Wyndham Press Release NJ Times
The Times
Employee stays the course
Long-time worker takes Wyndham as latest task Wednesday, February 13, 2008 BY BILL MOONEY PLAINSBORO -- For more than two decades, change has been the constant at what once was called the Merrill Lynch Conference and Training Center here. The 452,000-square-foot property off Route 1 has had different names, different managers, and different marketing strategies, which makes it interesting to discover an employee who has stayed with the entity through all its changes. But Judy Wuensch, who has worn at least five hats in more than 17 years, is confident that her steadfastness will finally pay off. "I was kind of tied to this facility mostly because of what it had to offer," said Wuensch, who has been an administrative assistant, conference planner, sales manager, executive assistant, and is now office manager for the facility's latest operator, Wyndham. She said that her belief in the center's potential will begin to pay off under Wyndham, a chain with more than 90 hotels around the world. "If you look at some of the hotels up and down Route 1, they don't have the meeting space we have to offer," Wuensch said. The problem, Wuensch and other Wyndham executives said, is many potential customers have been unaware there is a hotel that is a part of the conference center. The property went from being the Merrill Lynch conference center to being known as the Harrison Conference Center & Hotel managed by Aramark Harrison Lodging of Philadelphia. The facility, now owned by Scott and Alyson Toombs, and rebranded in August as the Wyndham Princeton Forrestal Hotel and Conference Center, will use the deep pockets of the Wyndham chain in an attempt to refurbish and reposition the hotel and business conference center with its distinctive enclosed walkway above a 6-acre lake. The company plans to pour approximately $7 million into renovating the 364-room hotel and 64-room conference center, according to Wyndham President Peter Strebel. Changes will be as basic as tearing up old, outdated carpeting, and using natural wood. "We want the lobby to have a warm, lodge-like feel to it," he said. "It will have more of an outdoor orientation." The more critical repositioning involves the customers Wyndham wants to attract. Known primarily as a business conference center, the chain wants to lure more of the so-called "transient" customer, the business traveler who needs a room for a few days, or the family that needs a place to hold a wedding or a graduation. "There has been a lack of awareness about the property," said general manager Ghee Alexander. According to Strebel, occupancy in years past has been as low as 45 to 50 percent, is now in the mid-50 percent range, and they would like it eventually to reach the low- to mid-70 percent range. Traditionally, about 90 percent of the facility's business has been in conferences, and they want to aim for a mix of 70 percent conference to 30 percent transient, he explained. "We are being very realistic," Strebel said. "We don't expect this to happen overnight." According to Strebel and Richard Keurajian, director of sales and marketing, the renovations should take three to four months, and they may add a full ballroom at some point. The softening economy may even have a silver lining, according to Strebel. "People may not cancel meetings, but they may look to do it more cost-effectively," he said, and opt to remain closer to home and choose nearby facilities such as the Wyndham. Keurajian stressed the need for an intensive direct sales effort, and explained one feather in the hotel's cap is an agreement with Princeton University for the hotel to serve as one of its preferred vendors for guests in athletics. "One of the challenges is getting our name out there," said Wuensch, who has seen previous owners and operators struggle to do just that. "You would be surprised people as close as five miles away say, 'Oh, I didn't know you were a conference center and a hotel.'"
Note: The projects described herein are owned or advised by subsidiaries, affiliates, or by unrelated companies which are owned in whole or in part by individuals associated with Merritt Capital Investors, LLC (“Merritt”). Merritt, as used herein refers to all the above either individually or collectively.
