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High-tech hotel set for 2008

ESuites hopes to break into the industry with its fresh ideas on what a consumer wants.

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published June 12, 2007

Jerry Ellenburg faced an uphill, seven-year fight starting a new hotel brand to compete with the industry's biggest players.

But after securing $127-million in financing and the expertise of two hotel veterans, the Clearwater developer says construction of the first four eSuites Hotels, including one in Tampa, will begin this fall.

The concept in 2000 was that each room in an eSuites - the "e" stands for electronic - would have an office equipped with a desktop computer with high-speed Internet access.

Now, plans also call for the two-room suites to come with two high-definition televisions and surround sound systems that work with iPods.

Each "sportSuite" will have an exercise cycle or elliptical trainer. The master bedroom of each "spaSuite" will include a whirlpool tub. Some other amenities: water purification systems in each suite, Lincoln Town Cars and Navigators as airport courtesy vehicles and glass-top bathroom vanities.

With daily rates from $140 to $160, eSuites should attract customers from limited- and full-service competitors, says Ellenburg. "In both cases, we'll offer a much better product at a far more attractive price."

The first four eSuites - in Tampa's West Shore district, Jacksonville, Phoenix and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. - should open in late 2008. Each will have 224 suites and cost about $27-million each.

The company, which will be based in Tampa, expects eventually to grow to between 250 and 300 hotels, says Ellenburg.

Until eSuites has about 100 hotels, it will face huge expenses for functions like marketing and accounting, says George Glover, owner of the hotel development and management firm BayStar Hotel Group in Tampa.

Ellenburg enters the business as big companies are expanding rapidly and adding new brands. As an independent, eSuites lacks the huge reservations systems and loyalty programs of a Marriott or Hyatt.

"You face a whole lot of problems as a start-up brand, " says Glover.

Ellenburg told the Times in 2000 he hoped to open five eSuites in a year and 30 more within two years. But his financing fell through after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks decimated the travel business.

The attacks "did a job on hotel financing for nonaffiliated brands, " he says. With condos going sour and hotels making good profits, real estate investment money is pouring into hotel projects.

Last month, eSuites closed on $100-million in financing from NorthStar Realty Finance and $27-million from PEMGroup of Irvine, Calif.

The company also signed on two big names in hotels: New president and chief executive Samuel Winterbottom oversaw development of Carlson Hotels' five brands as executive vice president. And Bryan Langton, vice chairman of eSuites, has extensive international hotel experience, including serving as president and CEO of Holiday Inns Inc.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified June 11, 2007, 23:16:42]