OCEAN CITY – The Hotel Monte Carlo & Suites located downtown was given a greenlight this week to move forward in constructing a “hidden secret.”
A site plan to create a rooftop service bar at the Hotel Monte Carlo & Suites located on the corner of 3rd Street and Baltimore Avenue came before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday evening for approval. The applicant was Hotel Monte Carlo & Suites partner Carlo DiFlippio.
“This one is going to be a hidden secret,” Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith said.
Smith reminisced the Hotel Monte Carlo & Suites once was the former Monticello Hotel, which stood as a piece of Ocean City’s history until 1999 when the building was torn down.
“We like to keep historical buildings in Ocean City but the Monticello was in need of replacement,” Smith said.
The property was later redeveloped into the Hotel Monte Carlo & Suites. The hotel was built with a rooftop pool, and the family has always been interested in adding a bar.
“The pool has been in operation since the hotel was built,” Smith said. “They have wanted to do this for a number of years.”
When the project came before the Board of License Commissioners in April for approval of a liquor license, the hotel’s managers estimated half of their guests complained about not being able to get a glass of beer or wine as they laid by the pool, and granting the license would meet a need at the hotel in being able to offer concessions and beverages.
The plan is for a 600-square-foot rooftop bar in the southwest corner of the hotel’s roof adjacent to the pool. The bar includes a Double Panini grill and ventless tabletop fryer to serve concessions, as well as the Board of License Commissioners approved beer and wine to be served until 8:30 p.m.
“Essentially you won’t even see it looking up from the street level,” Smith said.
The site plan proposed a glass enclosure on the street side of the bar, which will also serve as a buffer against noise. The service side of the bar will be open to the pool deck, and because the proposed rooftop bar is considered over 50 percent open-enclosed no additional parking is required, according to Ocean City’s code.
The hotel is prepared to start construction this fall if not sooner for the new rooftop bar to be open by next summer season.
Commission member Joel Brous made a motion to approve the site plan with staff recommendations and the commission voted unanimously to approve.