21c Museum Hotels on Wednesday announced it is opening a new location in Cincinnati.  The former Metropole Hotel will be renovated for that purpose.

The Cincinnati location will also be an upscale hotel featuring contemporary art.  It will have 160 rooms, an art museum that will be free to the public, a Proof restaurant and bar, and meeting spaces.

Work on the restoration is set to begin next fall and cost $45 million.  It will be the first hotel in downtown Cincinnati to open in over twenty years.

"Based on our success in Louisville, we realized 21c can enliven the cultural and civic life in urban centers across the country," Steve Wilson, Founder and Chairman of 21c Museum Hotels, said in a release.  "We're very excited about the opportunity to bring a 21c Museum Hotel to Cincinnati."

Louisville's 21c Museum Hotel opened in 2006.  In the recent Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards, it was named the #1 hotel in the U.S. and #6 in the world.

21c Museum Hotel will be the first hotel to open in downtown Cincinnati in over 20 years.