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A major shift for old Radisson

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February 15, 2012|By Katie Johnston

The former Radisson hotel is getting a $27 million makeover from its new… (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe…)

The Radisson on Stuart Street is undergoing a radical renovation, morphing from a nondescript chain for business travelers into an independent luxury hotel with steel sculptures in the lobby, CD release parties in the lounge, and uniforms designed by students at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

The new Boston hotel, to be called the Revere, is getting a $27 million makeover from its new owner-operator, New York-based Northwood Hospitality, which bought the property in late 2010 from the Boston family that has o wned it since it opened as a Howard Johnson 40 years ago.

“It’s a pretty massive transformation,’’ said David McCaslin, president of Northwood Hospitality, which owns and manages three other hotels around the country. “This is essentially creating an all-new product for Boston.’’

The Revere will officially launch in late April without its Radisson brand - or Radisson prices. The hotel’s 356 rooms will run from $229 to $600 a night on peak dates, up from the current $99 to $400 rates.

The Boston luxury hotel market - with average daily room rates of $300 or more - bounced back last year, with revenue per available room increasing 8 percent, according to the consultancy Pinnacle Advisory Group.

With no new hotels opening in the past few years and demand continuing to grow, area hotels this year are expected to get back to the all-time highs in room rates and occupancy notched most recently in 2000.

Hotel management declined to give current booking figures for the Radisson, saying the construction has kept many of rooms out of service. By the fall, the hotel projects an occupancy rate of 87 percent, down from 94 percent last year, due to the price increase. The occupancy is still high by hotel standards, and the company expects a jump in revenue per available room of as much as 15 percent.

The transformation from the Radisson to the Revere is a “major repositioning’’ that speaks to the strength of the Boston hotel market, said Matthew Arrants, executive vice president at Pinnacle. Brand names often give hotels a competitive advantage, but in Boston, independent hotels often fare better than they do in other cities because of Boston’s unique history.

“There’s also a real appetite for independent hotels in Boston,’’ Arrants said. “People come and they want some of that authenticity, and they think they’re going to get it by staying in an independent hotel.’’