The hotel is open for business now and features a new pool
The new Best Western hotel at 1115 Douglas Ave. in Brewton is now guest-ready, offering high-end comfort with all the amenities, after a renovation that took longer and cost more than anticipated, according to representative Atul, of Sapphire Hospitality, the company that owns the hotel and operates as a member of the Best Western organization.
Housing 88 total rooms, 83 rooms with double queen beds and five two-room suites with one king-sized bed each, the hotel is a product showcasing the work of the design team at Innvision of Atlanta.
According to Atul, a representative of Sapphire Hospitality, the hotel was closed by the Alabama Fire Marshall in January of 2015, due to code violations.
"After Hurricane Ivan, the former owners had tried to make moderate repairs, but they were not sufficient," he said. "Because the repairs were not sufficient, it got a lot worse between Ivan and 2016. That's when a visit from the Alabama Fire Marshall shut the hotel down and it later went up for auction."
After Sapphire Hospitality purchased the hotel at auction in 2016, they began the renovation in February, anticipating a low budget and a short turn around time. Unfortunately, demolition of parts of the building exposed many problems that were unknown until then.
"The demolition was 90 percent of the work." said the representative. "Ten percent was the electric, pipes and concrete, reworking some of that. We tried to hire locally, but it was expensive and the construction industry was busy that time of year."
Construction Supervisor Andrew Bailey has been on the project since day one.
"We had to put an entire new roof on the hotel," said Bailey. "It was a new roof design, newly engineered with appropriate professionals. They have to approve the design, then you have to get a permit to put it on."
The demolition started in April 2016 then stopped to get an architect involved.
An architect has to be involved in all phases at the state and city levels, according to the representative.
“Each phase had to inspected by a city inspector when the state signed off on the building,'said the representative. “Brewton City inspector Lawton Shipp was great to work with.”
Even though the project was longer and more expensive than they thought, the new owners are ready to have guests and anticipate a steady clientele in the future.
“The public will get a nice hotel now,” said Atul. “We certainly have gone overboard on this. All our lights are energy-efficient LED lights, all brand new appliances and a brand new pool.”
There is an empty restaurant space in the hotel and the owners are open to a vendor opening inside.
“Anyone who has restaurant experience is welcome,” said Atul. “Everything is a focal point of the hotel and it would be great to offer a meeting place.”
Atul said that a restaurant inside the hotel would create extra foot traffic and maybe bring other retail food vendors to the area.
“We are hoping this will spawn restaurants,” said Atul. “The hotel will be a key player in getting restaurants in this town. We are just a blink to our guests before they go where they go, we consider our hotels a privilege to stay in.”
Atul said he and others he works closely with have been in the hotel industry for 42 years and he prides himself on knowing what it takes to keeps customers returning.
“People want to come back,” said Atul. “We offer quality, service and respect. We must be doing something right.”
Atul said that now anyone who comes to Brewton or Century will not have to go to Evergreen, Greenville or Atmore to stay in a high-end hotel with all of the amenities, like he did when they first began the hotel renovations. The hotel even offers a charging station for both electrical and Tesla vehicles, a mandate for all Best Western hotels, according to Atul.
A grand opening is planned in the coming months, and the hotel is open for guests now.
