SARATOGA SPRINGS — Gulph Creek Hotels is seeking approval from the city of Saratoga Springs to renovate the Hilton Garden Inn, three months after purchasing the 112-room hotel.
Exterior renovations are part of $2 million in proposed upgrades planned by the suburban Philadelphia hotel management company.
Gulph Creek purchased the 21-year-old Hilton Garden Inn for $9.75 million in February. The South Broadway hotel was acquired from BRE Select Hotels Properties LLC, part of Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX). The deal closed Feb. 20.
The new owners have filed an application with the Saratoga Springs Design Review Commission seeking an architectural review of plans to replace the front entrance, repaint the hotel and make other exterior improvements at the 2.75-acre property. Gulph Creek is working on the project with architect Kiprian Fedetz of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Gulph Creek executives said in February that the Hilton Garden Inn's occupancy had been strong, but the company purchased it seeing opportunities for improvement. Less than a month after the purchase, the Covid-19 pandemic started spreading across New York state, forcing thousands of businesses to shut down, dramatically limiting travel.
Hotel occupancy in Saratoga County fell by 38.5% in March 2020, compared to the same period the previous year.
The city is preparing for its busiest season; however, this summer's turnout remains in question since the Saratoga Race Course plans to run without permitting fans at the track. Last year, more than 1 million people attended the races.
Gulph Creek owns a half-dozen hotels and manages 20 others in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The company secured a $9.6 million mortgage through Truist Bank of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when it purchased the Saratoga Springs hotel. Approximately $2 million of that total was part of a construction loan to cover renovations.
Gulph Creek principal Derek Sylvester said in February that the new owners also plan to upgrade the bar and reconfigure the lobby. The 112 rooms already had been renovated over the past two years.
