Starwood’s Caesars Brookdale in the Poconos Sold to Silverleaf Resorts

March 19, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

A few months back I wrote about how Starwood’s four Caesars Resorts in the Pocono Mountains are being put up for sale. At the time no real information was provided by either Starwood or the resorts as to what exactly was going on except business as usual.

Earlier this month it seems that Starwood has sold the Brookdale Resort to Silverleaf Resorts, a vacation timeshare owner, while the other three resorts (Pocono Palace, Paradise Stream, Cove Haven) are still owned, and up for sale by Starwood. Initially I thought that this was odd; I could not figure out why Starwood would prefer to sell the resorts separately instead of all at once – then I looked at the Brookdale website. Besides the Brookdale website looking completely different than the other three Pocono sites, I realized that Brookdale is the only resort that is intended primarily for families – whereas the other three resorts are all couples resorts (you know, those famous champagne spas??). So Starwood rightly sold Brookdale to Silverleaf Resorts which currently operates family resorts throughout the United States. At the time, the other three resorts are still on the market and no offers have been received for them.

I’m still a little surprised that Starwood is selling their Pocono Resorts for a number of reasons.

  1. The properties as a whole are very underdeveloped. I cant recall exact numbers, but Starwood owns a few thousand acres of land in the Pocono Mountain area tied to those resorts – perfect for additions to be made on the existing resorts,
  2. Starwood is expanding their vacation ownership resorts – why doesn’t Starwood convert the resorts to the Sheraton or Westin brands with either a residential component or vacation ownership component. Plus – think of the synergies between Westin (tranquility, relaxation, etc) and the Pocono Mountains.
  3. Pennsylvania has just legalized gambling. Now not anyone can just open a casino in PA – there are a certain number of licenses that are available; but Starwood didn’t even try to get a license or find someone to operate the casino while they ran the hotel/resort portion of the property

After thinking about it – I think Starwood might be selling the Caesars resorts because, it might actually hurt their draw if it were to be re-branded as a Westin or Sheraton or other Starwood Vacation Ownership brand – these Pocono resorts have been around for decades and are famous throughout the world for being a couples only resort. This should not come to anyones surprise because after almost 10 years of owning the resorts – they have not been fully integrated into Starwood’s marketing and branding umbrella. The resorts do share the same reservations system and Starwood’s new hires are put through the same process as one who is applying for a Sheraton job – but other than backoffice functions, I think its safe to assume that most people who stay at one of the resorts have no idea that its owned and operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Like I’ve always said – Starwood is a smart company, so there has to be a reason that I’m not aware of as to why they are getting rid of these properties, but I’d hate to see them go.

andrew@alconic-inc.com

View Comments »

  1. Comment by Don't quote me on March 19 2008:

    1) Lease on Caesars name is running out
    2) So is the patent on the Champagne Glass

  2. Comment by Howard Sherman on September 5 2008:

    My whole family stayed at Brookdale right before the end and I heard about the rights to the name running out also.

    Rights to the champagne glass running out also?? Maybe yes, maybe no.

    For sure this sale makes no obvious sense. A friend of mine well established in the hospitality industry agrees that at the face this deal doesn’t add up.

  3. Comment by Andrew Calvo on September 6 2008:

    At facevalue – yes, maybe the deal may not make sense – the Caesars properties in the Poconos have always been run together for decades.

    If you look a little into the properties though, you will realize that the Brookdale was the “odd-man out” since it was a family resort and wasn’t really designed or setup like the other properties which are more for romantic couples.

    Since Starwood is looking to get rid of all the Caesars properties, I think they were right to sell Brookdale to a family resort company, and they will probably end up selling the other three remaining properties as a package deal to some type of a resorts/timeshare operator where owning/managing this type of property is more their normal business.

  4. Comment by Dean on January 1 2009:

    I can only hope that Brookdale is sold to a company that wants to keep the “family” resort idea going. My family and I have been going there off and on for almost 10 years now. Its sad that the places where you can take your kids and feel comfortable are vanishing. It also seems strange that they would hold on to the places where the kids are conceived but they get rid of the place to take the kids after they’re born LOL. . . . .

  5. Comment by Jim on July 9 2009:

    I can’t believe they sold Brookdale……We took our kids there 1-2 times a year for approx 10 years and they had an awesome resort for families. We have not found anything close to the awesome times shared there. I think they should reconsider and buy back or open under the same venue. We actually went by there not to long ago and the whole resort is just sitting there with nothing going on, such a shame to waste a secluded wonderland!!!!!

  6. Comment by Jason on July 20 2009:

    Silverleaf Resorts purchased the property. I took a drive by the property over the weekend, the landscape is being well mainained. They should be selling timeshares there real soon.

  7. Comment by Jason on July 26 2009:

    Rumor has it Silverleaf did not close the deal. While I was in the Poconos last week, I took the tour of another timeshare. The timeshare salesperson told me “Silverleaf pulled out, I have some friends who applied to sell timeshares at that property, and it’s a no-go.” I stayed at a Silverleaf property in the Berkshires this weekend and was told by a sales rep “I’m not sure that Siverleaf closed the deal.” In regards to the Hilllsdale property. Who knows??

  8. Comment by sue on July 26 2010:

    My family and I have been a regular to Brookdale for over 10yrs and when they closed it we were all very sad it was our home away from home..We see that they still haven’t opened anything yet. I was wondering is there any news on whats going to be there or maybe they might open another family resort. ( I guess that is wishful thinking) Why would they take away something that so many family’s loved..
    We still can’t find another family resort like Brookdale. We are trying another resort that is about 45min away in Aug. So we are going to take a drive to Brookdale just to take a look at what we miss so much..
    The Palminteri Family…

  9. Comment by Merrill on August 10 2010:

    I worked there up till about six of seven months until the end. As a worker there I can tell you Starwood cut back ALOT on what Morris Wilkins (The original owner and partner with Caesar’s) and ITT did with the property. A lot of things were cut back. Adult nights were ended in lieu of transporting people over to a sister resort. Staff was cut (Cafe attendants did double duty running the Gift Shop. Entertainment was cut (I still to this day don’t understand why they went from Bands to Fireworks) All in all the last years of Brookdale weren’t that grand. Yes the Caesar’s name was lost (but that was a given due to the sale of the resorts from ITT who initially kept the casinos then sold them to Park Place Entertainment) I think it was just a lack of understand at what the property could be by The Powers That Be.
    Merrill (Former Cook/ Cafe Attendant Caesar’s Brookdale)

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