No booze, you lose
January 30th, 2009 12:57 pm · 1 comment
Hm:
As the New Era reported Wednesday, Willow Valley wants to turn half of its complex into a DoubleTree hotel.
The DoubleTree is a Hilton Hotels chain that requires its franchisees to have an upscale restaurant that sells alcohol.
To make that possible, Willow Valley intends to put a referendum before township voters in the May 19 primary, asking them if they approve switching the township from dry to wet.
A “no” vote might mean no DoubleTree — or any other major full-service chain for that matter.
Here’s a stark case of where your traditional Lancaster County moralism can be a hindrance to economic development.
Bottom line is, many people who stay in hotels - be it here, or anywhere - want to avail themselves of a beverage. They don’t want to hop in the car and drive 15 minutes to find one, either. Not serving drinks puts the hotel at a competitive disadvantage; Willow Valley is a nice place to be sure, and might get a whole lot nicer were this to go through; but why would DoubleTree, particularly in these rough economic times, put itself at a competitive disadvantage in a “dry” location?
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Tags: Alcohol · Lancaster
There is currently 1 comment on this blog postView Topic | Comment on this blogArtie See
1/30/09
4:50 PM | but why would DoubleTree, particularly in these rough economic times, put itself at a competitive disadvantage in a “dry” location?
Because DoubleTree would not be putting ITSELF at a "competitive disadvantage".
This will not be a Hilton-owned property; it will be nothing more than a franchise. Willow Valley will pay Hilton a fee to use the DoubleTree name, participate in the Hilton booking network, and be advertised on the DoubleTree web site and in its printed literature.
A similar situation exists in downtown Lancaster. Penn Square Partners paid Marriott $15,000 nearly ten years ago for the right to use the Marriott name. This agreement requires both the hotel and the convention center to be built and maintained to Marriott standards, down to details like colors and materials, all at local expense. Marriott has invested not even one cent in the downtown project; in exchange for the Marriott name and Marriott marketing, Marriott has already made a huge profit from this deal, and will earn much more in the future.
I'm not saying this to criticize the arrangement; this is standard practice in the industry. I'm using this as a specific example because it is the one I'm most familiar with. |
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