Included in the changes is a full service dining room, room service and in-house catering. David Hardy has remained manager under both names. In March the name was changed to Novotel, and it became a full-service hotel. It opened in 1989 as the Compri Hotel and provided limited service to the business traveler. “We renovated our sleeping rooms and ballrooms to make the product what it should be.” The Novotel in Plainsboro also has a new look. It will only be a matter of time until we get a return on our investment,” says Jon Cirkus, the owner and general manager. “I didn”t think it was a risk to renovate because of our location. Last year, Cirkus spent $750,000 on renovations. In the fall of 1989, the Cirkus Real Estate Group of Clifton bought the hotel from Prime Motor Inns of Fairfield for $9.4 million. The East Brunswick Sheraton, located on Route 18 South near Exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike, is one example. Glasgow, manager of Scanticon-Princeton, says he is willing to discuss rates with customers to meet their needs.Īnother way hotel owners are trying to attract business is by modernizing facilities.
Says he: “I think you can compare it (price cutting) to how the airline industry a few years ago was cutting prices to specific destinations.” Samuel M. Len Leonardi, manager of the Sheraton Regal Inn, says that lower rates have increased occupancy. Today, the same room can be reserved for $60. In 1990, the rate for a double room at the Sheraton Regal Inn in Piscataway was $75. The first reaction in some hotels to the recession was to lower rates for rooms and business functions. In response to a BUSINESS” questionnaire for the 1991 Book of Lists only four hotels reported having 70% or more room occupancy for 1991. “People are cutting back and holding meetings in their offices rather than hotels,” says Hamid. Many businesses are not using hotels for seminars, meetings, training sessions and social functions as frequently as they once did. The recession has hit the hotel industry hard. A new long-term hotel is also being built on Route 1 in Plainsboro. A 1990 hotel list from the Middlesex County planning board shows nine proposals for hotels, including conference centers in Old Bridge and Monroe. Nonetheless, new hotels are still being built. Hamid, director of sales and marketing at the Holiday Inn at Raritan Center. “You won”t see another massive boom in the hotel industry in Central New Jersey as you did in the early 1980s,” says Tim S. During that period, 12 hotels sprang up to compete for travelers” business. The bulk of the hotels in Central New Jersey were built between 19. They are not only a risk to investors, but they are a risk to lenders as well.” Neumann, manager of the Somerset Hilton: “It totally baffles me how they (new hotels) even get funded.
The hotel industry is in a depression.” Concurs George J. Says Todd Martin, manager of the Hyatt Regency Princeton: “We”re overbuilt. Hotel industry executives candidly admit their problems. The Holiday Inn in Plainsboro and the Clarion in East Brunswick became victims of the boom and closed last year. The hotel industry, like many other industries in Central New Jersey during the 1980s, grew too rapidly. Others are designed for seminars and conferences. Some hotels are specifically built for business travelers staying in the area for several weeks. In fact, 14 of the 20 hotels listed by BUSINESS in the 1991 Book of Lists were not in operation in 1981. The sight of hotels in Central New Jersey has become as common as the sight of basketball star Michael Jordan endorsing products on television. Just take a ride down Route 1 or Route 18. Two of the choices on the small list are the Holiday Inn on Route 1 and the Somerset Marriott.įast forward to 1991. You are in Central New Jersey on business and need a hotel for the night. Subject: A rush of building in the mid-1980s has left the industry scrambling to find new guestsįlashback to 1981. Title: Hoteliers Complain that There are Too Many Rooms in the Inn