Choice Hotels logo signage installed at future headquarters in Rockville

The glowing logo of hospitality giant Choice Hotels is now shining from atop the new office tower nearing completion at Pike & Rose, at 915 Meeting Street along Rockville Pike. Choice will be relocating its corporate headquarters down the Pike from its current location by the Rockville Metro station. 

915 Meeting Street is on-schedule for a Q4 2023 delivery at the Federal Realty development. Another Montgomery County corporate headquarters in Gaithersburg, Sodexho, has also been lured to the new 266,000-square-foot trophy office tower. Choice represents many brands familiar to travelers, from Quality Inn and Radisson to Cambria Suites and EconoLodge.

Rockville-based Choice Hotels acquires Radisson Hotels Americas

Rockville-based Choice Hotels announced today it has acquired the portfolio of Radisson Hotels Americas from the Radisson Hotel Group. The purchase price was $675,000,000, including the real estate value of three corporate-owned Radisson hotel properties.. Choice gains about 67,000 hotel rooms in the deal, with the biggest gains coming in the Midwest and on the West Coast. Hotel brands now under the ownership of Choice through the transaction include Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Radisson RED, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites and Radisson Collection.

"This transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses, enhancing our guest offerings in the core upper-midscale hospitality segments, while extending our reach into the upper upscale and upscale full-service segments and in higher revenue geographic markets," Choice CEO Patrick Pacious said in a statement. "We are confident that guests and franchisees will significantly benefit by combining these two exceptional sets of brands."

Rockville hit by more coronavirus layoffs as lockdown continues

More Montgomery County employers are laying off workers as the coronavirus pandemic lockdown continues. In Bethesda, Uncle Julio's announced on Friday it will lay off 50 employees. Paper Source up the street is laying off 15 workers. And the Hyatt Regency Bethesda has just laid off 95 employees.

Rockville's Cambria Suites Hotel is laying off 25 people. That hits particularly close to home, as parent company Choice Hotels' world headquarters is diagonally across the street from the Cambria Suites. Also in Rockville, Miller's Ale House is laying off 74 employees.

Gaithersburg's new upscale movie theater, Cinepolis, is being hit as hard as every other shuttered cineplex as new Hollywood releases continue to be postponed. They have finally laid off 65 employees. And the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg just laid off 57 team members.

With Covid-19 going nowhere, and with no solid medical evidence that surviving the virus gives a patient permanent or even temporary immunity, we're likely going to face continued economic pain for at least the next two years. Montgomery County's already-moribund, last-in-the-region economy is particularly hard hit, because the vast majority of what few jobs have been created here recently are in the restaurant and retail sectors.

Workers are smart enough to realize that they may want to move into sectors that won't be interrupted by this and future pandemics, or at least ones where they can be among those privileged to work from home. Expect a re-calibration of the labor market in that event, which will drive up wages for service jobs, and increase the pain further for our already-struggling restaurant and retail sectors.

Image via Federal Trade Commission

Comfort Inn Shady Grove gets updated branding and signage in Rockville (Photos)

The Comfort Inn at 16216 Frederick Road has updated branding and new signage. Gone is the old sun-and-waves logo. In its place is a minimalist "C" turned at an angle. I like this retro-style building. Although it's not apparent from the outside, the property did have a major interior renovation in the last three years, and is quite modern on the inside.

One plus of staying at this hotel - besides the convenient distance to Checkers, Red Lobster, Bowlmor and Burger King - is that parent company Choice Hotels is located just down the road, so you know the service and cleanliness are going to be carefully monitored by headquarters. From a nostalgia standpoint, I personally still prefer the old Comfort Inn logo - although it could hardly compete with the old Quality Inn logo, whose fonts and animation were only matched by the famous Holiday Inn signs that once lined America's highways.

Choice Hotels in expansion mode in the Mid-Atlantic

A hotel converted to a Clarion Pointe
property in South Boston, Virginia by
Choice Hotels International

Rockville-based Choice Hotels International is expanding its brand in the Mid-Atlantic region, the company reports. It has opened its 40th Cambria Hotel-branded property in Hanover, Maryland. That hotel is targeting travelers using nearby BWI Airport, patrons of the Maryland Live! casino at Arundel Mills, and business travelers heading to Fort Meade. Choice has further plans for Cambria hotels in Ocean City, Baltimore, Capitol Heights and Southwest Washington, D.C.

In addition, Choice has snapped up eight existing Mid-Atlantic hotels, and will convert them to Choice brands between now and early 2019. The hotels are located in Lancaster, Levittown and Lebanon, Pennsylvania; South Boston, Virginia; and Seaside Heights and Wildwood, New Jersey. They will be converted to Choice's Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Quality Inn and Rodeway brands.

Choice Hotels partners with Spanish lodging chain

Rockville-headquartered Choice Hotels announced a new alliance with a Spanish hotel chain Wednesday. Partnering with Sercotel Hotels will create "new opportunities for additional hotel development across Europe and Latin America," Choice said in a statement.

"Teaming up with Choice Hotels is a natural fit. Both companies value quality and are committed to providing unmatched service to guests and franchisees. By combining the complementary attributes of Sercotel and Choice Hotels, we can continue to deliver a high level of service at our hotels, while benefiting from the global reach of Choice," Sercotel's president, Marisol Turró, said in a statement yesterday. "This is especially true in the flourishing Latin American market where the combination of Choice's powerful hotel brands and our Spanish hospitality management have great appeal."

Photo courtesy Choice Hotels

Rockville's Choice Hotels breaks ground in Ocean City

When you come into Ocean City on the Route 50 bridge this summer, you may well see signs of your hometown hotel giant's newest Maryland property. Choice Hotels, which is headquartered in Rockville, broke ground yesterday on the 133-room Cambria Hotel Ocean City at 309 N. 1st Street. The hotel is scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2019.

Located on a bayfront lot that LoopNet termed a "trophy location" when it was on the market, the Cambria Hotel Ocean City will have private balconies overlooking the Isle of Wight Bay, an indoor/outdoor infinity pool, poolside cabanas, a tiki bar, outdoor fire pits, local art collections, 2,200 SF of meeting space, a business center and - best of all - a rooftop restaurant/bar with a panoramic view of Assateague Island, Isle of Wight Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

"The groundbreaking of the Cambria Hotel Ocean City property represents another important milestone for the brand, as we continue to seek opportunities in markets that provide the distinct upscale and cultural experiences modern travelers desire, such as those offered in the vibrant beach town of Ocean City," Janis Cannon, SVP, upscale brands at Choice Hotels, said in a statement yesterday.

Rendering courtesy Choice Hotels/Fisher Architecture

Cambria Suites celebrates Grand Opening in Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Cambria Hotel & Suites
logo projected onto
the hotel last night in
Rockville

The new Cambria Hotel and Suites celebrated its Grand Opening in Rockville's Town Center last night, with a level of spectacle not usually found at Montgomery County openings. Developer Duball LLC, parent company Choice Hotels (headquartered across E. Middle Lane from the hotel), and Crescent Hotels and Resorts threw what they described as a vintage carnival party, complete with circus tent outside the hotel.

Guests enjoyed several open bars, menu selections from the hotel's socialCircle bistro, and a variety of performance artists ranging from clowns to jugglers to an aerialist who soared above the crowd.

Michael Murphy, SVP of Upscale Brands
at Choice Hotels, prepares to open
the ceremonies, with Helen Heneghan Way
stretching into the background toward
Regal Cinemas

Master of ceremonies was Michael Murphy, Senior Vice President of Upscale Brands at Choice Hotels International. He welcomed several elected officials from the City of Rockville, including Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, and Councilmembers Tom Moore and Virginia Onley.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton
with City Councilmembers
Tom Moore and Virginia Onley

"There's been no bigger supporter of Choice Hotels in Rockville than Mayor Bridget Newton," Murphy told the enthusiastic crowd. Newton commended Choice for agreeing to not include a full-service restaurant in the hotel, so that the many close-by restaurants around it would get a boost in business from guests. Newton and Murphy were also both enthusiastic about another recent turn of events surrounding the property.

Mayor Newton addresses
the crowd

"Something magical also happened these last five months," Murphy told the crowd. "It took collaboration with the city," to rename the placeholder Renaissance Street - which runs in front of the hotel - Helen Heneghan Way. Heneghan was a highly-regarded former city clerk and fixture in the community, who passed away a few months ago. Her name rose to the top of hundreds submitted to rename the street, whose original moniker was too close to a competing hotel brand's name for Choice's comfort. The tent in which the event was held stood atop Helen Heneghan Way itself.

Heneghan's husband, Frank, was in the tent as Murphy and Newton spoke. "We are thrilled to be part of this legacy," Murphy said of Helen Heneghan's service to Rockville. The "Way" designation of the street "couldn't be more apt," Newton said, "because there actually is a Helen Heneghan way, which also the Rockville way." The mayor said the hotel and Upton apartments "continue the positive growth" in Rockville's revitalized town center.

"There's no better night than when we're opening a Cambria Suites," Murphy enthused, "except when we're opening a Cambria Suites in Rockville. This is the most amazing time in the last ten years of my career."

Steve Joyce, CEO of
Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce shared Murphy's feelings, saying that Cambria Suites are designed to be "upscale, contemporary, and convenient," and to have major appeal to the ever-coveted millennial segment of the market. Joyce said the brand is expanding in the near future to Times Square, Miami, Nashville and New Orleans, among other cities.

MD State Senator Cheryl Kagan
presents a citation from the
General Assembly

State Senator Cheryl Kagan (D-District 17) presented Joyce with a citation from the Maryland General Assembly, congratulating Choice on the opening and its role in the "revitalization of downtown Rockville."

"That was the best citation Steve Joyce has received in the state of Maryland," Murphy joked when he took the mic back. Murphy also congratulated Don Swedberg, General Manager of Crescent, on the Rockville Cambria Suites distinction in having the highest customer satisfaction score in the chain.

Other luminaries in the crowd included Ms. Maryland U.S. 2015 Amber Schroen, Miss Teen Maryland U.S. Ardelle Dickerson, Josefina Simpson and Ilaya Hopkins of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and a host of officials from Choice and its partners. Also attending were lucky hotel guests, including business travelers from General Dynamics and Merck, Murphy said.

Marc Dubick, Principal and
President of Duball, LLC,
which developed the hotel

Then Murphy directed guests' attention to the center ring - literally - as performers proceeded to divert and entertain the crowd.

But wait, there's more. A tour of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, rather than a cookie-cutter hotel room, the suites actually continue the Gothamesque-Modern theme of the building's facade indoors. Your room actually looks more like a swanky, retro Manhattan apartment than the typical lodging quarters. And the latest technology combines with old-fashioned perks like microwaves and personal refrigerators, and Wolfgang Puck coffee.

Conference Room for
business meetings 

Mirror in
conference room 

Now up to an actual
hotel suite 

Hidden fridge

Below ground was another surprise. In addition to a sizable business meeting/conference center space, there is also a decently-sized room for events. "You could do a very nice wedding in this room," the hotel's Senior Sales Manager Renee Grant said. 75-80 people could fit in a table setting for a wedding reception, for example. Up to 125 might fit if you held a meeting or marriage ceremony using theater-style seating.

Back upstairs in the lobby-level bistro, guests watched Monday Night Football on a large widescreen, while enjoying adult beverages from the bar, and carnival-themed treats on an old-fashioned popcorn cart. The carnival performers wandered about the hotel, continuing to entertain. "Is that a clown car?" a clown asked, after a seemingly endless number of guests poured out of an elevator.

Monday Night Football in
the lobby 

The bar in the lobby's
bistro restaurant

One of several Rockville-themed
artworks I came across
inside the hotel; does anyone
know what this depicts from
Rockville's past?