Microtel hotel debuts in Racetrack Road corridor
The Microtel by Wyndham, which opened recently on Racetrack Road in Chartiers Township, offers 80 short-stay rooms.
Microtel executive Aly El-Bassuni, left, and local partner Perry Monpara talk about the new hotel in Chartiers Township.
Perry Monpara has gone from optimistic to ecstatic.
“This has been more than we expected here,” said the primary partner in the latest hotel to be launched along Racetrack Road, the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham.
The red ribbon was cut Wednesday during the ceremonial grand opening, but the package had already been opened. The no-frills, short-stay facility began operations two weeks ago in Chartiers Township, a well-struck 2-iron from Interstate 79 – and its new ramps – and South Strabane Township.
And operations have been going well, an excited Monpara gushed. All 80 rooms were booked last weekend and reservations for the next two weeks “are strong.”
“This has been unbelivable and unpredictable,” said Monpara, the force behind a project that virtually took one year from groundbreaking to completion. “How can I say anything bad about this?”
He couldn’t Wednesday. Monpara, also president of National Rubber Corp. in Bethel Park, thanked primary partners Sunny Patel and Kam Gosai, a Mon Valley physician, for their trust in him.
“My partners are like family,” he said. “Teamwork is important to our opening. Without that, you can’t do anything.”
The Microtel is the eighth hotel on or near Racetrack Road, offering a total 292 rooms. And three others are planned or being built: a Holiday Inn Express, and ones at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino and Park Place at the Meadowlands, all in North Strabane Township.
This nonsmoking facility follows the traditional Microtel model – built completely, never a conversion, with rooms of modest size fulfilling a number of needs. Some have one bed, some two, some are suites, some are handicapped-accessible. Wi-fi is free and TVs have large screens.
Rooms go for $89 to $99 a night. “They’re the best prices in this area right now compared with (other franchises’ rooms) in this category,” Monpara said.
Tejas Gosai, a minority partner, a rising hotelier and son of Dr. Gosai, likes this model.
“There’s no pool, no extra amenities,” he said. “These places literally give you a good night’s rest at an affordable price.
Gosai also extols the virtues of the new Microtel. Patrons have a brief jaunt to Tanger Outlets, The Meadows, I-79, and a heap of retail and restaurant opportunities. Oh, and it is in close proximity to Marcellus Shale activities.
Microtel has a significant presence nationwide, with more than 350 sites in 44 states. It also is in Argentina, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.
The franchise is relatively new in this region, with hotels only in Waynesburg; Wheeling and Morgantown in West Virginia; and St. Clairsville, Bridgeport and Steubenville in Ohio. But, apparently, more are en route.
“We’ve seen growth in West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley, and we have this new addition. This is a very strategic area for the Microtel brand,” said Aly El-Bassuni, vice president of operations for Microtel.
Chris Burdette echoed that sentiment. He is director of franchise development for Wyndham Hotel Group, which took over Microtel in 2008, and is bullish on the tri-state area.
“We have a lot going on,” he said, mentioning plans to build Mictotels in Cranbarry and near Pittsburgh International Airport, “and we’re close to signing a deal in Belle Vernon.”
Burdette added that “an additional 15 to 20 are targeted for Western Pennsylvania.”
The Chartiers Township hotel – known officially by the cumbersome Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Washington/Meadow Lands – was constructed on 2 1/2 acres of a 4-acre tract where an Igloo ice cream stand stood previously. Tejas Gosai said a restaurant still may be built at the front of the property.
The early success has lifted Monpara, an Upper St. Clair resident who is still learning the hotel trade. He is eager to embark on his next project, which he said would be in Washington County in 2014.
“I don’t want to disclose anything,” he said. “We don’t know the plan yet.”
The previous one appears to be bearing fruit.