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In a move becoming common in New York's lodging industry, The Doral Inn is about to reinvent itself.
The 69-year-old hotel, which has begun to turn up in reviews as "tired," next month will start an ambitious makeover into an upscale lodging well-suited to the city's booming tourism market.
The owners of the 655-room Doral will spend an estimated $60 million to $70 million on improvements that include a refurbished lobby, new furniture in guest rooms and a redone facade. Room service will be added to the list of amenities, and Canyon Ranch--an ultra-exclusive health spa based in Tucson, Ariz.--will open a four-story outpost at the renovated hotel.
The Doral will also become home to a nightspot operated by Rande Gerber, who created the popular celebrity hangout Whiskey Bar at the Paramount hotel. His new place will be called the Smoke Bar.
When completed in the summer of 1998, the refurbishing could help the Doral raise its average daily room rate to more than $250 a night, up from the current $134.
The hotel is just one of many New York lodgings that are gussying up to take advantage of a spectacular surge in business. The renovations are a good excuse to boost room rates--already at record levels--without annoying regular guests.
A renovation can bring a 12% to 15% return on investment," says Michael A. Fishbin, a partner in...