ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280028
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
WHEN THE SHERATON becomes the Clarion, more than the hotel's name will have changed.
Mall-style dining with an upscale twist is coming to the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport, as part of an effort by the hotel's new owners to appeal primarily to business travelers and weekend family vacationers.
By Oct. 1, guests will be able to walk up to counters in the hotel's lobby and buy a pizza, hot dog, salad, deli sandwich, muffin or cup of gourmet coffee. They will be able to eat what they buy in a food court, decorated with hunter green floral-print carpeting and elegant wooden furniture - none of that molded plastic lawn-style stuff you see in most food courts.
It's all part of an overhaul that also includes new meeting areas and renovations to the hotel's 150 guest rooms, general manager Gary Powell said Tuesday. The work is expected to be completed by Dec. 1, in time for the hotel's name change - to Clarion Inn - on New Year's Day.
Choice Hotels International of Silver Spring, Md., bought the 15-year-old hotel last December, paying $5.3 million to a holding company that deals in distressed properties. The holding company got it from Krisch Hotels Inc., a former Roanoke hotel company.
Powell said the company will leave "no area untouched." Even the roof and climate control system will be changed.
So will room rates. The $60- to $110-per-room price will rise moderately next spring, Powell said.
The improvements will cost $2.25 million, but the expenditure is not unusual for Choice. When the company acquires hotels, it upgrades them to nearly new condition to attract new business, Powell said. The food court and pre-made banquet entree concepts were developed to wring higher profits from sales of food and beverages.
The food court will replace a casual dining area and bar as the centerpiece of a naturally lighted atrium. Food vendors booked for the project include Nestle, Pizzeria Uno, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Sarks Coffee, and Healthy Choice, a brand of deli meats, Powell said.
Business travelers Iike the food court because it offers fast service of food that can be carried on a tray to guests' rooms, Powell said. Those who want traditional dining, he said, can take a footbridge to the adjacent Roanoke Airport Marriott hotel's restaurants.
Also for business travelers, the hotel is equipping 65 guest rooms with desks and office supplies.
Hotel officials are pretty confident that the foot court will be a success: They will convert the hotel's formal dining room to a 350-person capacity meeting room.
With two other meeting areas that accommodate up to 500 people, the future Clarion intends to market itself to larger groups, Powell said.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Alric Phipps (top) and Manuel Zelaya install wallby CNBfittings in a third-floor room. color.