Lower Manhattan sees influx of hotel rooms

From left: Elizabeth Berger, the Doubletree, the W New York Downtown and the Andaz Hyatt Wall Street

A 399-room Doubletree Hotel opened at 8 Stone Street a week and a half before
Christmas, the fifth hotel to open in Lower
Manhattan this year, increasing the area’s room count to 4,100,
a gain of nearly 80 percent since Sept. 11, according to Globe Street. “The volume of investment
pouring into Downtown’s hospitality industry is further proof that the district
has become one of New York City’s most desirable
and dynamic locations for both business travelers and tourists,” said Elizabeth
Berger, president of the Alliance
for Downtown New York. In addition to the Doubletree, other openings this year
include the 220-room W New York Downtown in
June at 123 Washington Street,
the 169-room World Center Hotel in June at 144 Washington Street, the 112-room Holiday
Inn Express in May at 126 Water
Street and the 253-room Andaz Hyatt Wall Street in
January at 75 Wall Street. According to the Downtown Alliance, there are also three more lodging
properties with a combined 285 rooms planned or under construction. [Globe Street]