Best Western starts year in style
With the country in recession and the local community enduring tough economic times, one local business has bet on better times.
The Best Western Beach Resort, a family owned business located at 684 Estero Blvd., has invested $5.1 million on a renovation project that puts the resort on the cutting edge of area hotels and resorts.
“Even during an economic downtime, it was a perfect time for us to do (the renovations),” said Tim Malbon, the managing general partner for Malbon Motel Management Company at Best Western. “You can get the best trades people to come out here and do the work at a reasonable price. Three or four years ago when everybody was building like crazy, you couldn’t get anyone to answer the phones and come out here. It was a good time to do it.”
And Malbon says work on the project was done to near perfection.
“We received a perfect score of 1000 points on the company’s building inspection before reopening after completing renovations in mid-December,” he said.
Malbon said the new resort is in position to compete with high-end hotels in the area.
“What we didn’t have before was curb appeal,” said Malbon. “The property was pretty dated. We basically stripped the building back to concrete and started over with everything new.”
The renovation, which took seven months to complete, included general contractor help from Al Calciano of Island Construction and Consulting Services and room and lobby design work from Jan Wallace of Robb and Stucky Interiors. Carol Hill in the design department of Best Western also contributed.
“We worked with (Hill) extensively on room designs, said Malbon. “She is someone we were dealing with on a daily basis.”
All in all, it was a group effort.
“We all worked together to come up with a good concept as well as working with Best Western International on the designs,” he said. “Everything had to go through an approval process.”
A perfect approval rating and quality curb appeal has seen early signs of success on the beaches’ north end.
“We’re running a pretty good occupancy this month,” said Malbon “What we were really shooting for was trying to get some walk-ins. And that percentage of business is about 40 percent. So it’s been pretty good.”
The resort includes all Gulf front efficiency rooms with fully equipped kitchens and re-configured bathrooms.
“We needed a change to stay in competition with the nicer hotels,” said Jeff Malbon, partner and cousin of Tim.
Both Malbons along with Jeff’s father, Paul, were hands-on with the renovations, picking up shovels and running equipment when needed.
The family owners also were able to retain almost all of its staff during the renovations.
“That was a good thing because we didn’t have to retrain the maintenance and front desk staff,” said Malbon. “Plus, we kept people who would have otherwise been unemployed. They got to see the whole process and know the building inside and out.”
The experience appears to be well worth the time and effort.
“It was long and drawn out, said Tim Malbon. “But, we’re pretty happy with the results. Scott (Janke, town manger) down at town hall had a pretty good working relationship with us.”
And to the public, Malbon makes a simple plea.
“Come out and take a look at us,