The Aloft Hotel will be opening in less than a month now (August 19th) and we had this clip on file that interviews the concerned B&B owner at Hamilton Height's Sugar Hill Inn about possible competition. According to this month's Crain's article (New Hotels Create NYC Room Boom), New York City hotel occupancy rates are at 92% percent which is the highest out of any other city: LINK. Rates are flat but Starwood, which runs the W Hotel chain and Aloft, will increase their portfolio in the city by 50%.
So should smaller bed and breakfast businesses worry? The rates are usually lower and as the video points out, the environment is a little more casual. There actually might be less competition for B&Bs on the budget end these days since the city has shut down some of the popular hostels in the area for various reasons. L Hostel on ACP/7th Avenue and 118th Street was just closed this year and business for that location was always brisk with European travelers: LINK.
Since L Hostel's demise, the lower section of ACP started feeling a little desolate again and it goes to show how a busy establishment really ads vitality to a block. For those interested, check out Sugar Hill Inn: www.SugarHillInn.com. Video courtesy of Olivia Manders for Northattan.Org
Walked by L yesterday. Anyone know what's in store for it? Waste of a pretty building for it to be vacant.
ReplyDeleteWell, competition is good and HELPS the community. I love B&Bs,but they do not employ many people. There is little money going to other businesses from B&Bs compared to Bigger hotels...There is room for all.
ReplyDeleteAgree wholeheartedly MsCiara. There is a strong, eager work force up here in Harlem crying out for jobs:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/nyregion/24hotel.html
It is time for Harlem to move beyond being a 'tourist destination' and actually become a viable hub for NYC business (not just Mr C!). More hotels, more jobs, more local amenities will bring business uptown.
What I took from the video? Talk of Harlem, Sugar Hill, Developer, Construction Worker, all these concerns and interest, fear of lost revenue streams, money to be made, lost blah blah blah.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the Black people? Oh, they are on the wall, portraits of now dead Black people. This is what Harlem has come to, White people tussling over turf, matters that come down to money and making it(money) in Harlem. The Blacks will be thrown the bones, a job as a bell hop perhaps, maybe a house cleaner, classic roles for the Negro.
You see why most Blacks in Harlem don't give a sh*t about gentrification in Harlem, it predominately does not include us, just look at the video.
I've yet to see a brownstone renovation that had a black crew. Mine included.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a lot of black crews anyplace in the city, FWIW. I think there are plenty of avenues for folks from Harlem to make money and start businesses, and I hope more of us do. In the current climate (in spite of the slow economic recovery), there are opportunities that exist for minority-owned businesses, first-time businesses, and the like. We don't all have to be Emmett Smith or Magic to provide growth for the area.
ReplyDeleteAnd non-black contributions to this neighborhood don't necessarily make them a bad thing. I think the "classic roles" comment by Marcus G don't help things. When we're all adversaries who are suspicious of each other, the neighborhood loses. The city loses, too.
This is ridiculous. One hotel is going to put a few B&B's out of business; they offer two completely different experiences. Go to any city that has B&B's and you will also find major hotel chains. I'm sorry MarcusG that you didn’t find any black people in the video. There also weren’t any Chinese, Arabic, or Hispanics. Its one video. Don't read into it.
ReplyDeleteI'll add one more thing. I grew up in New Orleans. Plenty of people came from elsewhere (many of them white) over the past few decades to open beds and breakfasts celebrating all kinds of city achievements, many (most, even) by African-Americans. That's the way it should be, and the city is better for it, no matter the race of the people who take the risk to open the businesses. The way Marcus G seems to want it, these folks shouldn't hire locals for jobs, unless they are high-level positions (which, unfortunately don't seem to exist in a small inn) because it might be degrading(?) or something. So unskilled local people can't have the jobs because it somehow fits a stereotype. Seriously?
ReplyDeletePut it this way. If the people in the video had arrived in Sugar Hill and had no interest in the local history (imagine the paintings were of New Yorkers of European descent) and had no interest in hiring anyone who wasn't white, wouldn't we all be furious? So the choice is nothing or African-American businesses only. Is that the kind of place any of us wants?
Last thing I'll say: I was a busboy and waiter in New Orleans in white-owned restaurants. Do you hate me, Marcus G? Do you hate the restaurant owners? I paid for my education at Dillard (look it up) from those jobs.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that not many of the reno crews are black - but many of the new business owners (restaurants, wine stores) in Harlem are.
ReplyDeleteIt can be seriously debated whether gentrification displaces or marginalizes the original residents - a lot of recent evidence shows residents are MORE likely to stay.
Anyway curious too what will happen to the L Hostel. It's such a gorgeous building ... it really did help that block ... could make a lovely apartment building. I would turn it into rental apartments ...
MarcusG: Have there been instances of people turned away from work for which they were qualified, or similar ? If so, you should definitely be specific. How would one become included ?
ReplyDeleteI can say that my husband and his entourage (he is black and some of them are) do feel involved in the "gentrification," to the extent that they are inclined to be of course.
I doubt these hotels will weaken the BnB’s demand, I would expect the opposite to be true in that the hotels will legitimize Harlem as a hotel destination and give the BnB’s more customers.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people only mention whites and blacks when talking about gentrification in Harlem. There are large areas of Harlem that are mostly Hispanic not black, East Harlem, Hamilton Hts. Some people act like Harlem is blacks only when its not and hasn't been for a long time. Hispanics don't seem to mind gentrification.
ReplyDeleteI too question the notion that W Aloft will hinder B&B business. B&B's offer the opposite of what modern hotels offer. A large number of travelers and tourists prefer B&B's for the quaint, quietness, charm and rusticity that hotels don't posses. Yes they also seek cheaper rates but I am certain that the W Aloft will not be competitive in their pricing. Apples, meet oranges.
ReplyDelete