City to Vote on Convention Center Hotel Incentives

By Armando Landin

The long awaited renovation of the Hotel Paso del Norte in Downtown El Paso is one step closer to reality as City Council will vote this week on incentives for the project.

A 10th-floor swimming pool and spa area are included as part of the Hotel Paso del Norte renovation in Downtown El Paso. (City of El Paso)

The hotel, formerly the Camino Real Hotel, was purchased earlier this year by the Meyers Group of Florida, a development company with ties to the El Paso area. It is located at 101 South El Paso Street.

$70M Camino Real Hotel Renovation Plan Announced

City officials have unveiled a plan to renovate the historic Hotel Paso del Norte in Downtown El Paso. The City is formalizing an agreement with Meyers Group of Florida and Two Sabes LLC of El Paso to perform the renovation.

Plans are underway to renovate the historic Hotel Paso del Norte in Downtown El Paso, currently operating as a Camino Real Hotel. (Camino Real El Paso)

In a joint effort, the two developers will embark on a $70 million project to turn the hotel, currently operating under the Camino Real brand, into the premier Downtown convention hotel. The developers will receive City, County, and State incentives if the deal is approved.

City Disappointed with Camino Real Response

City Manager Joyce Wilson was disappointed with the Camino Real owners' response to the idea of selling the historic hotel to a group of local investors. Rosalinda Gonzalez, the general manager of Camino Real Hotels, had previously said that the company had no interest in selling nor participating in downtown revitalization efforts. Furthermore, Gonzalez stated that the hotel is run using their own rules and not any others.

According to a story in this week's El Paso Inc., Wilson responded with, "I find it unlikely that any business entity, regardless of location, would not want to share in the benefit of a wholesale revitalization effort which only improves their economic viability and opportunities for the future."

Mayor John Cook added that he would be content if they indeed ran the Camino Real in El Paso the same way they ran other hotels in the chain. "If they would operate the hotel like they operate the Camino Real chain in Mexico, that would be fine. In Mexico, they take really good care of their hotels. The one in El Paso is very much neglected, even though we have offered them incentives to make improvements."

Indeed, Camino Real hotels in other locations are considered upscale and high-end offerings. The hotel in El Paso, however, can no longer be considered that way.

Originally the Hotel Paso del Norte, the hotel is the most historic still-standing hotel in El Paso.

Original Hotel Towers

Original El Paso Inc. article: http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/top_story/article_0a1221e8-5beb-11e1-b378-0019bb30f31a.html

Camino Real Owners Not Selling

El Paso Inc. reports this week that the Mexican company that owns El Paso's historic Camino Real hotel is not interested in selling the hotel to a group of local investors. A general manager for Camino Real Hotels indicated that the company wants no part of the current downtown redevelopment efforts, and that the hotel is maintained under their rules, "which are Mexican rules for a Mexican company."

Camino Real Hotels purchased the hotel in 2000. Since that time, very little investment has been made into upgrading the hotel to the current standards for an upscale convention hotel. Hotel guests have encountered a broken air conditioning system in the peak of summer, non-functioning hotel phones, out-dated bathrooms, and old tube televisions.

The Convention and Vistors Bureau has stopped recommending the hotel to visitors after special guests had to be moved to the nearby Doubletree during last year's Plaza Classic Film Festival because air conditioners at the Camino Real broke down. Though the Doubletree is much newer and more reliable, it does not have the meeting space necessary to be considered a convention hotel.

Camino Real Hotel Manager René Rubio indicated that the hotel's occupancy last year averaged only 35%.

Full Story: http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_bdf626fa-5669-11e1-9156-001a4bcf6878.html