Lodgian Opens West Palm Beach Crowne Plaza Following Multi-Million-Dollar Makeover
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Lodgian Opens West Palm Beach Crowne Plaza Following Multi-Million-Dollar Makeover
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Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2006-01-09
Lodgian, Inc. (AMEX: LGN), one of the nation’s
largest independent owners and operators of full-service hotels, today announced the December
29, 2005, re-opening of the 219-room Crowne Plaza West Palm Beach in Florida, following
completion of a 15-month restoration. The hotel, which had been severely damaged by
hurricanes that struck the state in 2004, has been closed since September 2004.
The completely refurbished, like-new property features totally renovated guestrooms and
public spaces, all-new landscaping, and the addition of The Beanery, a coffee and Internet café
“proudly serving Barnie’s Coffee.” Extensive upgrades to the hotel’s 115 deluxe guestrooms
and 104 one-bedroom suites included installation of flat screen TVs, microwaves, refrigerators
and CD players, as well as the Crowne Plaza Sleep Advantage Program, featuring special quiet
floors, plush bedding, relaxation amenities and a guaranteed wake-up call.
“This was a complete makeover of every aspect of the hotel, from the concrete up,” said
Ed Rohling, Lodgian president and chief executive officer. “In addition to totally refurbishing
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the public areas and guestrooms, we upgraded the major equipment and back of the house areas,
and also took the opportunity to make the property as energy-efficient as possible. We added a
new energy-efficient air conditioning system, new piping, new fire alarm system and
reconfigured the catering space to provide more flexibility for social and small meetings. While
we can’t guarantee that we won’t suffer any future damage during a hurricane, at this point we
feel very good about the hotel’s ability to withstand major storms.”
“We are very pleased to have the Crowne Plaza West Palm Beach rejoin our portfolio of
brands following significant hurricane damage in 2004,” said Steve Porter, president,
InterContinental Hotels Group, the Americas. “This impressive property exemplifies the brand’s
focus as ‘The Place to Meet’.”
Rohling noted that Florida’s east coast continues to recover from storms that struck the
state in 2004 and 2005. “The Crowne Plaza is coming back into the West Palm Beach market at
an opportune time. The hotel community has done very well during the past year, and we expect
to open just as the high season begins with very strong occupancies and rates. We expect current
robust market trends to continue.”
Margaret Leon, general manager, added that the Crowne Plaza is well positioned
geographically for re-entry. “The Crowne Plaza West Palm Beach has the benefit of serving the
West Palm Beach downtown, convention center, and resort area, as well as the Palm Beach
International Airport. With that kind of access, we appeal equally to business and leisure
travelers.
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“With our refurbished facilities, we also plan to aggressively build our meeting business.
We offer 12,000 square feet of meeting and function space ranging from boardrooms to our
ballroom, which is capable of handling up to 650 people. In the past month alone, the hotel has
re-secured some key business contracts that start off as early as December 29.”
Located at 1601 Belvedere Rd., West Palm Beach, Fla., directly across from Palm Beach
International Airport and 1.5 miles from downtown West Palm Beach, the property features such
amenities as an outdoor swimming pool, whirlpool, fitness center with separate men’s and
women’s locker rooms, each furnished with dry saunas, and a full-service restaurant and bar.
About Lodgian
Lodgian is one of the largest independent owners and operators of full-service hotels in
the United States. The company currently owns and/or manages a portfolio of 78 hotels with
14,120 rooms located in 29 states and Canada. Of the company’s 78-hotel portfolio, 49 are
InterContinental Hotels Group brands (Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Select and
Holiday Inn Express) 16 are Marriott brands (Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill
Suites and Residence Inn), and 11 are affiliated with four other nationally recognized hospitality
franchises such as Hilton and Carlson (Radisson and Park Inn). Two hotels are independent,
unbranded properties. For more information about Lodgian, visit the company’s Web site:
www.lodgian.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements related to Lodgian’s operations
that are based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially.
The words “guidance,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “project,”
“estimate,” “plan,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
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Certain factors are not within the company’s control and readers are cautioned not to put undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties
including, but not limited to, the company’s ability to generate sufficient working capital from
operations and other risks detailed from time to time in the company’s SEC reports. The
company undertakes no obligations to update events to reflect changed assumptions, the
occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future results over time.
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