Renovations nearly complete, Genesee Grande gets new name: Scholar Hotel

SYRACUSE — After a year of renovations, including new heating equipment, a new fitness center, new décor, and new technology, Scholar Hotel Group is ready to put its name on its Syracuse property. On Jan. 7, the Genesee Grande Hotel will be renamed a Scholar Hotel.

The change affects both portions of the property on East Genesee Street.

First opened as a hotel in the 1950s, the facility became the Genesee Inn 30 years later and the Genesee Grande following extensive renovations in 2003. 

The new name comes 13 months after the hotel was purchased by Scholar Hotel Group from Norm Swanson for $16.6 million.

The new décor is “classic modern,” says Scholar Hotels President Gary Brandeis. Speaking from the company’s headquarters in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, he says renovations have been extensive and are continuing.

Overnight guests will notice rooms now each feature a 55-inch flat-screen TV and upgraded Wi-Fi. The hotel also has added a “Brewed by Starbucks” café in the lobby and a new reservation system.

Diners will also find a new restaurant. Brandeis says the new dining option is called Salt, and it features a new chef and new menu.

Those visiting the Scholar Hotel for a business meeting or social event will see the common areas have been updated, again in a “classic modern style.” The change has made the space “a little more modern,” Brandeis says, and allowed a bit of local color. “We do have some orange in the lobby.”

The décor updates are more modern, but Brandeis quickly points out that the ambiance is “very warm; it’s not like a high-tech night club in New York City.”

Changes to the property include extensive updates to infrastructure, including upgrades to the HVAC system; new fire alarms, smoke and carbon-dioxide detection system; and a new, more efficient boiler system. “It’s more green,” Brandeis says. 

The square footage of the property and the number of rooms will remain the same. After renovations are complete, some 45 percent of the 158 rooms will be set up for extended stays, he says.

Some renovations are continuing. About half the rooms in the taller section of the hotel have been renovated, he says. The rest should be completed by the spring. Still in the works, Brandeis says, is an app for use by guests across the chain.

Brandeis would not discuss how much Scholar Hotels Group has invested in the renovations. But, he did explain the business model for the company.

The chain has four properties, each near a university. In addition to the Syracuse hotel, there is one in Morgantown, West Virginia, a couple of blocks from West Virginia University, and two close to Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania.

Being close to a college or university allows a hotel to tap into “a much more consistent or reliable market,” Brandeis says. The Scholar Hotel in Syracuse is just yards away from Upstate Medical University, with its four colleges, and nearly as close to Syracuse University with its thousands of students.

With visits from potential students, parents, alumni, researchers and the many vendors and consultants employed by large universities, these academic markets, “soften or alleviate some of the market risk,” Brandeis says.

“A great hotel convenient to those demand drivers can generate above-average occupancy and at above-average rates.”

While a commercial lease can last years and a residential lease a year, renting a hotel room is, in effect, “a one-night lease,” he says. When the economy softens, longer-term leases can protect property owners from some risk, but for those renting hotel rooms, the fall-off in occupancy can be dramatic. Having a hotel close to a major university, “helps us manage our risk a little better,” Brandeis says.

Being near a university, particularly one with Division I athletics, means taking on a little team spirit in the décor. That means some orange — but not so much to run afoul of Syracuse University’s intellectual-property attorneys — at the Syracuse Scholar Hotel, but a different look at the other hotels. 

“When you’re at the Scholar Hotel at West Virginia University, you know you’re in Morgantown,” Brandeis says. “We really create a product that feels like part of the community.”

Looking to the future, Brandeis sees the chain expanding, and soon. There are four or five projects “in the pipeline,” that could see the firm’s footprint double in 2020. Naming off other college communities across upstate New York, Brandeis says the Scholar Hotel in Syracuse could become “a regional headquarters” if the company is able to expand elsewhere in the region.

Noting there are more than 300 college markets, Brandeis sees plenty of room for growth. “We want to have more hotels near great colleges and universities.”