Fort Hamilton Inn goes Express after privatization

Posted November 21, 2011
By Fort Hamilton Public Affairs Office

11/21/2011 - FORT HAMILTON, NY — Its old jingle contains the words "number one in people pleasing," and under the InterContinental Hotels Group, Holiday Inn Express has come to Fort Hamilton to ensure that jingle meshes with the Army's commitment of taking care of Soldiers and their families and improving their quality of life.

Fort Hamilton opened its doors of the new Holiday Inn Express, formerly the Hamilton Inn, during a ribbon cutting ceremony Nov. 16. It's part of an ongoing partnership with Lend Lease and IHG to manage and privatize lodges and hotels Army-wide under the Army's Privatization of Army Lodging program. The lease for which is administered by the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' real estate office.

Ownership and management of the hotel actually began Aug. 12 when employees are no longer working for the Army but now IHG under PAL. With the ceremony, Fort Hamilton has the distinction of being the first installation to open a branded Holiday Inn Express hotel within three months of being under the PAL program.

"It's really a project of sustainability to return and reinvest money back into the installation so that you'll always have a hotel that will look like this 20 years from now or longer," said Arthur Holst, IHG Army hotels vice president of operations.

"In addition to that," added Gretchen Turpen, Lend Lease development manager, "it's important to know that it is a long-term, 50-year commitment under the PAL program to ensure prompt upgrades, maintenance and ongoing sustainment of the hotel facility. This is a financial responsibility the Army no longer has to be concerned about."

All 46 rooms have been upgraded and the hotel now boasts two distinguished visitor quarters. The one-bedroom suites have full kitchenettes and all rooms received new bedroom sets, linens and flat screen televisions, among other enhancements. In addition to the hotel's free, hot daily breakfast and weekly barbeque socials, the hotel added a 24-hour convenience mart, business center, a courtesy shuttle, on-line reservations system, safety improvements and more.

"The entire guest experience is focused on good customer service," Holst noted. "We can build great looking hotels, but that's not the right way to get satisfaction. Service and product are two sides of the same coin where there can't be one without the other. So as far as branding is concerned, when customers arrive at Fort Hamilton, with the Holiday Inn Express, they expect a Holiday Inn Express experience with the same, consistent level of service they would receive anywhere else in New York City."

"For Soldiers on official duty, statements of non-availability are no longer needed," said Denise Sutton, the hotel manager. "We have to earn their trust, because we are now competing with hotels in the city for their business."

The hotel charges 75 percent of the per diem rate or less for official travelers, which Holst said is still a discounted rate and, on the average, cheaper than their competitors beyond the gate.

"However," he added, "we still must deliver great service and earn their trust to keep them as customers, because Soldiers and their families are still our priority."