The lack of a truly “nice” hotel in the downtown and waterfront area has long been a drag on Plymouth’s tourism industry.
Sure, there are charming bed and breakfasts in the business district, but that type of accommodation has narrow appeal. (“What time does the gym open?”) There are several perfectly pleasant chain hotels farther out from the town center, such as the Hilton Garden, Hampton Inn, and Fairfield Inn. They’re clean, modern, and reasonably priced, especially for families whose main wants are an express breakfast and a pool for the kids that doesn’t reek of chlorine.
Other options include the tiny Sisu “boutique motel” on Lincoln Street (near the public schools administration building). It’s a hidden gem. And the Best Western Plus across from Benny’s Plaza has been a mainstay for years.
There are also a couple of motels in the region that fall into the “what’s that funky smell coming from the mattress?” category, but let’s not go there. Ever.
Meantime, Rick Vayo – a developer with a laser focus on elevating downtown’s profile – is building a small boutique hotel on Chilton Street. It will fill an important market niche, the space between a B&B and a chain hotel.
Truth is, though, Plymouth’s only existing higher-end hotel is Mirbeau Inn & Spa. It’s not cheap, nor is it close to tourist magnets. Mirbeau is a destination unto itself.
That leads us to the two major hotels in downtown-waterfront area – the awkwardly-named Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor and the John Carver Inn, which dates to 1969 and looks it. They’ve undergone a series of makeovers throughout the years that felt more like Botox treatments than full-blown surgeries.
These days, the room décor at both properties is no longer tired, the paint is fresher, and the wi-fi works, but they fall shy of the kind of experience most travelers expect. As a result, a visitor might stay one night instead of two, or two instead of three. That means fewer dollars pumped into Plymouth’s economy.
Part of the problem is that the Hotel 1620 and John Carver are stuck with outdated architecture that even Martha Stewart at the height of her powers couldn’t gussy up. The crucial first impression is, to put it gently, underwhelming.
But that could soon change at the latter location. The 80-room John Carver on Summer Street has been purchased for $14 million by the Boston-based Mount Vernon Company. The company, founded by Bruce Percelay, has built a formidable real estate portfolio that includes hotels and major apartment developments. Many of Mount Vernon’s projects have involved rehabbing existing buildings. Its suite of hotels features Boston’s Revolution Hotel, which was once a YMCA. It also operates 21 Broad and 76 Main Ink Press Hotel on Nantucket. Both island properties are gorgeous.
Percelay, who has another role as publisher of the slick N Magazine, knows that Plymouth is not Nantucket. But he sees great potential in the John Carver acquisition, and the town. That matters because Plymouth has too often sold itself short, Yes, we can have nicer things. Sometimes it takes an outsider to make it happen.
“We’re used to working on challenging properties,” Percelay told me, “and this certainly has some of them. But it’s squarely in the scope of what we do. We can very easily visualize what it could be.”
For starters, he said, Mount Vernon plans to make some quick fixes, from scraping away peeling paint to dealing with the “inadequate landscaping” to fixing the undulating parking lot, which on Thursday evening was filled with vehicles from Maine, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Virginia, and other states.
Some of the exterior cosmetic work has already started. The heavy lifting part will take up to two years, during which time the John Carver will remain open for business.
“When we’re finished, people will absolutely notice that this is a different quality asset than what sits there today,” Percelay said.
I wondered whether the project calls for doing away with those garish columns outside the lobby entrance. They make me feel like I’m entering a courthouse for a sentencing hearing. I took Percelay’s reply – a slight laugh – as a maybe/yes.
(I managed to sneak in a pitch for pulling the plug on that hokey Pilgrim-themed indoor pool, which might have once seemed like a fun idea but is now just sad.)
Keeping with the theme of modernization, while the John Carver name will remain, the “ye olde” feel of the signage and branding will get a 21st century makeover.
Unlike the company’s fancy island properties (some rooms at 21 Broad are going for nearly $1,000 a night this weekend), the reinvented John Carver will be “a high-quality middle market hotel [that] is affordable for families,” Percelay said. “We want them to feel that they got their money’s worth…Our approach is not to create a high-end luxury hotel that caters to a new demographic, but rather one that better serves the demographic it already caters to.”
Percelay’s vision also extends to the hotel restaurant, CJ’s Bar and Grille. He said it will be replaced by something spiffier yet affordable for families.
“We are aware that Plymouth has become much more sophisticated in the food world,” he said. “It could be a true foodie place.”
But the company isn’t looking to merely dress up and flip the hotel, according to Percelay.
“ We’re very bullish on Plymouth,” he said. “We produce award-winning properties. We take a lot of pride in them. We become part of the community, and, hopefully, we’ll be good stewards for this hotel.”
As for the cost of turning the place around, “We are prepared to spend whatever it takes to make this a great asset.”
That kind of talk makes a former business editor’s heart flutter.
After he’s finished with the John Carver transformation, maybe someone can convince Percelay and Mount Vernon to take a look at the disaster zone that is the Bert’s restaurant site.
A man can dream, can’t he?
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.