Courtyard By Marriott Restaurant Space Looking For a New Tenant
Decatur Metro | April 16, 2012
There’s a new-ish sign out in front of the recently renovated Courtyard by Marriott on Clairemont Ave, announcing that they’re looking for a new tenant in the restaurant space. It seems like a locally-owned restaurant in this space would be another great addition to this strip of Clairemont and it would certainly have the additional benefit of being an easy option for visitors to the city. It’ll be interesting to see who sets up shop here!
I’ve recently seen people looking at the old Emile Baran space across the street. It’s not like Decatur needs more restaurants, but it would be nice to have more retail of any kind on that block.
Knowing virtually nothing about the enterprise side of the restaurant business, I’m curious: from the restaurateur’s perspective, what are the pros and cons of locating at a hotel?
I’m not a restaurateur, but I would think one major pro is that the hotel guests are a captive audience. However, in a place like Decatur, the hotel guests are not captive like they are in some hotels. They can simply walk out the door and be at the doorstep of any number of good restaurants. So, I don’t know if there are any pros in this particular situation.
On the other hand, so long as the restaurant had a sidewalk entrance and a lobby entrance, making it inviting to locals and hotel guests, it might be able to escape the cons that often go with hotel restaurants.
I’m no restauranteur, but I think a pro of locating in a hotel would be that you have something of a captive audience. Yes, Decatur has a lot of great dining options within spitting distance of the hotel, but if you’ve been traveling all day, are tired and it’s late, you’d probably opt for the in-hotel option, rather than venturing out somewhere else. That’s also probably a con though – people who aren’t staying at the hotel may not think about venturing into a hotel for a meal.
I will agree that it would be nice to see some more retail in that strip where Emile Baran used to be. That space could easily accommodate a couple of shops and maybe a restaurant. But of course, parking there is a nightmare with the limited number of metered spots out front and the limited free parking behind the building.
Looks like we posted almost the exact same thing.
Great minds think alike!
Jeff, meet Scotty. Scotty, Jeff
Schi. zo. phre. ni. a
Why is the parking any worse on that stretch of Clairemont than for virtually any retail strip in downtown? The deck behind the building is free for an hour. There are usually meter spots open all day.
FWIW I saw two different parties being shown the Baran stores. Both were in the food business.
Parking is not any tougher at this spot than it is anywhere else in downtown Decatur. Parking seems to be a problem of perception … not reality.
A breakfast/ “American-food” shop might do well. Also…..(dun-dun-dun)…a Chain (Fridays, Chilis, etc.). Yup, I said it. Especially given the fact that you probably won’t get a lot of traffic from locals if you had a “regular” single-location run-of-the-mill hotel restaurant. You would need to increase the likelihood of guests dining on-site and nothing does that better than brand recognition. Plus, it would poach from the local community. (I love Friday Fries)
The Emile Baran space would need a restaurant that had an under the counter grease trap and some type of exemption/ work around re: a dumpster. There’s no space for one at that site. And a variance for parking or some “arrangement” w/ the Town Square folks would be needed.
Too bad the Courtyard was a little high-end to work with the folks in town for their DHS 55th reunion this weekend. My mom did some of the footwork and they ended up going with the Doubletree instead. Just couldn’t get the deal they needed for all those fixed incomes. They used the old Holiday Inn in previous years and mom said it was so convenient.
This actually kind of surprises me– I know folks in the hotel industry (high and mid-range), and they’re always giving significant discounts for groups (especially for AARP-types looking to do multiple bookings). Now, I caveat this by saying that I don’t know just how much of a discount your mom’s classmates were looking to pay, but since the Courtyard is new, I would’ve thought they’d take a little bit of a hit just to fill some rooms & get their in-town groove established. Things that make you go “Hmmmmm…”
The Decatur Courtyard folks will tell you they they are fully booked almost every weekend as it is, so they don’t need to discount much to stay full. Their overall occupancy is around 70%, which is considered quite good for a property only open 2 or 3 months.
The HI in its waning days wasn’t as popular, so they would discount more.
Hmm, I know that this weekend is also ASC’s Alumnae Weekend and that the Courtyard had some discounts for that (I don’t know how much the discount was though). Perhaps they were out of rooms they could discount because of that and couldn’t give discounts for the DHS reunion? Still, you would think they would want to do as much as they could to establish themselves in the neighborhood and make themselves truly Decatur event friendly.
My father worked for several years managing a couple of hotel restaurants, and he would say that yes, you have a captive audience, but you also have a lot of demands that a typical restaurant doesn’t have. A hotel may want the restaurant to provide room service, which extends your hours of service. That also typically means breakfast, which a lot of Decatur restaurants don’t serve. You can make money in a place like that, but you face complexities that you need to be ready for. It can make any entrepreneur think twice.
So yes, it’s a big opportunity, but it also may demand a serious buy-in. There are lots of local chefs who can command that kind of investment, but it’s not a simple matter of more customers. Also, the hotel will have its own requirements for any restaurant filling the space. A big challenge for someone willing to take it up.
I’m also surprised that no one from the Big H discussion has suggested putting a Trader Joe’s in the building. Or maybe putting the Family Dollar in that space.