New Yorker Hotel to be re-flagged Ramada Inn and Plaza

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 15, 1999

In a major strategic move for both parties, effective January 4, 2000 - its 70th anniversary - The New Yorker Hotel becomes part of The Ramada family, according to Barry S. Mann, long-time general manager of the hotel.

For the hotel ownership and management, which will remain the same, the most important reason for the changeover is greater opportunity for more corporate business through the Ramada system, said Mann.

"We have already received over 100 RFP's for corporate business from such companies as IBM and AT&T," he said. "The new corporate, convention and group business Ramada brings us will help us well into the new millennium."

As the franchisor, Ramada Franchise Systems, Inc. (a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation) will neither own nor operate the hotel. The hotel's name becomes The New Yorker - A Ramada Inn and Plaza. The tower section of the hotel will be called the Ramada Plaza.

"This is the first step in Ramada's strategic growth plan to solidly position us in the upper mid-market," said Steve Belmonte, president and CEO of Ramada Franchise Systems. "We have created a $14 million development advance fund to secure large high-end, full-service franchises - big, luxurious properties ranging from 300 to 11,000 rooms across America in center-city locations.

"The New Yorker is the cornerstone of this strategy," Belmonte said. "It literally stands at the doorstep of New york City only steps away from Macy's, Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden and The Empire State Building, and the closest hotel in New York City to the Javits" Convention Center. We're delighted it will now carry the Ramada name."

When the New Yorker opened in January 1930, it was the biggest hotel in New York City and one of the largest in the world. It had 2,500 rooms, 92 telephone operators, 35 chefs, 42 barbers and 150 laundry workers. Benny Goodman and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey played at the hotel, and the Brooklyn Dodgers used it as their headquarters for their losing battle against the New York Yankees in the 1941 World Series.

Today the hotel features an 88 percent occupancy rate and has over 1,000 guest rooms, including three floors of newly-renovated tower-level rooms, mini-suites and deluxe suites (each with its own fax machine), with extraordinary skyline views and large terraces, all at affordable rates. Regular singles start at $149 per night; doubles at $159. Tower rooms start at $225 per night; suites, $275.

The New Yorker's $30 million renovation, which will be completed before spring 2000, also includes new fitness and business centers; a new lobby; new elevators; three restaurants, including one open 24-hours a day; and seven new meeting and conference spaces. The hotel has been ranked by the New York City Convention and Visitors Bureau as one of the city's top 12 convention hotels.