The major surge in corporate hotels coming to Ocean City as well as Route 50 in West Ocean City should not be viewed as a negative. It should be embraced as a natural evolution of the industry in a prospering area.
For many traditionalists, this gradual change from the old “mom and pop” or “bedspread” motels and hotels to the corporate brands brings about unfavorable sentiments. They amtain it’s a sign of Ocean City’s identity changing from independent, family-owned businesses to a national, corporate-minded upgrade, and they don’t like seeing this national trend playing out here. We understand these conclusions.
On the other hand, the fact “flag” hotels have found Ocean City’s seasonal economy appealing should be viewed as a positive. It’s a progressive evolution and an indicator that Ocean City has changed significantly in recent years. Although still a seasonal region, these corporate decision-makers now seem to feel it’s worth the investment for the 120-day peak season despite the fact most of these hotels have to stay open every day of the year.
In Ocean City, the tricky part to finding success is grossing enough revenue during the peak times to make up for an entire year’s worth of operations. The idea is to not stay open too long in the fall or open too early in the spring to hurt this balancing act. Operators must be smart with their revenue and be sure not to spend too much of their profits in the off-season months when it’s not fruitful to be open. In most cases, closing for five or six months of the year is the best bet.
All things are cyclical and this is the time of a major hotel redevelopment. Deflated property values, the timing of certain landowners looking to maximize revenue potential and corporate folks seeing the economic prosperity from the warm months have combined to create this boom time.
At its most fundamental, property owners who formerly operated independent hotels on their valuable land are opting to redevelop because they can. The demand is there and their buildings are old and in need of reinvestment. They feel they can make more money with corporate hotels and nobody should begrudge them that.
Rather than seeing it as a negative, we think the insurgence of new corporate hotels, such as the planned Hyatt on Baltimore Avenue and 16th Street and the Residence Inn and Suites near Route 90, could actually help with off-season business because of the rewards program these corporate hotels offer. These new, state-of-the-art hotels will also have greater appeal to the new generation of consumers who want to lodge with something they know more so than the smaller unknown operations. In addition, these hotels create year-round jobs, the importance of which cannot be understated in our heavily seasonal economy.