HIALEAH GARDEN, FL— Niki Goenaga knew when she took over the distressed Miami Plaza Hotel about a year ago that it would need some major renovation work in order to receive the benefits associated with converting the property over to an established brand. The 259-room property was originally built as a Sheraton nearly 30 years ago before being converted over to a Park Plaza, which subsequently lost its flag forcing it to become an independent hotel, according to Goenaga, current owner and gm. “This hotel was in terrible shape, there were absentee owners and control issues,” she said. After purchasing the hotel and before commencing any renovation work, however, she wanted to be set on a brand in order to incorporate any specific standards from the onset. “We started looking at perspective franchises in February [2003],” Goenaga said. “Despite the full-service hotel that was built by Sheraton, the surrounding community and demographics changed a lot. We felt a midscale flag would be better positioned. In April we signed with Howard Johnson. We wanted the chain’s input before putting any money into the property,” she said. One of the reasons Howard Johnson got the nod was because there were at one time several Howard Johnson properties in the area, but some have been de-flagged, Goenaga said. Therefore, there was a strong brand name already established in the region but not enough supply, she said. The hotel raised its new flag this past October and is now known as the Howard Johnson Plaza and Conference Center. Because the property was in such poor condition, it has taken nearly one year and $3 million to convert and renovate. The process involved knocking down nearly the entire building including all the guestrooms, baths, hallways and lobby area, Goenaga said. “We gutted everything, all the rooms. The ceilings were redone, walls were redone, the rugs were replaced and the bathrooms retiled. We put in new fixtures, new tubs and new toilets. Everything was stripped and everything is new,” she said, adding this also resulted in new furnishings, case goods and bedding. In order to keep whatever business was coming in, Goenaga said the hotel was kept open during the conversion and renovation process as the work was done floor by floor. “We never closed. We gutted it in phases, a floor at a time,” she said. As for the lobby area, the wallpaper was torn down, the wood sanded and the marble floors were restored. “We redid the entire lobby. The marble floors were sitting under an inch of grime,” she said adding that the one thing untouched was the location of the front desk. As for the exterior, all the windows had to be resealed because of moisture problems and patches of mold, according to Goenaga. “All the wallpaper was coming off from the moisture getting in through the windows,” she said. The exterior was also completely repainted. Although realizing the property needed a lot of work, there were still some surprises along the way. For one, the parking lot drains were old and not functioning so none of the rainwater would drain out, Goenaga said. “We had to repave the whole parking lot,” she said. Also, the hotel’s boiler and air conditioners needed to be replaced and the elevators were not functioning properly and therefore needed heavy maintenance. “We knew it needed a lot of work but the property was in worse condition than we expected. Nothing worked,” Goenaga said. “Mechanically, the hotel was a nightmare.” Goenaga said that all these improvements and upgrades are designed to not only attract the leisure traveler— Miami is a destination area— but also more business travelers as well. As a result, during the conversion and renovation process, high-speed Internet access was added to every guestroom, she said. “Because of the condition of the hotel, we did not have an awesome clientele, people who wanted just a cheap room. [We hope to get] convention and business travelers now,” she said. At presstime, the hot
