Hotel management and development company Taylor Hospitality has acquired a historic hotel in Parkersburg, West Virginia, which it will convert under Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ Trademark Collection.
Following its acquisition of the 82-key Blennerhassett hotel, which first opened in 1889, Taylor Hospitality will reposition the property as The Blennerhassett, a Giovanni Hotel and Spa, under its Giovanni collection of hotels set in historic buildings, according to a news release. The property will offer a spa, a restaurant and lounge, the 1889 Club speakeasy, a library, a garden patio and on-site shops.
The terms of the transaction were undisclosed, and Taylor Hospitality did not reply to a Hotel Dive request for comment by the time of publication.
In the fourth quarter of this year, the hotel will also join Wyndham’s Trademark Collection of independent hotels, per the release. The transition will mark the first time in the hotel’s 137-year history that it will join a global reservation and loyalty system, per Waynesboro, Virginia-based Taylor Hospitality.
“The Blennerhassett does not need to be reinvented. It needs to be seen,” Taylor Hospitality CEO Sean Taylor said in a statement. “This is a hotel with a 4.5-star reputation and a century of stories that most travelers have never heard of, because it has never been in front of them. Joining Trademark Collection by Wyndham puts it in front of more than 126 million Wyndham Rewards members who would not have had a reason to consider Parkersburg.”
As part of the transition, Taylor Hospitality will also modernize the hotel’s operating and revenue systems. The hotel will continue operations throughout the repositioning.
“Strong conversion additions in higher chain scales” drove portfolio growth for Wyndham in the second quarter, CEO Geoff Ballotti said during an earnings call last month. The Trademark Collection, specifically, features properties in the upper midscale segment and above.
Brand conversions pose a strong growth opportunity for major hotel companies, executives noted during Q2 earnings.
