Niagara Falls, NY is going increasingly upscale, as hoteliers increase the amenities and pieces of their properties, like the Wyndham Garden Inn.
On Wednesday, USA Niagara Development kicked in $1 million toward the $6.5 million conversion of the former Days Inn into the Wyndham. It is another of the properties the DiCienzo family has been developing in recent years on both sides of the Niagara Gorge, here adding upscale accomodations and facilities.
Mayor Paul Dyster said the market is going upscale and the goal of tourism development is to make sure there are attractions that will attract tourists and tourist families to fill the rooms.
"In this case, we have a building that I think we were kind of a little bit ashamed of the appearance of it. It had started to look very dated," Dyster said. "It now has additional suites on the top floor, a really wonderful exterior in a place that's very prominent and there's even a new restaurant and bar on the ground floor called Chill 443, which is very popular."
The hotel is very close to the falls and has those luxury suites on the top floor with what must be wonderful views.
Dyster said there are other hotel projects in the works and plans for attractions to increase visitors. Those efforts include filling hotel rooms on what are called the shoulder seasons, before and after the standard tourist times.
He worried about Washington creating problems between the U.S. and Canada, when there are investors working both sides of the river and there is a continuing effort to attract tourists from Toronto.
"Many of the investments that are made, including this investment that's being made in the Wyndham, reinforced now by this grant made by the USA Development Corporation, is by a company that, although is called NFNY Hotel Management, it's principal, Michael DiCienzo, is from a family of Canadian Hoteliers," Dyster said.
Overall, the mayor said the trend is very clear that visitorship is increasing.
"The demand for hotel rooms is increasing, as we increase the total number of hotel rooms, so the overall profitability per hotel room is holding steady as the supply is increasing and that's very positive from the perspective of investors," he said.
