SPRINGFIELD – The Tower Square Hotel, which used to be a Marriott Hotel, is now on the path to regain the affiliation with the hotel giant.

Peter Marks, general manager of the hotel, explained to Reminder Publishing the plan to fulfill all of Marriott’s standards sometime next year.

This year’s plans are built upon much “back of the house” infrastructure work that were undertaken by Dinesh Patel and Vid Mitta, the new hotel ownership, last year, Marks said.

One of the new features will be the renovation of the hotel’s outdoor area adjacent to the sixth floor. Marks said that before the purchase of Tower Square was made, the ownership of the garden area was jointly owned between the hotel and the office tower.

With one owner, the plans are to make it a new outdoor wedding venue, he said.

One of the first steps to regain the Marriott name is to build two sample rooms for Marriott to approve, Marks said. Marriott officials will first approve of the designs on paper and then visit the hotel to see the rooms in person, he added.

The price of the conversion to the Marriott name will be in the “tens of million of dollars,” Marks said. The cost is uncertain until Marriott approves all of the improvements and construction costs can be determined.

He added it was always the plan of the hotels to bring back the Marriott brand.

He did admit that business could be “challenging” without a major hotel brand affiliation and that MGM Springfield has helped the hotel with weekend room rentals.

What the hotel does have, Marks said, are loyal customers who appreciate the fact that many of its employees have been there for many years