Maryland
Choice Hotels International entered into an agreement with Sandalwood Management and KPG Hotels to develop a 144-room Cambria hotel in Baltimore. The project will be Choice’s first upscale Cambria-branded property. The hotel, which is scheduled to open by the end of next year, is located in American Building, which is noted for being the first office building built after the Great Baltimore Fire of 1905. The property will include flexible meeting spaces, a fitness center and on-site dining.
Massachusetts
Hilton Boston/Woburn completed a comprehensive, $16 million renovation that revitalized the property’s lobby, guest rooms and event and meeting spaces, which pay homage to the 17th century, when cobblers and cordwainers dominated the local economy, up to its mid-1800s leather-making industry. The design of the hotel’s 344 guest rooms showcases Boston’s industrial heritage, with elements that hearken back to its cobbler shops and tanneries, but with modern touches such as the use of forged metals, lacquered hard goods, embossed leather headboards and 3D wire art. Guest rooms feature Serenity Beds with Serta Perfect Sleeper Suite Dreams mattresses. The property offers 18,000 square feet of meeting space.
New York
Upstate New York’s historic Hotel Saranac reopened following a four-year, $30 million restoration. The sole survivor of 13 properties that once surrounded Saranac Lake in the 1920s, the renovation of the Adirondacks property included its ballroom, public spaces and landmark exterior. Amenity upgrades include the infusion of indigenous ingredients such as pine, birch and maple into treatments at its Ampersand Salon and Spa. Restaurant upgrades include an “Adirondacks-to-table” locavore menu at its Campfire Adirondack. Hotel Saranac offers 102 redesigned guest rooms and suites with plans to add 20 more suites in the adjacent Compass Point complex scheduled to open in early 2018. Meeting space includes The Grand Ballroom, accommodating from 50 to 150 guests; The Ember Room and Oak Room, for smaller corporate and social events; and Holt’s Hold, for board meetings and breakout sessions.
JW Marriott Essex House New York wrapped a $38 million renovation of its 426 guest rooms, 101 suites and corridors. The renovation provides a nod to the property’s 1930s Art Deco heritage but features modern twists, with a guest room style evocative of a French pied-a-Terre, according to the hotel. The 527-room property located on Central Park South in Manhattan has an Executive Lounge, 24-hour fitness center and Southgate, an American-style restaurant and bar. It features 16 meeting rooms and executive boardrooms, a Beaux Arts-inspired Grand Salon (at 3,800 square feet) and an intimate Art Deco Suite for up to 125.
Rhode Island
AJ Capital Partners acquired the Providence Biltmore Hotel, which will undergo a comprehensive renovation and rebrand to the Graduate Providence by spring 2019. The 294-room hotel is located in the center of downtown Providence near five universities, Brown University, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island College, Providence College and Rhode Island School of Design, and within walking distance to the more than 140,000-square-foot Rhode Island Convention Center. According to AJ Capital Partners, the renovation will transform all of the property’s guest rooms, common areas, 18,500 square feet of meeting space and spa.