With only five units I have the ability to have nicer furnishings and finishes then someone building a 100-room hotel could,” he said. “Because it’s affordable to do with five units. It’s not affordable to do with 100 units.”

The hotel is being built on the ground floor of 65 Monroe Center. The building formerly housed commercial space on the first floor, and the second floor contains six condominiums, Veneklase said.

The project’s price tag is estimated at roughly $750,000.

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority voted to provide Veneklase $25,000 to help pay for exterior lighting improvements, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance efforts and a mural planned for the building’s west-facing wall.

Veneklase said nightly room prices have not been finalized but are expected to be competitive with other downtown hotels.

The Finnley will be Veneklase’s first foray into the hotel business. The East Grand Rapids resident is a real estate broker who primarily focuses on condominium sales in downtown Grand Rapids.

The new establishment will be operated more like an Airbnb than a traditional hotel. It won’t have a lobby, front desk attendant or a concierge. Instead, patrons who book reservations will receive a code that provides access to the hotel and their rooms. There will, however, be staff on site everyday who will cleaning rooms and changing bedding.

“Madcap’s across the street, restaurants are next door,” he said. “The city is their lobby.”

Veneklase said he expects the hotel to be a popular choice with travelers once it opens.

“I expect it to be very full in the 80 to 85 percent occupancy range simply because we don’t have anything like it,” he said.

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