By Christine Graf
The Pavilion Grand Hotel at 30 Lake Ave. in Saratoga Springs plans to rebrand itself as Pavilion Grand Executive Apartments.
In doing so, they will offer 32 yearly rental units in addition to 16 extended-stay units.
The transition will take place on Nov. 1.
According to general manager Susanne Simpson, 30 Lake Ave. was originally built by Cohoes-based Prime Companies to house luxury condominiums. The company decided to change course before the project was completed, and they opened the property as a luxury boutique hotel in 2014.
“The hotel’s building was originally built as luxury condos, so the transition to an executive apartment concept has been an easy one for us,” she said.
Because it was not designed as a hotel, the Pavilion Grand’s units are much larger than conventional hotel rooms. The smallest is 600 square feet, almost twice the size of a standard hotel room. The largest—a penthouse—is larger than many single-family homes. It measures 2,200 square feet and has two bedrooms and 2.5 baths.
“All of our units are very large and are full apartments and condos, and we’ve always had guests that stay longer term with us. When COVID came, we had some of our summer guests wanting to have more of their own places versus a hotel. They asked if we would consider renting,” she said.
“COVID offered us the opportunity to modify what we were doing. And what we’ve added to that is more of a furnished corporate housing unit so that we will be a mixture of yearly rentals and furnished corporate rentals.”
Monthly rental rates for unfurnished apartments include utilities and will start at $1,750 for studios. Penthouses will rent for $3,900, and furnished apartments are available for an additional cost. Weekly rates for extended-stay units will vary based on the time of year, and a minimum stay of one week is required. They are available to corporate as well as non-corporate guests, the general manager said.
“We also offer something that is unique and different in that our tenants in our building would be able to sublet their units if they are not there. That fills a unique niche in the marketplace that really hasn’t been addressed,” said Simpson. “The building itself also has some unique features in its design. We have oversized windows, 9-foot ceilings, crown molding, pendant lighting. They are not your traditional run of the mill apartments.”
The Pavilion Grand will continue to offer the same amenities to its guests. Popular restaurant 30 Lake as well as Make Me Fabulous, a full service salon spa, will remain on site. Guests will continue to have access to the Pavilion Grand’s fitness center as well as its rooftop common space that features landscaped terraces and a fire feature.
“We are going to change to a secured building entrance, so it’s not going to be open doors like a hotel. It just won’t offer the extended hour service,” said Simpson. “We are still going to offer housekeeping should people want it, and we will still have maintenance on site. We will be there to service our clients.”
Simpson is very optimistic that clients will embrace the Grand Pavilion’s rebranding. They have already started signing yearly leases.
“We feel that by listening to what our guests want and are asking for that we are filling a niche in the travel marketplace. Our phones are ringing like crazy, and we are already booking both the shorter term and the yearly rentals. We are excited at the demand that we are seeing.”