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Times, they are a-changing.
For the first time in more than 60 years, a new hotel has alighted on
Andrews Avenue.
"We felt there was a
tremendous need," says Bernard Wolfson, Developer of said hotel, the Hampton
Inn. Wolfson's company, Hospitality Operations, has brought three
other Hampton Inns®
to South Florida. His son Howard is regional manager. "We're
close to 600 million square feet of office space, the library, the courts,
the Performing Arts Center, the administration for the city and county, the
state office building. There's so much going on downtown, and there [are] no
hotels."
Downtown Fort Lauderdale fell
into disrepair in the 1950s, but the city began hustling in the mid 1980s to
lure business back. New hotels followed suit, but moved to the beach
and 17th Street Causeway. Downtown's business zone was routinely
passed by.
Until now. The 156-room
limited service hotel was built with the business traveler in mind, offers
free in-room, high-speed internet access along with the requisite business
center and workout nook. Seems it's not just government workers and
business travelers who have a hankering for North Andrews Avenue: The hotel
is picking up cruisers, too.
"Leisure-wise, we thought it
would be weekenders and families visiting families and friends and seeing
jazz shows and plays", says Tom Moran, the hotel's director of sales.
"But 80 percent of our leisure calls are pre- and post-cruise. It was
unexpected. But very exciting."
The excitement began when
doors opened last Thursday afternoon. |
