Doubletree to manage Sansom Common's Inn at Penn

Although the deal isn't finalized, the Doubletree Hotels Corp. is the only candidate the University is considering. If all goes as planned, Doubletree Hotels Corp. will manage the new Inn at Penn when it opens in fall 1999. Doubletree is the University's only candidate to manage the new 256-room hotel, scheduled to open in Sansom Common in two years, according to University officials. Although Doubletree has not yet signed an agreement with the University, Vice President for Business Services Steve Martin stressed that officials hope "to have a contract finalized by the end of the calendar year, since we're well down the road in negotiations." It is unclear what the University would pay the firm to manage the hotel, since there is no contract signed. Based in Phoenix, Ariz., the company manages several hotels for other schools around the country in similar arrangements. It also operates a hotel on Broad Street in Center City. "Doubletree is our leading candidate because they successfully operate other hotels on college campuses, such as Harvard, Virginia Tech, M.I.T. and the University of North Carolina," Murray said. Managing Director of Real Estate Tom Lussenhop said "Doubletree has carved out a niche in academic-oriented hotels, so they understand how to operate under a higher-education setting." Although the Inn at Penn will be managed by a private corporation, the University will retain absolute control over the property, enabling it to monitor the hotel's room rates. Although Lussenhop stressed that room rates have not yet been determined, he said rates at the Doubletree-managed Inn at Harvard were more expensive than what the new Penn facility will charge. The Harvard hotel charges room rates ranging from $109 to $185 per night, with suites going for $499. And Martin stressed that "you're not going to see the name 'Doubletree' advertised at all -- they'll be a silent partner." "We're sensitive to the concept that the Inn needs to retain the University image," he added. Officials said they were impressed by Doubletree's ability to recruit employees from the community in its previous management projects, a quality Martin said is especially important in University City. "We would like to have the majority of employees coming from West Philadelphia," he explained, adding that the Doubletree corporation also has feeder programs in the high schools surrounding its hotels in an effort to recruit employees from the areas. And Lussenhop said the Doubletree corporation boasts a reservation system that could draw Philadelphia visitors to the hotel over the summer when business is slow, working to avoid a problem faced by many area retailers. "None of us is concerned with demand for rooms over the academic year, but during the summer it's good to have an operator who can fill the available capacity," Lussenhop said. "[Doubletree] knows the business from A to Z, and they draw from a national talent pool of hospitality and expertise," he added.

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