THREE NEW PROPERTIES have joined Choice Hotels International’s Ascend Hotel Collection, which includes resort, boutique and historic hotels. One of them is Keyur Patel’s recently renovated The Penn Stroud in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and all three are located within driving distance of major cities and attractions.
For The Penn Stroud, Stroudsburg is in the Pocono Mountains, is close to the Appalachian Trail. The town features several art galleries, cafes and historic sites, and it is close to Mountain View Vineyard and Alpine Mountain Skiing. The hotel reopened on June 19.
“We recently completed a multi-year, multi-million dollar renovation on The Penn Stroud, bringing this grand dame of hotels into the modern age, and ushering in a new standard of modern elegance and service that sets it above and apart from all others,” Patel said. “The Penn Stroud is also participating in Choice Hotels’ Commitment to Clean initiative, through which we are building on longstanding cleanliness programs with a variety of new and improved protocols related to deep cleaning, disinfecting, hygiene and social distancing.”
The other two new Ascend Collection hotels are The Shore Club Wisconsin in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and The Inn Hotel in Arnolds Park, Iowa. The Shore Club is near Elkhart Lake and features 600 feet of private beach. The Art Deco Inn Hotel’s building has been in the Lake Okoboji area for more than a century.
"Research shows that more than two-thirds of consumers miss traveling and can't wait to hit the road again, and many people will take more trips by car as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dianne Taylor, head of brand, Ascend Hotel Collection, Choice Hotels. "As the industry's leading soft brand, Ascend Hotels specializes in making journeys memorable, whether guests are seeking a quick escape or a robust vacation. Each Ascend hotel enhances guests' trips with one-of-a-kind, upscale experiences that immerse them in the best of every destination."
Choice also recently announced that its extended-stay brands, WoodSpring Suites and Suburban Extended Stay in the economy segment and MainStay Suites and Everhome Suites in midscale, are seeing higher occupancy than the rest of the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
