Comments on: Courtyard By Marriott Restaurant Space Looking For a New Tenant

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:48:35 +0000

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.

By: Marty

Marty — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:42:05 +0000

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.

By: Rick Julian

Rick Julian — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:38:34 +0000

Jeff, meet Scotty. Scotty, Jeff

Schi. zo. phre. ni. a

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:32:32 +0000

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.

By: Scotty

Scotty — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:29:00 +0000

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.