Eye on Small Business: Royal Regency Hotel, Yonkers

A beacon of Greek-American comfort, warmth and service, Yonkers’ Royal Regency Hotel is celebrating 30 years of hospitality in Westchester County.

The hotel was established in 1994 on a site that previously housed the Greek-born ice-cream king Tom Carvel’s corporate offices and training center. At the time Konstantinos and Phyllis Paxos acquired it, they had no particular ties to Yonkers. But it was close to their original hospitality business, the Royal Coach Diner in the East Bronx, now closed.

When the Westfair Business Journal checked in to discover what it takes to run an independent hotel in an age when the industry is dominated by behemoth companies likes Hilton and Marriott, the Paxoses’ daughter and now co-owner, Maria Paxos-Pampafikos, said that every business has its difficulties. Being independent, she said, certainly comes with its own set of challenges, but the “ability to be nimble” and “make quick changes when necessary” are key. She added that “being answerable only to our guests” was one of the main reasons the hotel had been able to remain independent.  She quoted a national statistic that only 3% of small business organizations will survive beyond 10 years. A Forbes Advisor report of May 2024, quoting the Small Business Association (SBA), said that only 34.4 % of small businesses can expect to survive beyond 10 years.

Staying abreast of technological advancements has also been vital to the hotel’s performance. Transformative updates in 2015 saw motion sensors replace light switches in many areas, cutting down on energy waste, with digital thermostats in common areas and ballrooms maintaining consistent, comfortable temperatures while at the same time saving energy.

Following Covid, the three-story, 93-room hotel switched to providing full housekeeping services every third day or upon request, reducing laundry and saving water and energy. Guests are encouraged to reuse towels through informative cards in rooms, contributing to water and energy conservation. LED lighting has been installed across the property to curb power consumption, while an air curtain at the main entrance stabilizes lobby temperature, conserving power.

Referring to Royal Regency’s customer base, she said the hotel had a combination of transient and small business guests. “There are infinite reasons for needing a hotel room,” she said, including, but not limited to, guests from out of town attending an event – the hotel hosts social functions, fundraisers and meetings – in one of the hotel’s event spaces; out-of-town guests visiting family or friends; or contractors needing a place in close proximity to their work site.

Paxos-Pampafikos made relative light of the question of staffing – a problem facing many in the hotel sector, which has seen increasing strikes nationwide in recent days — saying that “not everyone is meant for a lifelong career in hospitality.” But for those who do consider it, she said, Royal Regency will train, coach and encourage staff to build on their skills, in an effort to prepare them to transition to their next positions. Those, she said, would ideally be within the company. “We prefer, and make every effort, to promote from within our organization whenever possible.”

As for the thorny question of dining – another notoriously tricky area for all hotels, but especially independents – Paxos-Pampafikos said that the hotel’s restaurant, Marcellino’s, was leased to a third party that had existed in the Yonkers market for many years.  “We currently have no involvement in the day-to-day operation of the restaurant,” she said.

While that is doubtless a shrewd business model, Marcellino’s has been drawing plaudits for many years. And with incoming executive chef Frank Cucinelli, who is passionate about food, service and serving the larger community through food recovery efforts, taking up the baton, that can only add sheen to an already polished hotel.