Hampton Inn to provide a boost to local hotel industry

As UNC seniors prepare to don Carolina blue gowns, local hotels are also gearing up for graduation season and the influx of families, alumni and visitors that it brings.

After what Laurie Paolicelli, executive director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, described as the “perfect storm of a recession” local hotels felt in 2010, she is optimistic about the visitors — and money — these upcoming events will bring to the industry.

Wednesday marked a major step in the local hotel business, as developers broke ground for Carrboro’s first downtown hotel, a 142-room Hampton Inn & Suites.

Paolicelli said in recent years, new hotels opening in Durham and corporate budget cuts have caused local hotels to suffer — but with the upcoming hotel and other projects, she is optimistic that they are bouncing back.

Since October, Paolicelli estimated Chapel Hill hotels have seen a 6 to 10 percent increase in demand for rooms, though rates are still down from pre-recession levels.

But she said based on trends, she thinks rising demand will continue.

Average occupancy has increased by 2.1 percent from last year to total 59 percent for Orange County so far this year, and Paolicelli said hotels in Chapel Hill reach an average occupancy of 60 to 70 percent on weekends.

The state as a whole saw 43.8 percent average occupancy in January of 2012.

“People stay in a hotel room for a reason; depending on that reason they look for different prices. Weddings want elegance,” she said. “Athletic travelers look for a more reasonable rate.”

Paolicelli said The Hampton Inn & Suites, which will be located at 300 E. Main St. as part of a $20 million mixed-use development, will be the first moderately priced hotel in downtown Carrboro and will offer options for people visiting for special events like graduation.

Laura Van Sant, spokeswoman for development firm Main Street Properties, said the new hotel will be geared for the budget traveler.

“You can go out of your room and go to a restaurant in Carrboro and go to a bar and grab a drink without a $200 price tag,” she said.

And the extra rooms it will offer are likely to be welcomed at graduation time — the local hotel industry’s busiest season.

Jamie Frydlo, who works in sales at Franklin Inn, said the hotel is usually at 90 percent occupancy during the weekends, but at graduation it is totally packed.

He said reservations for rooms during the weekend of graduation are made a year in advance, with rates ranging from $189 to $499 per night.

Mark Sherburne, general manager of the hotel Aloft, said he thinks graduation is the busiest time for the local hotel industry. His hotel also books rooms up to a year in advance and has no rooms available for 2012.

And while General Manager Anthony Carey says the Siena Hotel has a consistent weekend occupancy rate of 80 percent, and that number jumps to capacity at graduation.

He said the hotel starts taking reservations more than a year in advance, and the wait-list for reservations stops at 100.

Of nine hotels with Chapel Hill addresses checked Wednesday morning, Chapel Hill University Inn was the only one with rooms available during graduation weekend.

Hotels in Durham and Cary had rooms open, but many had only one to three rooms open — although some in Raleigh had up to ten rooms available.

Carey said the lack of room availability is typical of the local graduation season.

“We call graduation the Super Bowl,” he said.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

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