Wilton-based Roedel buys Courtyard by Marriott in Nashua

Source - Nashua Telegraph

By DAVID BROOKS
Staff Writer - Nashua Telegraph

NASHUA – Wilton-based Roedel Companies, a hotel chain with roots dating back to Susse Chalet in 1967, is returning to Nashua with its purchase of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

The big change, says company partner Dave Roedel, will involve the attached conference area, which the firm plans to spruce up and return to its earlier configuration.

The 245-room hotel, on Southwood Drive off Somerset Parkway near Exit 8, was built in 1989 as a full-service Marriott Hotel. In 2006, it was converted to a Courtyard, which caters to the mid-priced business traveler.

“When they converted to a Courtyard, they limited the amount of functions and social events, corporate events, and stopped selling to local market,” Roedel said.

The company plans, which must be approved by Marriott as part of the franchise agreement, involve improving the roughly 11,000-square-foot facility and turning it into an independent conference center with a separate entrance and upgraded facilities for business and social gatherings, although within the same footprint – along the lines of the Grappone Center, which is attached to a Courtyard by Marriott in Concord.

“It’s a really good physical property, good piece of real estate – brand name one of the best in the business,” said Roedel. “What they really need is a re-investment in the facility, renovation and upgrade to bring it back to the hotel it should be.”

The property is located in a hotel hotbed, an area bordered buy the Everett Turnpike, Route 101A and the Somerset Parkway. It is near the Crown Plaza, Extended Stay America, Hampton Inn, and an under-construction Residence Inn behind the Somerset Plaza.

The Courtyard is Roedel’s first Marriott purchase. In the area, the firm owns Hilton Garden Inn Manchester, La Quinta Inn & Suites Manchester and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Merrimack.

Susse Chalet was started in 1967 when Fred Roedel opened a motel in Nashua. It is now a Motel 6, near Exit 5 of the Everett Turnpike.

The firm grew to eventually own and operate 36 hotels up and down the East Coast, and built a headquarters in west Wilton now know as The Summit, a business condo where Roedel Companies is still headquartered.

Susse Chalet was sold in 2000 – the name remains only in two bachelor-officer quarters operated on U.S. Navy bases, David Roedel said – and the Roedel Companies was founded. Fred Roedel remains a consultant; it is run by his sons, David and Fred III.

Their properties include a number of branded and independent hotels including other Hilton Garden Inns, Hampton Inn & Suites, Homewood Suites, Holiday Inns, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, La Quinta Inns & Suites and the Hotel Saranac in New York state.

David Roedel said that as part of buying the Courtyard in Nashua, it was exploring whether to reduce the number of rooms, by turning some into larger executive suites for business travelers.

ROK Builders, the hotel construction affiliate of Roedel Companies, will oversee the renovation of the Courtyard by Marriot while RSJ Associates handles interior design and procurement. RGH Hospitality, the hotel management subsidiary of Roedel Companies, will run the Courtyard by Marriott and conference center.

David Brooks can be reached at 594-6531 or dbrooks@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Brooks on Twitter (@GraniteGeek).