Posted: June 4, 2010

By Danielle Walker

Danielle.walker@insidebiz.com

The newest addition, among a surge of Virginia Beach developments at the Oceanfront, underscores a move for two companies: the new Country Inn & Suites hotel at the Oceanfront marks Carlson Hotels effort to stir nationwide growth, as well as a regional hotel development company's burgeoning toehold in the area.

"We really left no stone unturned," said Akhil Jain, owner of the Oceanfront Country Inn & Suites. "Everything has been touched in someway."

The CIS hotel, formerly a Howard Johnson, underwent a complete floor-to-ceiling renovation. Nearly $3 million was spent on the seven-month project that was completed April 25. Jain said the new hotel was a "perfect marriage" between the Carlson Hotels brand, which owns Country Inn & Suites, and Landmark Hotel Group LLC.

Jain is also the vice president of Landmark Hotel Group, which develops, owns and operates hotels throughout the Outer Banks and Hampton Roads area. LHG currently has seven hotels - five of which are located in Virginia: the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Virginia Beach Towne Center, the Hilltop Garden Inn and Convention Center in downtown Suffolk and Candlewood Suites hotels in Richmond Airport and the Towne Center. The latest addition is the 114-room, eight-floor oceanfront hotel that offers an ocean view from every suite. Jain said the partnership between the companies works, in part, because of the nature of the new location.

"They're known for their warm, inviting environment," said Jain, regarding the CIS motto for branding, which was an ideal match for the Virginia Beach oceanfront, a family-friendly tourist spot. "We identified the opportunity to renovate and reflag this hotel for a mid-scale segment."

He said major marketing at the beach was directed towards middle-class travelers - a family demographic that CIS was looking to expand to. Jain also said that CIS are good partners because they had taken measures to protect LHG's exclusivity at the beach.

"As long as we're a Country Inn & Suites hotel, they won't build another one near us," he said.

LHG began in 1983, and its latest hotel venture at 1801 Atlantic Ave., sets precedence for the CIS brand.

"This is our very first true oceanfront hotel," said Scott Meyer, vice president of operations for Carlson Hotels. "That's a big deal for us."

While the Carlson company does have other hotels near the beach, this location is the first to be waterside.

"All the hotel rooms face the ocean," Meyer said.

CIS has 27 hotels in Virginia, and more than 221 locations in the South.

Meyer said that Jain reached out to the company after communicating with other franchisees in the area that spoke well of the Carlson brand.

"It was our opportunity to build in a prime location," he said. "We typically don't do a lot of conversions - the brand is about 90 percent new construction."

LHG also leases the space for a restaurant adjoining the hotel, Stringers Bar and Grille, owned by proprietor Bob Hughes. There are also vacant spaces next to the front of the hotel that LHG will lease. The hotel also has an onsite garage, which allows guests to enter the hotel directly through their floor. Free breakfast and freshly baked cookies are offered to all guest - both small touches that Meyer said add an aspect of value and service for guests. Other family friendly features include a fitness room that overlooks the pool area so parents can keep watch over their children while working out.

The hotel also has a virtual concierge - a flat-screen monitor in the front lobby with a touch screen that allows guests to print boarding passes and look up nearby attractions, restaurants and other places of interests. At the hotel's open house event on June 2, visitors crowded around the monitor while a CIS associate explained the features.

"Just from what I've seen with Akil, he seems to be with the cutting edge of technology," said Christopher Campbell, product manager for Carlson Hotels. "It's so different, it really sets the hotel apart."

Campbell dealt mostly with the construction side of the development.

"Something like this is not foreign to people, they kind of expect it," said Campbell about the virtual concierge, which was Jain's idea.

For Jain, the new addition to the oceanfront has worked in the favor of both company brands. While Carlson Hotels recently announced plans of expanding Country Inn & Suites hotels throughout the country, Landmark Hotel Group has claimed a spot on the constantly developing locale by the beach.

"This gives them the foothold they wanted," said Jain about the Carlson partnership. nib