Hospitality: Wyndham Plans $4M Upgrade to Landmark Property
Plans are taking shape to rebrand and market the U.S. Grant Hotel under its new owner, Wyndham International, Inc.
Also in the works are $4 million worth of renovations to the landmark hotel property, which will be rechristened The U.S. Grant, a Wyndham Historic Hotel on Aug. 1.
Dallas-based Wyndham, which had been managing the U.S. Grant for the last three years, bought the 280-room hotel for an undisclosed amount. The deal closed June 1.
Wyndham would also not release specifics on the U.S. Grant’s occupancy in recent years. Darcie Brossart, Wyndham’s director of brand communications, would only say that hotels in the city’s market had been running at an average occupancy rate of 78 percent, and the U.S. Grant is “on par” with those figures.
The starting room rates for the hotel range from $189 to $229, depending on the time of year, Brossart said.
Wyndham has 242 hotels, through either the Wyndham brand and its management division, which oversees other properties, according to Brossart.
Four More Properties Locally
Wyndham has four other lodging properties in San Diego, including its flagship hotel in the city, the 436-room Wyndham San Diego at Emerald Plaza; the 245-room Hilton Del Mar; the 180-room Wyndham San Diego North in Sorrento Mesa; and the Golden Door Spa in Escondido.
The U.S. Grant is the 12th historical property to be brought into the Wyndham Historic Hotels division, which was created in 1998, Brossart said. The Grant was built in 1910.
Maintaining the Grant’s individuality and reputation while inserting the Wyndham brand requires a delicate balance, said Craig Cunningham, the hotel chain’s vice president of brand marketing.
“We talked to consumers that like to stay in these types of hotels, and what we really heard from them is that it’s really important to keep the image and the reputation of the hotel and what it stands for intact,” Cunningham said.
“It’s definitely beneficial to know that it’s part of a big brand like Wyndham,” he continued, “because that helps to make them feel like there are quality standards in place for the hotel and that kind of support but to still have the signal that we recognize that it’s a unique property.”
The change will involve a delicate balance , keeping the Grant’s name and logo intact while sub-branding the hotel with the Wyndham name, he said.
Name And Reputation
It’s important to keep the property’s reputation, but reassuring for customers to see an established brand attached, he said.
“We have found there is a group of people that really do look for this type of hotel and like to stay in hotels that are historic,” Cunningham said. “Primarily, what people are looking for is that these hotels are architecturally significant and important within the community.”
The hotel chain does not have much sales research involving demographics on the topic, he said. However, they talked to business travelers who stay in their hotels, and found the market likes the older and architecturally significant building.
The emphasis on business travelers in the historic hotels comes from the fact that the hotels tend to be located in central, downtown sites. The weekend leisure business is also strong, Cunningham said.
Although he didn’t have specific details for the company’s 12 historic hotels, 70 percent of business is corporate, and the remaining is leisure for the 160 hotels under the Wyndham brand, Cunningham said.
The U.S. Grant is among several hotels in San Diego that have historic appeal, noted Sal Giametta, vice president of community relations at the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Others include the Hotel del Coronado and the Glorietta Bay Inn in Coronado, Horton Grand and the Westgate Hotel in Downtown, and La Valencia and the Grande Colonial, both in La Jolla.
“Properties like that have a great deal of appeal, particularly to the discriminating traveler,” Giametta said. “There are people who appreciate the kind of charm that you find in that kind of property, and certainly the U.S. Grant, with respect to San Diego’s history, has a place in that.”
Cherished History
The Grant has long been an important component to the Downtown community and has a “long and cherished” history, Giametta said.
“This move by Wyndham actually is a signal that this company recognizes what’s happening Downtown overall,” he said, “and that the prospects for Downtown’s continued development and its continued prominence as a part of the tourism industry is something that’s going to benefit their company long-term and bottom line.”
Historic hotels are looked for in any major city, Giametta said.
“I think when you visit certain destinations, whether it’s ours or it’s San Francisco or Boston or many of the older cities where you’ll find the boutique-like hotels that have a historic element to it,” he said. “There’s a market for that .”
It’s often seen through ConVis’ dealings with potential visitors, he said.
“Sometimes people come and say, ‘You know, we’d love to stay at one of the bigger, more high-profile properties, but we’d like something with a European flair to it,’ and a lot of times, that’s when people look to properties like the Grant and the Westgate.”
