Downtown Crowne Plaza becoming Doubletree

[Riverrat]

Source:
http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/sotherly-hotels-inc-announces-doubletree-by-hiltonr-flag-for-jacksonville-hotel-20140828-00666

SoTHERLY Hotels Inc. Announces DoubleTree by Hilton(R) Flag for Jacksonville Hotel
By GlobeNewswire,  August 28, 2014, 01:57:00 PM EDT
Vote up AAA



WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Aug. 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SoTHERLY Hotels Inc.(Nasdaq:SOHO)(the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a 10-year franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide to rebrand its Jacksonville, Florida hotel as the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront. The Company currently operates the hotel under IHG's Crowne Plaza brand.

The conversion is scheduled to take place on September 1, 2015, subject to the completion of certain product improvement requirements. The hotel is currently undergoing an extensive $5.0 million renovation which commenced in early 2014 and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter 2015.

The 292-room hotel sits on the south bank of the St. Johns River, amidst downtown Jacksonville'sSan Marco Historic District. The property features 12,000 square feet of meeting space, a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and outdoor pool overlooking the city's Riverwalk.

Drew Sims, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We are pleased to again partner with Hilton Worldwide in converting our Jacksonville asset to its DoubleTree by Hilton brand. We believe that the brand change, coupled with a freshly renovated product offering, will help drive both top line revenue and bottom line profits for our shareholders."

AboutSoTHERLY Hotels Inc.

SoTHERLY Hotels Inc. is a self-managed and self-administered lodging REIT focused on the acquisition, renovation, upbranding and repositioning of upscale and upper upscale full-service hotels in the Southern United States. Currently, the Company's portfolio consists of investments in twelve hotel properties, eleven of which are wholly-owned and comprise 2,698 rooms. The Company also has a 25.0 percent interest in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort. Most of the Company's properties operate under the Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group and Starwood Hotels and Resorts brands. SoTHERLY Hotels Inc. was organized in 2004 and is headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.sotherlyhotels.com.

CONTACT: Scott KucinskiSoTHERLY Hotels Inc.410 West Francis StreetWilliamsburg, Virginia 23185
         (757) 229-5648


Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/sotherly-hotels-inc-announces-doubletree-by-hiltonr-flag-for-jacksonville-hotel-20140828-00666#ixzz3BnUIOCqb

[duvaldude08]

Well aint that something. Changed from the Hilton, to Crowne Plaza, and now the Double Tree By Hilton 

[Wacca Pilatka]

Well aint that something. Changed from the Hilton, to Crowne Plaza, and now the Double Tree By Hilton 

Going back further, it opened as a Sheraton, then became a Hilton in around 1980 when the new Sheraton (now the Wyndham) opened.  Then it lost its Hilton flag, then struggled along as the creatively named Jacksonville Hotel On The River (yes, really), until SoTHERLY's predecessor converted it to a Hilton again in about 1997.

[tufsu1]

This is good news.  Hilton is developing quite a presence on the Southbank.  Unfortunately for Jacksonville, there is no flagship Hilton or Marriott in the downtown area.

[simms3]

^^^Arguably the worst major hotel market in the country.  No convention/tourism business.  Not a lot of general trade/commerce that brings in outsiders to the degree people in larger cities spend x% of work time traveling (i.e. between NYC and Chicago or SF and LA or Boston and DC or Miami and Atlanta, etc).  Overbuilt market for what it is.  No drivers.  Super tough...

[Wacca Pilatka]

There's not a full Hilton in the city at all, is there?  There used to be two - the downtown one and the one on the airport property.

Sheraton was not present in the city for a while either, until it came back with the hotel by Town Center.

Marriott has the hotel by 95 and JTB, and I guess it was the theoretical flag for the hotel Bucky Clarkson wanted to put by the convention center in the late 90s, but the incentives went to the Adam's Mark that is now Hyatt instead.

[tufsu1]

^^^Arguably the worst major hotel market in the country. 

dude...enough!

Jax has more downtown hotel rooms than both Orlando and Tampa.

[Tacachale]

^come on, don't spoil good hyperbole with mere evidence.

[marty904]

^^^Arguably the worst major hotel market in the country. 

dude...enough!

Jax has more downtown hotel rooms than both Orlando and Tampa.

I don't think Orlando or Tampa has ever had to borrow a fleet of cruise ships to act as temporary hotels, for any of the largest events they've ever hosted (and I was in attendance for Super Bowl 43 in Tampa).

By the numbers, I suppose you could be correct (very hard to see for the common folk) but the numbers don't back up the reality of how lacking hotel/convention space is for our downtown.

[tufsu1]

^ that's correct...because Tampa's stadium isn't downtown and they spread the attendees out over the whole region. 

Note that I never said Tampa and Orlando aren't better or larger hotel markets (that isn't even a question)....but neither has the density of hotel rooms downtown.

[thelakelander]

Orlando's rapid growth really didn't start until after the opening of Disney in 1971. So its downtown has always been pretty small for a metro its size. Despite the Bay Area's size, the population is roughly split on both sides of the Bay (St. Pete has a decent sized DT too). Thus, Tampa's downtown is closer in size to Jax's than St. Louis'.

[jaxlore]

I know this isn't apples to apples but I just spent the weekend going back and forth between the Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency, Westin and Hilton in Atlanta and man talk about some nice convention space and all of these hotels where only a few blocks from each other. I was able to actually walk from the Marriott to the Hyatt through connected tunnels and never hit the streets. I cant really say we have anything even close to that caliber of experience.

[jaxjaguar]

That's one of the first things I noticed about most other major cities. The airborne walkways that connect everything.

[Tacachale]

Above-ground walkways in the middle of a city seem a bit 1970s to me.

[jaxjaguar]

It wouldn't bother me to see them incorporated between main destinations. Parador garage to Landing / Suntrust / Omni, Other garages to Hayden Burns / Wells Fargo, etc. The weather can be quite brutal downtown.