Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993 TAG: 9307160100
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Pedestal sinks and tubs from 1925 will be kept in 14 rooms to be renovated on the downtown Roanoke hotel's fourth floor. Unlike the 114 rooms on other floors, their fixtures were not replaced during previous remodeling.
Now the style has returned and is copied in modern bathrooms, said William Carder, the hotel's manager.
The original fixtures also will set the style for new decor in the guest rooms. Carder said they'll be refurbished and left in place. The guest rooms on that floor will be done in Twenties' Art Deco, with wrought-iron canopy beds and what Carder called that era's "black and white look.".
Also, another suite will be created on the hotel's second floor because of the demand for suites by hotel guests.
Carder said the face lift and other work will start immediately and be completed in about 90 days.
On the exterior, he said, the brick facade will be steam-cleaned and the trim will be painted. New exterior signs will mark the hotel's affiliation last November with the Radisson hotels chain.
Inside, the ballroom and the Jefferson Room, a meeting and dining room, will get new carpeting and draperies.
The computer system will be upgraded as well.
The announcement is tied to this week's closing of new financing for the property. The hotel's owner, Affirmative Equities Inc. of New York, completed a refinancing deal for nearly $5 million. The money was used to pay off the note carried by the hotel's former owner, The Monterey Corp. of Parkersburg, W.Va., with about $500,000 left over for the renovations.
The Patrick Henry's lobby, restaurant and first three floors were remodeled in 1990 when Affirmative Equities purchased the hotel.
Carter said Affirmative Equities also is in the final stages of a study expected to lead to purchase of a hotel in Charlotte. He declined to identify the hotel.
by CNB