Nov. 26–GREENSBORO — The only hotel on the grounds of Piedmont Triad International Airport will undergo a major upgrade as part of a switch to a new operator.
Airport officials are negotiating a lease with Hospitality Ventures Management Group to run the Airport Marriott. Hospitality Ventures would invest $11 million in the hotel, primarily to upgrade guest rooms and the exterior of the building, said PTIA Executive Director Kevin Baker. The hotel will remain under the Marriott brand as part of the switch, which would be the first time the operation of the hotel undergoes a wholesale change since it opened three decades ago.
“I think it’s going to completely revamp the hotel,” Baker said. “There will be significant changes to the rooms and cosmetic changes to the outside of the building.”
The 299-room Marriott opened 31 years ago. The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority owns the property and contracts through a lease with the hotel’s operator.
The current operator is Potomac Hotel Limited Partnership, which has been involved in running the Marriott since it opened at PTIA. Potomac decided to sell its lease interest in the Marriott to another company, Baker told The High Point Enterprise.
“They have to get the (airport) board’s consent to assign the lease to a new tenant,” he said.
Baker said that PTIA nets more than $200,000 in annual revenue on average from the Airport Marriott.
Because Hospitality Ventures is investing so much in upgrades, the company asked that the lease with the airport be extended, Baker said. The Airport Authority would extend the lease, now set to expire in 28 years, by an additional 22 years.
“The Marriott has always been a great partner of the airport,” Baker said. “But this is going to make it all that much better because it’s going to improve the look and feel of that building.”
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