Hawthorn Suites - Alexandria, VA
The Alexandria Hawthorn Suites hotel was acquired as a means to capitalize on the strong extended stay hotel market in the Washington DC trade area. Located within the Washington "Beltway" the Hawthorn enjoys high occupancy levels serving demand generation from the nearby Pentagon and other government, military and business centers. A year following its acquisition the hotel's management team determined that the property could be successfully repositioned to command a higher room rate, if the hotel were retrofitted. Acting upon this opportunity, a development program was established to refurbish and upgrade the hotel while maintaining day-to-day operations during the physical improvement process.
In early 2007 a sweeping $4.5 million development program commenced to refurbish the hotel's 185 guestrooms on a floor-by-floor construction schedule. Every two weeks a fully renovated guestroom floor was returned to service as a new floor entered the renovation cycle. The hotel's entire first floor - housing the lobby, restaurant, lounge, exercise facilities, front desk and other guest amenities - was gutted and renovated on a phased basis. Remarkably, the hotel has been fully renovated while maintaining occupancy rates of 70%. Without losing valuable sales momentum to a property shutdown, the hotel is now positioned to increase room rates in the vibrant Washington DC area hospitality market.
