Hilton opens extended-stay hotel in Oxnard and live concerns

A new extended-stay hotel has opened in Oxnard in a move welcomed by city officials and business leaders.
The four-story Homewood Suites by Hilton offers 129 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites with fully equipped kitchens. It is located next to the existing Hilton Garden Inn on Solar Drive, near East Gonzales Road and Rice Avenue and adjacent to Highway 101.
Thirty jobs were created when the hotel, which cost $10.5 million to develop, opened this month, according to General Manager Nadine Koch.
Curtis Cannon, Oxnard’s community development director, described the opening as “perfect timing” with the expansion of the Rice/101 interchange now under way. He said it’s a sign of faith in the local economy and local businesses.
“I believe it’s a great decision for Oxnard and for the business community,” he said. “We are underserved with different hotel types. There’s a bunch of bigger manufacturers like Procter & Gamble and Monsanto along that Rice corridor and they’re the kind of businesses that are driving this kind of extended-stay hotel.”
Nancy Lindholm, president of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce, also welcomed the new hotel.
“There’s a lot of demand from people employed at or visiting the naval base, and extended-stay hotels also service families of patients at St. John’s Regional Medical Center,” she said. “The variety of hotel types we can offer enhances the attraction for visitors to come to Oxnard.”
The 98,798-square-foot hotel is the first Homewood Suites in Ventura County, although there is one just across the county line in Agoura Hills.
The Oxnard development almost didn’t happen, according to hotel owner T.M. Mian. He said that when he first considered building it in 2007, it didn’t make financial sense.
“Constructions costs at that time were so high we couldn’t justify it,” he said. “Then we saw construction costs come down (because of the recession) and we decided to go through the bidding process again and costs had come down.”
Mian, who owns Hilton Garden Inns in Oxnard and Calabasas and is developing a new Embassy Suites at the Ventura Harbor, said the economic downturn shaved about $3 million off construction costs for the new Homewood Suites.
Mian said he’s confident there will be enough customers for both his Oxnard hotels and that his new extended-stay property will tap into an unmet demand from travelers and business people for a more relaxed environment.
“The Hilton Garden Inn is a good corporate hotel and has good business from Monday to Thursday,” he said. “But we see at the Garden Inn there are a lot of customers who stay with us who are really extended-stay customers.”
Mian said the majority of extended-stay customers book for one to seven nights and about 25 percent stay seven to 21 nights.
“Many of these want a more ‘homesy’ feel,” he said, “and our hotel is absolutely beautiful.”

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