Half a century ago, Tarrytown was not the typical market where the Hilton Hotels Corp. chose to build and fly its hospitality banner. It was the smallest population area of any Hilton operation worldwide, as a local editor noted when the $3-million Hilton Inn Tarrytown opened at 455 S. Broadway in late 1961.
The new 204-room hotel was planned to serve a specific crowd of travelers expected to converge on New York City. The Hilton operation was expected to check out of Westchester County not long after those tourists did.
“This hotel was originally built for the New York World”™s Fair,” said Richard Friedman, general manager at the Doubletree Hotel, recently renamed the Doubletree by Hilton Tarrytown in its 50th anniversary year.
The World”™s Fair was staged at Flushing Meadows in Queens over two seasons in 1964 and 1965. The hotel was built on a 10-acre site in the town of Greenburgh near the Hudson River to capture fair-bound travelers crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge on the state Thruway.
“It”™s my understanding that the hotel was built to be torn down after the fair,” said Friedman, who unpacked his bags as general manager here in 2008. “That was not uncommon with world fairs.”
Room to grow
Instead Westchester”™s first luxury franchise hotel stayed open as the county grew from a country weekend getaway for some New York City residents ”“ “like the Catskill Mountains, but for the gentiles,” said Friedman ”“ to a suburban business center where Fortune 500 companies established their headquarters and corporate office parks rose to house a thriving business culture. At 50, the Doubletree has hosted more than 1 million guests and thousands of meetings and social events, Friedman said.
The hotel has grown to 247 guest rooms. After a major renovations project in 2007 that reportedly cost some $10 million, the Doubletree has added Westchester”™s largest ballroom ”“ a 10,000-square-foot space that can accommodate 1,000 persons ”“ and 24,000 square feet of meeting space and 17 meeting rooms.
The hotel operated as the Tarrytown Hilton until 2005, when the Hilton company sold the property for $9 million to 455 Hospitality L.L.C., a partnership of four private investors from Rockland County and New Jersey. Unable to have the hotel re-flagged as a Hilton because it is not a high-rise building, Friedman said, the new owners secured the Hilton”™s Doubletree affiliation.
“What we have is unique,” said Friedman. “Doubletree is sort of Hilton”™s eclectic brand. You won”™t see two that are alike.”
Regarding the name change to Doubletree by Hilton, “I think that”™s spectacular,” he said, “because a lot of people don”™t associate Doubletree with Hilton.”
”˜A progressive situation”™
The hotel was physically deteriorated when the new owners took over. It also was at a disadvantage when competing for corporate business. “We were sort of out of the fight when we opened” in 2008, Friedman said. “Everyone else had that business. We have slowly evolved. We”™ve gone after the smaller companies. Maybe they”™re not home runs, but they”™re singles or doubles for us.”
The renovated hotel also has gone after a higher-end clientele. “It”™s been a progressive situation for us,” said Friedman.
The Doubletree has seen strong growth in its weekend bookings, including weddings and wedding parties, and its catering business. It is one of four recognized caterers for events at nearby historic Lyndhurst Castle on Route 9. “That”™s an excellent extension for us,” said Friedman.
Friedman said 2009, which Westchester hotel operators have called one of the worst years on record in their industry, was “a critical year for us.” At the Doubletree, the general manager slashed salaries across the board and reduced employee hours while avoiding layoffs among the hotel”™s approximately 150-employee workforce. At the same time, “I grew the size of our sales department” to 10 employees. “I think that was the major catapult for us.
“We didn”™t have a great year in ”™09, but we did better than most.”
In 2011, “I think things are starting to rebound,” he said. “We”™re forecasting a pretty good year. This will probably be the year that we turned the corner.”
To celebrate its golden anniversary, the Doubletree has planned several promotions and package deals. They include 50 for 50, a weekly promotion that gives a 50 percent discount in room rates, food and drinks to the 50th guest checking in on any selected day, and the Remember 1961 package, which includes dinner for two, overnight accommodations and breakfast for two for $196.10.
