Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to mention how The Chelsea is open and allowing guests to stay overnight (in fact, it has been since July 3rd) but the hotel will not be completely opened until August 1st.

Last Friday was the ribbon cutting, and also an opportunity for the public to get a tour of the hotel – pretty unique actually. I’m not too familiar with other hotel’s allowing the general public to come in for tours – or at least partially intending the tour patrons to be just general public people. It’s great that they are doing that since it really shows that Curtis Bashaw and his Cape Advisors group cares about the general public and isnt trying to make the hotel into something that’s too big for its britches.

I also have to congratulate the hotel on pretty much getting the opening done on time. As long as they make the August 1st opening date for the complete facility – they’ve hit their target. Last year initially the hotel was supposed to open by Memorial Day, but with some construction delays due to the condition of the former Howard Johnsons the opening was pushed back. Then, they decided to have a soft opening, where some rooms were put on line while others were still being constructed, and then finally – the full hotel opening on August 1st – that to me is how you do a hotel opening.

It’s kinda amazing to watch Cape Advisors do their opening vs how the Thompson Hotels does their openings – Thompson is famous for constantly delaying their openings, even to the extent that some employees think its opening one day, others think its opening another – and then the website saying something completely different! Not only that, but Thompson has a tendency to take a LOOONNNGG time to develop their hotels – the Thompson LES I believe took almost three years to build – and its still not even open yet. (July 29th is their 3rd attempt at an opening date this month alone) Now this isn’t some huge major hotel – its like 20 stories high.. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I’ll be at The Chelsea for their real opening day – August 1st, and I’ll have a report back here as to my thoughts of the facility.. From what i saw a few months ago with the hard hat tour – it should be everything that it’s been said to be – and more.

Now – the question comes to mind.. What’s next for Curtis Bashaw and his company? The Mondrian SoHo is one, Second? A new casino project to the south of the Hilton Atlantic City, and lastly – I think its a very good possibility that they are one of the parties interested in purchasing the Tropicana.

We’ll see!

andrew@alconic-inc.com

As I’ve written about numerous times on this blog – The Chelsea located in the former Holiday Inn on the Boardwalk and adjoining Howard Johnson in Atlantic City is the first non-casino boutique hotel in Atlantic City. It’s also the first hotel in non-casino hotel to be opened in a number of decades that is not of the economy segment – of which Atlantic City has many of tucked in between some casinos in the boardwalk area.

The Chelsea had its work cut out for it, bringing in a hotel that has no branding or worldwide reservations center to support it, nor a casino ensuring a steady customer base day in and day out. After seeing these renderings and viewing the website – I’m happy to say that I think The Chelsea will be an overwhelming success.

The Chelsea is being positioned as more than just a hotel – its being positioned as an “it place”. Rather than boring restaurants that serve a very unoriginal menu the developers have brought in Stephen Starr to run two restaurants – one a steakhouse and another is a diner-inspired restaurant called Teplitzky’s. The design and decor of Teplitzky’s is unique because it brings back thoughts of the old-fashioned diners, and hotel-restaurants such as the Howard Johnson’s Restaurants (fitting since the building was once a Howard Johnson). Additionally The Chelsea’s destination place will be “The 5th Floor” which I believe will only be open to the public during the evening and contain a number of bars, lounge, game room, large pool deck and cabanas. During the summer it’s easy to see how it will be a popular night spot for those who dont want to spend all day in the Casino. Lastly, The Chelsea will include a spa which has a salt-water pool and has a lot of emphasis on salt type-treatments.

Of course you cannot forget the rooms, the hotel will be divided into two sections – Chelsea Luxe and Chelsea Lite. I’m pretty sure the Luxe portion will be in the high-rise adjoining the boardwalk, whereas the Lite portion will be the former Howard Johnson hotel which is only a few stories high and does not offer the same views as the high-rise portion. The room amenities will be the same, yet I think the only difference will be the size, decor and of course – the views.

The entire premise of The Chelsea is based upon bringing the Atlantic City of yesteryear back – yet with a modern twist. As I’ve mentioned previously in some posts, I don’t completely see that via the renderings, but then again – I really don’t know what my idea of a modern yesteryear is, but I’ll reserve final judgement for when the hotel opens as a lot of times its difficult to tell just via computer generated renderings. Although, the exterior look – pink neon lights & a classic neon sign clearly do the job!

The hotel is due to open in mid-July 2008, a minor delay from their original Memorial Day weekend opening – yet still very commendable since they have clearly done a top down renovation which started only in mid-2007.

Exterior of The Chelsea Atlantic City

The 5th Floor Pool Area – Click to Enlarge

The Crystal Room – The Chelsea’s Banquet Facility

The Chelsea Prime Steakhouse

Luxe Bedroom

Teplitsky’s Restaurant

andrew@alconic-inc.com

Today I noticed that The Chelsea in Atlantic City has done just that – flipped the switch to their website which previously was a one page splash page taking reservations for events, and offering very simple information on the hotel. Now the site is a full fledged site offering room descriptions, restaurant names, and best of all – pictures of what to expect when the hotel finally opens Memorial Day Weekend.

The excitement about this hotel is growing – its the first “destination” hotel in Atlantic City that does not have a casino component, and even without the Casino I can easily see The Chelsea being booked solid almost every night.

I have to admit – I’m a tad bit disappointed in the decor of the hotel because I was expecting an older, nostalgic looking decor – instead it looks very modern looking, not futuristic, but contemporary/modern, although – I really don’t know what I would expect nostalgic looking decor to look like.

I found it interesting that there are two main room categories – Chelsea Luxe and Chelsea Lite. In other words, while the former Howard Johnson and Holiday Inn are now one combined hotel – there still is a difference in the quality of the room, although all the rooms in both categories are “stylish”, have complimentary wireless internet access, flat screen TVs, mini-bars, triple-sheeted beds and individual climate control systems (I don’t know any hotel nowadays that doesn’t have the last feature – from the Motel 6 all the way to the Four Seasons).

I’m very curious to see what the differences are in the room quality between the Lite & Luxe, or is it just a bigger room with a better view? For those who are not familiar with the former Holiday Inn & Howard Johnson, the Holiday Inn (Where Luxe rooms are located) is a 20-story high-rise hotel right on the boardwalk, whereas the Howard Johnson (where Lite rooms are located) was a 5-story hotel located behind the Holiday Inn.

The website continually is promoting the social life that is within The Chelsea and is primarily focused on the “Fifth Floor” which is being promoted as thee place to be:

Like a delightfully unpredictable house party, guests can roam from room to room endlessly exploring a flowing space punctuated with nooks, crannies, and hotspots such as the Terrace Lounge, the “must go” location for the over-21 crowd on the lookout for a sophisticated, hip experience outside of the casinos, the Living Room, the Bar, and the Game Room.

They are setting up The Chelsea to be a nightlife destination and I think its a refreshing change from what’s currently in Atlantic City. Not that I have a problem with Atlantic City’s nightlife (almost every casino has a club, and of course – all serve alcohol throughout the gaming floor) it’s just nice to see an environment that does not revolve around gaming in Atlantic City. It’s a place where people can go and relax and be in a busy, city environment – almost like you’d find in any major city around America. Atlantic City does not currently have that.

All in all, I hope that this will bring other Boutique hotels into Atlantic City, which will raise its popularity and profile from being more than just a gaming town – to being a destination where you can gamble if you’d like.

This type of development is what Atlantic City needs to stem the flow of dollars which are now starting to go to the new casinos in Pennsylvania.

W Hotel Atlantic City anyone?

andrew@alconic-inc.com

UPDATED: 9/10/07 – I was contacted by LaForce + Stevens, the PR agency for the developer and was told that the name of the development will be ”The Chelsea” and NOT The Chelsea House, I have updated this post to reflect that.

I was going through my email today, and I came across a weekly newsletter that tells of major layoffs and plant or facility closings throughout the nation.. I know, what a horrible thing to read every week – but it gives me a leg up as to what real estate may be available in a short period of time.

Plus, I always love finding bits and pieces of information that I can piece together and it may lead to much greater discoveries – today I made one of those discoveries..

· Holiday Inn is beginning layoffs this week of 145 employees at 111 S. Chelsea Ave. in Atlantic City.
· Howard Johnson Hotel is beginning layoffs this week of 43 employees at 105 S. Chelsea Ave. in Atlantic City.

The Holiday Inn in Atlantic City was a great hotel! Sure, you cannot compare it to some of the casino hotel rooms, but I have a number of good memories there, particularly a friends wedding, and it was a great place to stay with friends when we went down to Atlantic City. It was a little out of the way – South of the Tropicana, but what’s wrong with a 5 minute walk on America’s Most Famous Boardwalk up to Trump or Caesars?

The Holiday Inn Atlantic City, and Howard Johnson (Red Brick building in lower right corner) Click picture to enlarge

The Holiday Inn on the Boardwalk was a very inexpensive hotel, (compared to the other Atlantic City hotels) and you felt safe there, so it’s sad to see it go..

BUT!

I did some research and found out why it is closing. A partnership named A.C. Beach Development Partners, LLC purchased the Holiday Inn & the neighboring Howard Johnson’s for $36million earlier this year. The partnership intends to combine both properties into Atlantic City’s first Boutique Hotel named “The Chelsea”, it is scheduled to open in time for Memorial Day 2008 after a $93million renovation.

From the Press of Atlantic City:

When The Chelsea opens next Memorial Day, it will feature 337 luxury rooms, a rooftop pool with private cabanas, a lavish spa and two restaurants operated by Stephen Starr, who is famed for his Buddakan, Continental and Striped Bass restaurants, among others. Hotel rates will range in the $200s and $300s, depending on the season and time of week.

“It’s going to harken back to the golden era of Atlantic City hotels. It’s going to be timeless and hip. It’s certainly going to turn heads.”

The part that really interests me is how its supposed to bring back the golden era of Atlantic City hotels – that’s very exciting, because I was not alive during that time, and after reading books such as “The Last Good Time” about Skinny D’Amato, and discovering that one of the original grand hotels from Atlantic City’s heyday - the Ritz Carlton, Atlantic City – still exists and is in operation today, (although it is now a condominium complex called “The Ritz”), I would love to be able to experience what that time was like.

The Ritz Condos (Formerly the Ritz-Carlton Atlantic City) as it stands today. The roof of the Tropicana is in the lower left of the picture) Click picture to enlarge

A.C. Beach Development Partners is made up of Curtis Brashaw who is also a part of the redevelopment group that is planning on building a new casino just south of the Atlantic City Hilton, that group is also made up of Bruce Toll – who made his money with Toll Brothers, Inc – one of America’s largest home builders. Another partner in A.C Beach Development Partners is Normandy Venture Partners, LLC of Morristown, NJ – since I know a few things about real estate, I assumed that they are affiliated with Normandy Real Estate Partners – also of Morristown, NJ. Normandy Real Estate Partners is a fairly new firm (only 5 years old) and in that short amount of time they have built quite a large portfolio.

After a quick visit to Normandy Real Estate Partner’s website, low and behold – under Hospitality Development there is page about the The Chelsea development! (Although the picture references the hotel as “The Chelsea House”, it’s final name is to be “The Chelsea”)

The Chelsea Hotel, Atlantic City’s first Boutique Hotel

If you are at all familiar with the Holiday Inn – you can clearly see the resemblance to the Holiday Inn’s tower, so this looks like a legitimate picture.

The name “The Chelsea” makes sense, since the hotel is on Chelsea Ave, but a few hundred feet away from the hote is a bed and breakfast – also called “The Chelsea“. I’m a little surprised that the development group used the name of a pre-existing lodging business which has been around for decades for a new development not even a block away. I completely understand that the two places are catering toward different clientele, yet the similarities of the industry, and a distance of a few hundred feet is just a bit odd.. I’m sure that there will be some confused people.

I’m very excited about this property, even though it will take out a favorite and inexpensive hotel that I liked, because its going to bring even more young, trendy people to Atlantic City, and its also going to help promote Atlantic City as an attraction that has more than just Casinos.

andrew@alconic-inc.com