NEWPORT, RI— Starting with a series of small inns here in the 1970s, Atlantic Stars Hotels & Cruises’ founder and chairman, Don Glassie, has assembled a lodging portfolio that extends beyond this historic summer resort. In fact, the collection encompasses hotels in another classic New England destination, Martha’s Vineyard, as well as in such larger, more cosmopolitan cities as Miami and New York. “Going back to those early days, we grew one step at a time, building the business at a Newport inn into a successful enterprise and then selling it to fund the purchase of another, larger or better situated property,” Glassie recalled. Along the way, his grasp of the lodging business grew, as did his skill as a developer and operator. “It really was— and still is— an opportunistic strategy where we just came upon a property that was available and was too good to pass up,” he said. One common thread of most of Atlantic Stars’ acquisitions, however, has been their historic nature. In some cases, the building was always used as a hotel, while in other cases it has involved an adaptive reuse of a building never intended to be a lodging facility. The most pronounced example of the latter has been the 1770s-era Jailhouse Inn in Newport, which as its name implies, was originally a prison. “There’s a beauty and character to older buildings that makes them very appealing,” Glassie noted, “though the development process can also end up being more complicated and time consuming than brand new construction.” In South Beach in Miami, the 107-room, 1930s-era Avalon was actually built as two hotels, but the former Majestic was subsequently combined into the Avalon. Given both hotels’ Deco-Moderne roots, Atlantic Stars has restored the Avalon with that sensibility in mind. The company’s second South Beach property, the 112-room South Seas Hotel, is testament to the importance of “location, location, location” in the lodging business, Glassie said. “We’re on one of the great hotel blocks in the country— Collins Avenue and 17th St., facing the ocean— the same block as the Ritz-Carlton, the National, the Delano, and the Shore Club and a block from the Miami Beach Convention Center, which broadens our appeal to include business travelers,” he said. Entering the Miami market also brought Atlantic Stars into the restaurant business. “It was almost by default, but we’ve been quite successful with restaurants like ‘A Fish Called Avalon,’ which we opened on the veranda of the Avalon, overlooking Ocean Drive,” Glassie said. The company chose to own the restaurants itself, rather than lease the space to third parties. “By attracting a strong base of local business, we’ve found the restaurant becomes more appealing to hotel guests, who want to be part of the action,” he added. Atlantic Stars’ first New York property, the 142-room Park South Hotel, was consistent with the profile of its other assets. Namely, the hotel, which is located at 28th Street and Park Avenue, is housed in a historic 1906-era building that was formerly an office building. The company also acquired an 18th Century brownstone adjacent to the hotel, which now houses the Black Duck Bistro & Lounge. The company then broke through the walls to improve the access from the hotel to the restaurant and now serves guests a complimentary continental breakfast in the restaurant. For its second New York project, Atlantic Stars is venturing into new construction. The 177-room Strand Hotel is now under construction on West 37th Street, with an opening expected in late 2008 or early 2009. Unlike Atlantic Stars’ other properties, which have more of a leisure and resort feel, the Strand is positioned more as a business hotel. “There’s strong business travel demand in the Midtown South sub-market, especially from travelers who don’t want to pay the rates many midtown properties are charging,” Glassie said of the New York hotel market. A number of mid-market chains are entering the Manhat
