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New owner will keep hotel open
Renovations and upgrades will be coming to the facility.
LIBERTY — The new owner of the former Holiday Inn off Belmont Avenue says changes will be in store for the township hotel, but is unsure what those changes will be.
Travaglini Enterprises, based in Meadville, Pa., but with a local office in Howland, purchased the hotel for $2.75 million after a 10-minute bidding war Tuesday with a representative of a company representing Wells Fargo, who had the primary lien on the property.
Wells Fargo brought action against the former owners of the property and it was placed in receivership in January. The property has been managed by Summit Management of Georgia, via an agreement with Martin Management Services of Hilliard, Ohio, since that time.
The hotel has operated as The MetroPlex since losing the Holiday Inn name.
Bidding on the property opened at about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday with an opening bid of $2 million. The dollar figure quickly rose in $20,000 increments to a final bid of $2.75 million by Mark McHale, representing Travaglini Enterprises.
Raymond Travaglini, CEO of Travaglini Enterprises, immediately after the sale said he fully intends to keep the hotel open, but he is unsure if he will operate the hotel under a franchise name or what other changes will be made.
“I don’t know all the particulars at this point. It will take me about a month or so to know in what direction we will go,” he said.
Travaglini and McHale said there will be about $1 million put into upgrades at the facility. McHale said those upgrades will start in the rooms and encompass virtually the entire facility.
“You are basically talking about stripping it to the drywall and starting over,” McHale added.
McHale said the need for upgrades is how the hotel lost the Holiday Inn name in the first place. He said Holiday Inn has moved to a new layout and previous owners did not make necessary changes, leading to the loss of the Holiday Inn name.
McHale, who once managed the facility years ago, said the loss of the Holiday Inn name has meant a substantial drop in business.
Travaglini Enterprises controls a list of business operations including Holiday Inn hotels in Warren and West Middlesex, two industrial parks, a Comfort Inn in Edinburg, Pa., and two more hotels in Erie, Pa.
Travaglini said his proven history of hotel management will help make the facility a success. He also said the hotel has the right tools — banquet facilities and other amenities — to help put it at the forefront.
McHale said he is unsure if any additional jobs will be filled at the facility. He said Travaglini representatives will have to check current staffing levels before additional staffing needs can be determined.
Regardless of what changes come to pass at the hotel facility, McHale said Travaglini Enterprises plans to keep the facility a fixture in the township.
“We don’t buy hotels and turn around and sell them. We are in this for the long haul. We have some great plans for this,” he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com