Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401240256
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: EC4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Hotel Roanoke is not the first large facility Gary Crizer has helped build with marketing and sales, but it is different.
"It's a unique and fun project," Crizer said. "Rebirthing a hotel is an experience in our industry."
The historic hotel, combined with a new conference center, is a $45 million joint effort of the city and Virginia Tech.
The project is viewed as a crucial part of each entity's future. For the city, it means new business. For the university, it is a chance to extend its influence far beyond the Blacksburg campus. It would be an ambitious education center to bring up-to-date information to people in the workplace.
Crizer's employer, Doubletree Hotels of Phoenix, Ariz., is the third party in the effort. Doubletree will operate the hotel and is responsible for marketing and sales for the conference center. Both facilities are scheduled to open by mid-1995.
Crizer opened what he calls a pre-sales office in mid-October in very temporary quarters - he's not hanging anything on the walls - at 111 Franklin Plaza in downtown Roanoke.
At some point, the sales office will move to the former Norfolk & Western railroad passenger station near the hotel. Meanwhile, Crizer is collecting contracts for room nights - a measure of hotel occupancy, meaning one room sold for one night - along with memories and mementoes of the hotel.
Along with signed contracts for almost 2,000 room nights in 1996, Crizer has in his office the latest memento, a three-part ceramic replica of the hotel that was introduced at Heironimus stores over the holidays.
And he says the memories come with almost every conversation he has, as people recall the old days at Roanoke's grand hotel on the hill.
Crizer said he understands the sentimentality. His family once restored a Georgia farm, and the parting was bittersweet when they had to leave after he took a job at Doubletree corporate offices in Arizona.
Crizer was regional sales director for Doubletree from 1987 until he came to Roanoke for what he described as "a long-term commitment." He said he not only wants to see the hotel and conference center up and running, but he wants to watch it operate.
He has 21 years of hotel experience with such chains as Hilton Hotels, Holiday Inns Inc. and Ramada Inns Inc. Among the properties that he has worked is Peachtree Executive Conference Center in Peachtree City, Ga., where he developed marketing and sales strategies both before and after the facility's opening.
Doubletree, founded in 1969, has tried to create its own traditions. When guests check in, they are greeted with two chocolate-chip cookies that are big enough to last several days. Another tradition is that the company does not reveal the calorie count for the cookies.
It gave out 5 1/2 million cookies last year. The company also sells the cookies for guests who want more.
In addition to the attention the hotels have gained from cookie distribution, their logo - a row of green trees - makes for easy recognition. How the name will be displayed at Hotel Roanoke has not been revealed.
In December, Doubletree Hotels Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Hotels Corp., merged with Guest Quarters Hotels Partnership. The new entity, which operates as Doubletree Hotels, represents 96 hotels with a total of 24,000 rooms.
The chain's name pops up in major destination places, meaning Roanoke soon will be listed along with Los Angeles, San Diego and Monterey, Calif. (Doubletree Hotel at Fisherman's Wharf); Colorado Springs, Colo.; St. Louis; Boston (The Inn at Harvard); Baltimore (across from Johns Hopkins University); Newport, R.I.; and near Washington National Airport.
Also, the company recently signed a contract to manage Carolina Inn, the historic hotel owned by the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. A Doubletree spokesman said the company would continue to look for opportunities in this region.
Doubletree Hotels generally are ranked among luxury properties, the kind of hotels that provide overnight guests with amenities including stocked bars and bathrobes. Doubletree Club Hotels, established in 1984 as Compri Hotels, go one step further with all-inclusive pricing that includes full breakfast and cocktail receptions, as well as a club room for guests.
Hotel Roanoke was the company's first Virginia affiliation, but other Virginia properties were added with the Guest Quarters merger.
\ DOUBLETREE PARTNERS
A NEW NAME
The company: Doubletree Hotels Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Hotels Corp., in December merged with Guest Quarters Hotels Partnership to become Doubletree Partners. The company provides a wide range of hotel management services including operations, sales and marketing, central reservations, accounting, purchasing, human resources management and training. It operates 96 hotels with a total of 24,000 rooms.
Headquarters: Phoenix, Ariz.
Roanoke Valley operations: The company has a contract to develop marketing and sales strategies for the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, which is scheduled to open by mid-1995.
by CNB