Brand new hotel emerges from old Queen City footprint

By DENIS PAISTE

New Hampshire Union Leader

MANCHESTER — LaQuinta Inn and Suites opens Thursday after a four-month, top-tobottom renovation project at 21 Front St.

“It exceeds our expectations, perhaps. It’s absolutely beau-tiful,” Kathleen Joyce Kusiak, managing partner of Alta Properties of West Newton, Mass., said.

Alta Properties partnered with Roedel Companies of Wilton to refresh the 1960svintage, four-story, pouredconcrete structure that last housed a Clarion Hotel.

“The fact that we’ve really improved every space at the hotel that the guests will see really brings a new hotel to downtown Manchester,” Kusiak said.

The Falls Center conference space and a restaurant in a separate one-story building will open later.

David Roedel, a partner in Roedel Companies, said about 2,300 square feet of new construction added a new lobby at the front of the building, a new elevator and new central front to back hallway.

“Our objective was to basically develop a brand new hotel out of an existing hotel shell that had been here since 1963,” Roedel said.

The LaQuinta franchise is the first for Roedel Companies, but the firm’s construction management unit was familiar with the brand because it renovated more than 50 units. Dallasbased LaQuinta has about 800 hotels in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, of which about half are franchised.

“We thinks it’s a really good fit for the market,” Roedel said. “We think it’s a fantastic complement to our Hilton Garden (Inn) down the street.”

Linda Grugnale, general manager, said interest in advance bookings has been strong.

Interested parties include a bicycling event, a religious retreat (20 rooms) and a camping association (30 rooms). “So they’re ready. As soon as we go online, I can call them back and get their credit card information, and get those reservations right on the books,” she said.

ROK Builders, Roedel’s hotel construction management subsidiary, oversaw the multimillion dollar renovations. BMA Architectural Group, TF Moran, and RSJ Associates also worked on the project.

Negotiations are still under way to find a restaurant operator, Roedel said. The last restaurant at the site was a Hart’s Turkey Farm.

Near Exit 6 off Interstate 293, the site sees 17,000 cars a day pass by, Roedel said.

Stephanie Lewry of Intown Manchester, said, “It’s not part of the Central Business Service District, but it is part of downtown, absolutely.”

Manchester Development Corp. provided a $500,000 loan for the project.

By the numbers

Germania Front LLC has renovated a former Clarion Hotel at Amoskeag Traffic Circle and rebranded it as a LaQuinta Inn & Suites. A restaurant and conference center — The Falls Center — are in the works.

Rooms: 109 rooms.

Rates: Introductory rate of $79 for double king and double queen rooms; three distinctive two-room suites at $129, including one fully handicapped accessible.

Staff: 25 to 30 full and part-time employees for the hotel. Up to 80 on-site once the restaurant and conference center are open.

Hotel amenities: Free continental breakfast, waffle iron and two hot items daily; free Internet access; computer and printer access; indoor fitness center and outdoor swimming pool; laundry facilities. Free airport shuttle. Pets welcome.

Room features: Highdefinition 32-inch televisions, refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker.

Parking: 190 spaces.